3 Ways to Encourage a Growth Mindset in the Middle School Math Classroom "I hate math" and "I'm not a math person" are widely acceptable phrases in the United States. As a middle school special education teacher I hear these phrases often, both from students on my caseload and from general education students in my inclusion classes. Students avoid failure in math by refusing to try and making excuses. I get it. I was that student. So what can we, as teachers, do about this? 1. Acknowledge that math takes time and effort to learn Many students have failed often in math, haven't kept up with the class, or have holes in their math skills from circumstances outside the classroom like a move, extended absence, trauma, being an English Language Learner and so on. They may have an unidentified learning disability, or may have a learning disability and have spent so much time in a resource room setting practicing basic skills that they have mis...