Find out why this teacher wrote on her students' desks

"When I read the message, my fear went away," said Julissa Gomez. "I knew I could actually do it."'

Chandi Langford, a teacher at Woodbury City Public Schools has been gaining attention around the internet as of late due to her writing on her students’ desks on the day of a big exam.

At first glance at a headline like that, you may be thinking that this was an act of vandalism, but that’s far from the truth. The real reason the 5th grade teacher wrote on each and every one of her students’ desks was to motivate them!

Langford uses what’s called a growth mindset strategy in her learning environment. The strategy essentially aims to instill in her students that intelligence is a learned trait, or something that can be developed; it’s not something that you’re born with.

The growth mindset strategy is evident in each one of the personalized messages written on her entire class’ desks.

After each inspiring, and individualized message is #growthmindset, a hashtag that will hopefully gain popularity amongst the teaching community across the world. Teachers from around the globe need to take notes from Langford’s encouraging and inspirational style of teaching!

What about the students? Did these wonderful messages help the students?

In an interview with Philly.com, a handful of students from Langford’s 5th grade class claim that the messages motivated them and helped relieve the pressure of the big exams. “When I read the message, my fear went away,” said Julissa Gomez. “I knew I could actually do it.”‘

It’s wonderful to see that there are teachers that deeply care about the fate of each and every one of their students. It’s even better to see that her faith in her students allows for them to feel truly motivated and succeed academically!

Would you want your kid’s teacher to adopt the growth mindset strategy?

If you have any insights, questions or comments regarding the topic, please share them with us!

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Written by

Santiago Santa Cruz

teacher-student relationshippositive stories