Did you know growth mindset coloring pages can help piano students cultivate a growth mindset?

If you’ve been looking for a good way to communicate to your students words that they could embrace and grow from, the Growth Mindset Coloring Pages are a practical tool that can help piano teachers foster a studio culture of enthusiasm for challenges.

The quotes contained within the coloring pages provide teachers with useful language that not only provides encouragement but encourages students to self-reflect on their music learning journey.

Piano students can benefit from periodically reflecting on what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Even as an adult have you ever said to yourself – after spinning your wheels, through your profession or otherwise – “WHAT am I doing?!”

Perhaps it’s an epiphany that you’ve been doing something inefficiently for a long time. These moments of self-reflection can lead to decisions that lead to positive changes.

Piano lessons then become a vehicle in which children experience that there are times to persevere, to change tactics or strategies, or even change your mind completely.

If you’re interested in learning more about fostering a growth mindset from leading experts in the field of psychology and behavioral science, I’ve included useful links below at the end of this article.

4 Ways I Use the Growth Mindset Coloring Pages in My Studio

1. Feature Growth Mindset Coloring Pages and Posters on your studio bulletin board (or wall)

Choose your favorite growth mindset posters – the ones that resonate with you – or that you think will resonate with your students.

The poster(s) can be blown up to use as studio décor, however, it also looks great printed as is or printed onto sturdy white card stock and laminated to place on your studio bulletin board or the door to your teaching studio.

Decide whether you’d like to switch out the posters weekly (there are 36 posters so could have a different quote for each week!), bi-weekly, or monthly – and use as the studio motto for that duration.

Even if the quote or the gist of the quote is something that the students are already familiar with, never underestimate the power of a reinforced reminder.

2. Use Growth Mindset Coloring Pages Flexibly, with Individual Students

Growth Mindset Coloring Pages as Practice Repetition Charts

I have students who really enjoy using Suzuki-style repetition charts to keep track of their repetitions. It’s a way to chart their own effort in a tangible way.

These growth mindset coloring posters can be used for that purpose, and are great for students who like that structure but want something a bit more grown-up.

Growth Mindset Coloring Pages as Binder Covers

Do you have any students who are afraid of mistakes and could use an extra dose of encouragement?

Choose a quote together that really speaks to that student at that time to put as their binder cover for the daily reminder.

I’d like to think that the student is able to change his inner dialogue by changing the way he thinks about approaching the challenges within his piano practice.

Or how about having studio-wide binder covers with your favorite quote that serve as a reminder for students?

There are so many ways these growth mindset coloring pages and posters can be used with individual students or with your entire studio.

3. Use Growth Mindset Coloring Pages for a Studio Challenge

The studio challenge is like the bulletin board idea, except it requires active participation from students.

One idea is to have students bring in an example of how they followed the advice of the quote poster through their piano practice at home.

Collect these examples as post-it notes on your studio bulletin board. This supplies an opportunity for students to inspire and motivate each other.

Maybe the prize can be an entry to a drawing to receive a large, printed poster of their choice at the end of the year!

4. Use the language from the Growth Mindset Coloring Pages during teachable moments

What we say to students can become a bit routine to them since they see us all the time.

Seeing that same message as a quote from famous figures in history such as Babe Ruth, Winston Churchill, or Albert Einstein is not only intriguing, but it also gives the quote validity in the eyes of the student.

The quotes can serve as fodder for important conversations. Adults are not immune to dealing with a feeling of overwhelm at the prospect of even getting started on an arduous task – so we can imagine that children do as well.

Having the posters up in the studio also provides teachers with great reminders for ideas of what to say when a student gets stuck.

As Dave Paunesku says in the Growth Mindset videos, as educators we aren’t there to just say “I believe you can do this, and good luck!” but we are there to help support students by teaching them different strategies.

An added benefit of these growth mindset coloring pages is that the quotes provide a jumping off point for students to become interested in and learn more about the authors of the quotes and the history of that time – or people of that time.

Who is Travis Bradberry? Did Thomas Edison have failures before successes?

Growth Mindset Feedback for Piano Students

Part of cultivating a growth mindset is through the feedback we give students.

One tip that I gleaned from a mentor years back was to give extremely specific positive feedback. For example, I was perplexed because I noticed that if I simply told some students they did a great job, they wouldn’t come as prepared the next time.

My mentor told me to try saying, “Your level of preparation was good…THIS WEEK.” I chuckled a bit when I first heard that, but I discovered that that specific feedback was important for the student.

I think sometimes students think they have arrived after a certain point.

As teachers we ourselves are continuously strategizing on how to best teach our students, so we are in a great spot to model our own growth mindset to them.

Grab the Growth Mindset Coloring Pages today and help foster a studio culture of thoughtfully striving for excellence – at all levels.

Growth Mindset Resources for Students & Tips for Cultivating a Growth Mindset

Want to learn more about growth mindset and how you can use it to better help your student? Check out these extra resources:

• 3-minute Growth Mindset Video for Elementary Students
• Tips for Teachers with Short Teaching Videos
• LearnStorm Growth Mindset: Dave Paunesku introduces growth mindset
• Resource for Elementary and Middle School students for learning more about the growth mindset

Carol Dweck’s Ted Talk on “The power of believing that you can improve.”

For more blog posts to help you teach piano, check out…

• Building a Foundation of Mutual Trust in Piano Lessons
• 9 Must-Haves for a Successful First Piano Lesson
• Go with the Flow in Piano Lessons