Shannon Anderson, who’s been featured on Today.com and Good Morning America, draws on her experience actively teaching growth mindset to empower kids. “Perseverance and determination have been the keys to my success before I even knew what a growth mindset was,” she says. “Once I started learning the brain research behind it and started implementing this teaching in my classroom, I realized how powerful it can be.”

Now she’s releasing two books on growth mindset, Y Is for Yet and Mindset Power. In Y Is for Yet, children ages four to eight learn how to adopt a growth mindset through the familiar structure of the ABCs. And Mindset Power provides positive, practical, you-can-do-it advice to help tweens of all abilities achieve their goals and build a growth mindset.

Just in time for back to school, Shannon is presenting a webinar on how to teach growth mindset in your classroom, whatever it looks like this fall. She also has articles on embracing mistakes in the classroom and overcoming the need to be a perfect teacher.

Connect with Shannon at shannonisteaching.com or even invite her to your classroom for author visits or professional development sessions!

The US Department of Education invites proposals to increase the capacity of state, regional, and local systems to improve retention of special education teachers or early intervention personnel working with infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities. Expectations are to plan, implement, evaluate, scale-up, and sustain comprehensive retention plans using evidence-based policies and practices.

Eligible applicants are state educational agencies and organizations designated as Part C lead agencies for infant and toddler programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), working in conjunction with local educational agencies or providers of early intervention services. Competitive preference is provided to applications incorporating partnerships with a broad range of stakeholder groups such as personnel preparation programs at institutions of higher education, parent training and information centers, other community-based organizations, and the business community. Competitive preference is also provided to applications contributing cash or in-kind matching support. Applications must be submitted online.

Eligibility: Public, Other (including homeschool, 501(c)(3) organizations)

Prize: $700,000–$750,000 for the first year, with potential for three years of funding

Application Deadline: August 17, 2020

The Foundation for Rural Service provides a variety of programs ranging from youth-based initiatives and educational materials to consumer awareness and rural economic development. The foundation aims to improve educational achievement in rural communities across the country with projects that will have a long-lasting effect on the community. Grants are concentrated in four major areas: business and economic development, community development, education, and telecommunications.

Educational grants support technology in the classroom (such as computers and smart boards), curriculum development, extracurricular activities, and distance-learning programs. The foundation recently supported funding for Chromebooks for elementary school students, virtual reality equipment for high school students, and classroom computers for underserved students. Priority is given to projects that will be fully funded by the grant maximum, or those that have 75 percent of the project costs funded.

Eligibility: Public, Private, Charter, Other (including homeschool, 501(c)(3) organizations)

Prize: $250–$5,000

Application Deadline: September 15, annually

Encourage kids to use this month’s free download, the “ESP Form” from Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students by Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D., and Steven E. Tobias, Psy.D., whenever they’re faced a difficult problem or important decision. Standing for “evaluate, select, and proceed,” ESP helps students with the problem-solving and decision-making process.