What is the Difference Between a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset?
A fixed mindset is the belief that your abilities and traits are static. You have a certain amount of intelligence and skill, and you can’t really do much to change it. A growth mindset, on the other hand, is the belief that your abilities and traits can be developed with time and effort.
This quote from Carol Dweck sums up the difference between the two mindsets: “In a fixed mindset, students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset, students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through learning and practice. No one’s born a genius. No one’s born with perfect self-control.”
As teachers, we want our students to have a positive growth mindset because we know that they will achieve more if they believe that they can improve with effort. These inspirational quotes can be the best thing for the mindset changes that your students need.
Exposing your students to growth mindset from successful people such as Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Oprah Winfrey, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Helen Keller, and others who have been in the middle of difficulty and still demonstrated a growth mindset is a great first step towards helping your classroom have a positive growth mindset environment.
Using Positive Growth Mindset Quotes in the Classroom
I’ve compiled over a 100 classroom positive growth mindset quotes to help you instill a growth mindset in your students. Here are some fun ways to use them with the kids in your elementary classroom:
- Post them around the room as a visual reminder for students.
- Use them as writing prompts, and have kids write about how they relate to the quote.
- Share one at the beginning or end of each day as a way to set the tone for the day or reflect on the day’s learning.
- Use the growth mindset quotes as discussion starters during morning meetings or circle time.
- Have kids choose their favorite quote and illustrate it then display it in an eye-catching art style.
- Write the quotes on sentence strips, and have kids match them up with the correct definition of fixed mindset or growth mindset. (Include non-examples)
- Play a game of quote charades, and have kids act out the growth mindset quotes
- Make a class collage or banner of the growth mindset quotes with your students and display it in your school hallway.
- Share the quotes on your classroom website or in your newsletter.
- Use them as growth mindset posters! Or print them as mini posters and use them as small displays on a portable privacy center during test taking!
As you can see, there are so many ways to use these quotes in your classroom. Get creative. Forward this post to a teacher friend and brainstorm more ways that you could use these classroom positive growth mindset quotes.
Here are 100+ positive growth mindset quotes for kids in your classroom
- “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” –Theodore Roosevelt
- “Intelligence is not a fixed trait- it grows with learning experiences.” –Russell Barkley
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden (For younger students, you can say, “Don’t let what you can’t do get in the way of what you can do.)
- “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.” – Dalai Lama XIV
- “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” – Unknown
- “Your only limit is the amount of willingness that you exhibit” -Tony Robbins
- “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” -Anonymous
Inspiring Classroom Growth Mindset Quotes for Students ABOUT NOT GIVING UP
These growth mindset quotes for kids emphasize the importance of not giving up:
11. “When we give up the chase for perfection, we discover excellence.” -David Mee-Lee
12. “I am always learning what I cannot do YET in order to learn how to do it.” -Vincent Van Gogh
13. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” -Benjamin Franklin
14. “It’s not that I’m smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” -Albert Einstein
15. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” -Jimmy Dean
16. “Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.” -Samuel Johnson
17. “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” -Confucius
18. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.” -Thomas Edison
19. “Never give up on something you believe in.” -Steve Scalise
20. “Do not give up; the beginning is always the hardest part.” -Unknown
Growth Mindset Quotes from Popular BOOK CHARACTERS
These growth mindset quotes for kids feature characters they may be familiar with!
21. “I like myself best when I’m trying things that are hard for me. That’s when I learn the most.”- Lola from Lola Levine is Not Mean
22. “When you fall, get back up.”- Little Critter
23. “Don’t give up! You can do it!” – Pinkalicious
24. “You can’t just give up! You gotta keep trying, and don’t let anybody get in your way.”- Dory from Finding Nemo
25. “I think I can… I know I can.”- The Little Engine That Could
26. “Don’t ever give up on your dreams.”- Poppleton
27. “Oh, the places you’ll go… You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.”- Dr. Seuss
28. “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!”- Dr. Seuss
29. “Don’t give up, things will happen in time.”- Ferdinand
30. “I’ll try it!”- Mickey Mouse
Quotes That would Make Great classroom Growth mindset Posters
31. Practice makes progress.
32. Don’t stop until you’re proud.
33. I’m on the right track!
34. Keep going.
35. Embrace the challenge.
36. I bee-lieve in myself!
37. I have not failed, I’m still learning.
38. I can do it!
39. I know the power of YET.
40. Mistakes are proof you’re trying.
Positive Growth Mindset Quotes from Carol Dweck
41. “I don’t mind losing as long as I see improvement or I feel I’ve done as well as I possibly could.” -Carol Dweck
42. “In a growth mindset, challenges are exciting rather than threatening. So rather than thinking, oh, I’m going to reveal my weaknesses, you say, wow, here’s a chance to grow.” -Carol Dweck
43. “When you enter a mindset, you enter a new world. In one world (the world of fixed traits) success is about proving you’re smart or talented. Validating yourself. In the other (the world of changing qualities) it’s about stretching yourself to learn something new. Developing yourself.”- Carol Dweck
44. “Picture your brain forming new connections as you meet the challenge and learn. Keep on going.” -Carol Dweck
45. “The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.” -Carol Dweck
46. “Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better?” -Carol Dweck
47. “This is something I know for a fact: You have to work hardest for the things you love most.” – Carol Dweck
48. “No matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.”-Carol Dweck
49. “Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort?” – Carol Dweck
50. “I derive just as much happiness from the process as from the result.” – Carol Dweck
Positive Growth Mindset Quotes from CelebritieS
51. “If your mind can conceive it, you can achieve it.”- Will Smith
52. “I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” -Michael Jordan
53. “Don’t be afraid of failure, this is the only way to succeed.” -Lebron James
54. “I like criticism. It makes you strong.” -Lebron James
55. “Talent is a pursued interest. Anything you’re willing to practice, you can do.” -Bob Ross
56. “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” -Conan O’brien
57. “If at first, you don’t succeed you’re normal.” – Kid President
58. “The more I failed, the more I learned.”- Colonel Sanders
59. “Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson
60.
Positive GRowth Mindset Quotes for Kindergarten
61. I can’t do it, YET!
62. I will try new things.
63. I learn from my mistakes.
64. I can do hard things.
65. I can train my brain.
66. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it.
67. I will keep trying.
68. I learn by trying new things.
69. I have not failed; I’m still figuring it out.
70. I won’t give up.
Positive GRowth Mindset Quotes About Making Mistakes
71. “The person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” -Albert Einstein
72. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”― Thomas A. Edison
73. “If at first you don’t succeed, pick yourself up and try again.” -Aaliyah
74. “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake.” – Elbert Hubbard
75. “Every mistake you make is progress.”
76. “Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.” – Denis Waitley
77. “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H.G. Wells
78. “You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do everyday.” – Jason Mraz
79. “Each mistake teaches you something new about yourself. There is no failure, remember, except in no longer trying. It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Chris Bradford
80. “Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” – Gena Showalter
Encouraging Growth Mindset Quotes for When a Student Fails at Something or is Disappointed
81. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill
82. “I have failed again and again throughout my life. That’s why I’ve been successful.”- Michael Jordan
83. “Today matters more than yesterday.” -Rachel Macy Stafford
84. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” – Margaret Thatcher
85. “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” – Thomas Watson
86. “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.”- J.K. Rowling
87. “Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” – William Rudolph
88. “Failure is simply opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”- Henry Ford
89. “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”-Richard Branson
90. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”- Winston Churchill
GROWTH MINDSET QUOTES ABOUT WORKING HARD AND ACHIEVING GOALS
91. “There is no substitute for hard work.” -Thomas Edison
92. “Nobody’s a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better.” -Paul Coffey
93. “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” -Kevin Durant
94. “Success is hidden in your daily routine.” -Jim Rohn
95. “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”- Nelson Mandela
96. “Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.” Hunter Thompson
97. “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over?” – John Wooden
98. “I do the very best I know, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end” – Abraham Lincoln
99. “Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful at anything you put your mind to.” – Bob Cousy
100. “We have to do the best we can.” -Albert Einstein
MY FAVORITE POSITIVE GROWTH MINDSET QUOTES:
101. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
102. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”- Walt Disney
103. “Doing your best means never stop trying.” – Benjamin Franklin
I hope these positive growth mindset quotes for the kids in your classroom inspire both you and them to always have a growth mindset! Which one is your favorite? Comment below!
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