Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind, Chapter 2. Describing the Habits of Mind by Arthur L. Costa
Author: Edited by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick
“Chapter 2. Describing the Habits of Mind.” Edited by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick, Describing the Habits of Mind, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2009, www.ascd.org/publications/books/108008/chapters/Describing-the-Habits-of-Mind.aspx.
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When we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.
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Aug 3I think managing impulsivity is certainly one of the toughest challenges when it comes to teaching students. Students often act before they think which forces teachers to come up with solutions beforehand in advanced. Because teachers can anticipate what might happen with certain students, they have to condition them to think a certain way before any conflicts arises
Aug 4As a special educator, I learned about ABC (antecedent conditions, behavior, consequences). When you describe a teacher anticipating what may happen, you recognize that a teacher who can determine what the triggers are that cause the impulsivity has a “leg up.” I believe that anticipation requires careful observation of a student within the classroom context. Then you can determine how to modify the antecedents. By doing so, you will short circuit the impulsive behavior. I have seen teachers successfully teach students to use a meta-cognitive checklist (sometimes with visuals).
Jul 12Claudia S Claudia S : I agree with your statement. As educators, learning how to teach our students how to control their impulsivity is key in order for them to act responsible and to behave intelligently.
Jul 17Regina O Regina O : Nile, I agree with your position of teaching students to manage impulsivity, and I want to add that in many cultures this is an appropriate behavior and students feel it is normal. moreI think the mixing of culture in the student population complicate the situation because each family has their own way of behaving and there is not much a teacher can do. We have to accept their culture.
Jul 25Hi Nile, Totally agreed! Impulsivity is very hard for students. i work in a High School and students just fight by impulsivity. After the fight is when they really realize that it was not necessary.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kimberly-Kirkpatrick-2/publication/284442951/figure/fig1/AS
Jun 5Como estudiante tambien soy conciente de que nosotros constantemente tenemos la impulsividad de gritar o sugerir lo primero que se nos viene a la mente pero también sabemos apreciar a los docentes que se toman el tiempo para crear actividades o estrategias que nos inciten a razonar antes de decir algo y tambien identificamos a los maestros que generalmente solo se centran en impartir un tema pero no lo imparten con el motivo de hacer mover nuestro proceso cognoscitivo.
Aug 3I think posing problems and questioning students is the perfect way for teachers to reassure that they’re re students are learning. When they’re asked to show their evidence to prove their source is accurate, it shows that they’re not just answering questions to complete a task but that they’re critical thinkers as well.
Oct 22I like when a teacher asks why because the answer to why shows how much the student is understanding.
Aug 30Keeping the mind busy is important due to the negativity that can breed from a mind full of TV static and nothingness.
Sep 15Steven E Steven E : not every student would wanna think alike to others some would think differently and come up with something else.Sep 15Steven E Steven E : Im this type of person I like to come up with my own things sometimes coming up with ya own idea can be useful for other things.Sep 15Steven E Steven E : being your own critic is a good thing. its always good to know how to reflect to others.Sep 15Steven E Steven E : exactly, if you committed a mistake and you don't learn from it you're just gonna repeat everything over and over again til you learn.Sep 15Sep 15Steven E Steven E : especially with covid everyone should be trying to keep themselves safe and safely.Sep 15Steven E Steven E : The future is something you should be worried about thinking on how you going to maintain yourselfSep 15Sep 15Steven E Steven E : Students that always thinking right and doing what there supposed to would successed in ways.Sep 15Steven E Steven E : team work can be the best at times when everyone is focused on the same topic and not worried on what they shouldn't beParagraph 1, Sentence 1 0
Jan 24Here at NowComment, our Room 407 students have been engaging with Margaret Wheatley’s “Willing to Be Disturbed” pieces. I think that the Berry quote here brings us to this sort of disturbance/disruption of both routine. . .and perhaps policies. What is blocking our stream? And…is it a song or a dirge?
Aug 30I feel like all of us seniors can relate to this first line. After senior year, we will be making our own decisions almost completely for the most part. Until this point most of us rely on our parents for a whole lot. But now, it’s kind of up to us if we want to go to college, and where we would want to go if we decide to.
Aug 30I feel like as kids in High school we don’t really take the time to understand that our lives are actually about to start sooner than we think.
Jul 18I agree. Seniors dont really know that their adult life will start soon. These days they only think about brand names and having a good life without thinking that there time to be leaving for free is over.
Jul 18I agree after working with high school students this past school year they really aren’t prepared for what happens when they do not go back to their every year routine in September. A-lot of what I see is them coasting through senior year with a mindset that is kind of relaxed.
Sep 1I relate to this quote about the journey beginning when we don’t know which way to go because I have struggled in many decisions regarding college and I know that my life on my own will start soon, and that is the true journey.
Jul 8Kathleen E Kathleen E : I learned to think with a purpose and clarity. I also learned to communicate precisely with others on the Now Comment program.Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 0Aug 22I can relate to this line of the poem as I find myself perplexed at times in my own coursework. It is then that I take my own inventory. Is the confusion a result of my level of engagement? What strategies might I employ to remedy the confusion? Is there a hole somewhere in my understanding that I can patch? But, I know that my confusion has a source as much as might enlightenment and understanding will have a place. How do I get to that place? It cannot be by abandonment. That would mean simply being stuck in place.
—Wendell Berry
This chapter contains descriptions for 16 of the attributes that human beings display when they behave intelligently. In this book, we refer to them as Habits of Mind. They are the characteristics of what intelligent people do when they are confronted with problems, the resolutions to which are not immediately apparent.
It would be good to have an image as well attached to this description – instead of each Habit of Mind – I know this is a scholarly article – but this would also maybe appeal to students more with accompanying visuals
Throughout this article Costa and Kallick describe in depth how essential it is that teachers are developing the learning power of students of all ages. In the article we see that both authors give a lot of concrete examples of how these learning dispositions have made a difference. These 16 habits presented to us are teaching kids, whether it is from their parents or teachers, habits that are performed by them on a day to day basis. The meaning behind this book is to help students get into the habit of behaving intelligently. A Habit of Mind is a pattern of intellectual behaviors that leads to productive actions. This is why we are trying to inform kids of these habits and consider what it means.
Finding some background information online, I noticed that their are four books in the ASCD ground-breaking Habits of Mind series. The volume we are discussing today presents a compelling case for why it’s more relevant than ever to align the missions of schools and classrooms to teaching students how to think and behave intelligently when they encounter problems and challenges in learning and in life. My thoughts behind the reading for the day is that all students of all ages should be learning and incorporating these 16 habits in their teachings.
There are certain habits of mind and ways of thinking that our society traditionally values and rewards. However, I’ve lately been thinking and learning about neurodivergence and understanding this not as a deficit but as a different way of thinking. I have not yet had time to really think through whether these 16 habits encompass that divergence, but it is something I am attuned to. And, in general, I become uncomfortable with attempts to definite “intelligence” in very specific ways that don’t account for different kinds of intelligence. I appreciate that the habits of mind are trying to focus on an approach to learning rather than narrow, discrete skills or content. But I also find myself uneasy.
I think this intro is very good at explaining what the habits of mind really entail.
I would not expect these types of reading to have an overview of what is going to be read. I think it is very beneficial to know what is going to be read. It gives the read a gist of what they are getting into.
Who gave them the name Habits of Mind and why are they named that? Could they have different names?
I agree with the questions Ava is asking why is it called Habits of Mind? Do we have an answer why?
habits of mind they are the character of the story.
This sentences is defining ‘the habits of minds’ as the tool people use which help them think before act or react.
I feel as though whether one is intelligent or not there can improvements on the way one reacts to a problem or situation. We all face problems in life. How we respond to those problems is what will closely define our character and the type of person we are. One does not have to be intelligent to respond in a respectful manner to an issue. It is very important although, for all people to understand and study these habits of mind. For we can all advance alongside one another and become more mindful and educated people.
These Habits of Mind seldom are performed in isolation; rather, clusters of behaviors are drawn forth and used in various situations. For example, when listening intently, we use the habits of thinking flexibly, thinking about our thinking (metacognition), thinking and communicating with clarity and precision, and perhaps even questioning and posing problems.
I love this quote- to me, it lets me and students know, they can do amazing things when they might feel they are lost, instead of feeling and despair, if we can train our minds to “roll with it” and see where we can take ourselves when we find ourselves not exactly where we expected to be, but also, teachers have to be willing to let students possibly end up with a different meaning of topics as well if they see students interpreting things differently than they imagined.
The meaning I took from this portion of the Wendell Berry quote was if you are not confused, your mind is not working hard enough. If you think things are simple you are missing the complexity of life and its content. I made a text-to-text connection to this portion of the quote. We recently did and assignment over Wheatley Essays. One article titled “Willing to be Disturbed” and the other titled “The Works: Your Source to Being Fully Alive, Summer 2000”. These articles explain how opening up your mind to other peoples opinions can make your opinion richer or possibly change your viewpoint. This potion of the quote summarizes those articles perfectly. Everything is worth exploring whether it be someone else opinion of the complexity you find within life. Don’t be satisfied with the opinions and thoughts you have now, go out and find a source to challenge those thoughts and make your brain wonder.
Habits of the mind are usually performed together in groups and almost never alone. Kind of like multitasking.
Several habits of mind occur at the same time without us even knowing. This simply goes to show just how powerful the mind truly is, even when we are not cognizant of it.
It is interesting that everything we do is an actual habit. I do not think anyone anyone ever thinks like that. It gives you something to think about.
I think the temptation is at times to take an itemized list and then work them separately. Quite possibilty assign or assess for them separately. These habits in synthesis allow for a little more room to talk about our employment/engagement of the Habit.
Diving into the habits of mind is interesting to learn about. The Habits of Mind would be beneficial for future speeches/public presentations
One characteristic of many (not all) autistic people is rigid thinking. But, they also tend to think and communicate with clarity and precision. Non-autistic people might respond to this clarity and precision by saying that they are not being flexible. So, in this scenario, these two habits of mind might be in contradiction. And it might be that an individual may possess one to a greater degree than, and possibly at the expense of, the other. Rather than looking at these as attributes every individual must possess, it might be helpful to see them as contributions individuals make to a greater whole.
Listening intently is the first step to more intelligent thinking. Before we can form our own thoughts and opinions, we must shape them through the concepts we listen to all around us.
As the introduction of Habits of Mind continues, the author begins to open up about the perhaps the comparison of listening intently vs not intently. As he quotes about what happens when we listen intently, I fully agree with Costa. I have noticed within my own life and experiences that if I say something to someone then they have a different response when listening intently or not. If we are listening intently we can open up to these habits of mind more and be able to respond in the most effect way. Listening intently is very important for effective communication.
Do not conclude, based on this list, that humans display intelligent behavior in only 16 ways. The list of the Habits of Mind is not complete. We want this list to initiate a collection of additional attributes. In fact, 12 attributes of "Intelligent Behavior" were first described in 1991 (Costa, 1991). Since then, through collaboration and interaction with many others, the list has been expanded. You, your colleagues, and your students will want to continue the search for additional Habits of Mind to add to this list of 16.
This is a simple comment, though one i feel justified making. It’s all too common now a days for people to claim their research to be absolute. This small sentence works nicely to show that we are still learning and that it’s okay, and even encouraged for research like this to change and evolve.
I like this paragraph because it reassures me that the habits of my mind do not have to fit into this list of 16. It leaves room for expansion and an even deeper understanding of our habits of mind.
To assume that there are only 16 habits of mind is something that I along with assumingly some of my classmates likely inferred based off of the list that was presented to us. However, when thinking of these 16 habits of mind it makes senses that one may find themselves not relating specifically to any one habit.
I feel that humans display intelligence in different ways depending on the person, and that there is no way that there are only 16 ways to display it. Some people may be good with “traditional” intelligence, but others may have more common sense.
There are many ways to display intelligence, yes. I feel that a lot of younger students struggle with this, as they think their intelligence is defined by test grades and report cards. This sometime dictates a student’s success until they find the right concepts to apply their intelligence to.
It is shocking to see the list of habits increase dramatically. It makes me wonder how habits are found and who decides that they are habits?
I don’t think the habits of minds list will every be complete because we all think differently and the way we think will continue to develop.
I feel like this sentence was a great addition to the intro as it says that we are always allowed to add and expand to the habits of mind.
As the Arthur L. Costa explains the initial data to this list began in 1991. At the time the list was minimal, at only 12 habits of mind. However, as a society we have grown and found new possibilities and expanded this list to 16. I feel as though the Habits of Mind list can be continued as we continue studying and abiding by the current terms on the list. We may be able to find truth in one habit of mind to lead to a new discovery. In order to keep advancing, we must be optimistic to new advances and new opportunity of growth for the future of Habits of Mind. I feel as though my class should come together with the common goal to present one, or possibly two, new Habits of Mind to add to the list.
The line about adding to the list of habits of mind interests me because there is so many out there. It would take a lot of time and thought to expand this list to its full potential. We can explore them in the classroom but it seems like our work would almost never be done.
Habits of Mind as Learning Outcomes
Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision.
In order to be able to teach our students how to behave when they don’t have the answer to something, how to get them produce a response based on prior knowledge, or helping them develop, process, learn, and imitate a critical response either on their own or from others view.
The habit of the mind focuses on finding cues to our responses when facing situations people do not have the answer to.
In my opinion, there are important factors we must deal with prior to confronting an awkward situation where we are at lost due to lack of knowledge.
Educational outcomes in traditional settings focus on how many answers a student knows. When we teach for the Habits of Mind, we are interested also in how students behave when they don't know an answer. The Habits of Mind are performed in response to questions and problems, the answers to which are not immediately known. We are interested in enhancing the ways students produce knowledge rather than how they merely reproduce it. We want students to learn how to develop a critical stance with their work: inquiring, editing, thinking flexibly, and learning from another person's perspective. The critical attribute of intelligent human beings is not only having information but also knowing how to act on it.
Traditional setting for learning is slowly but surely giving way to new modes of learning that incorporates different learning styles. This is not to say any negative of traditional setting I definitely see the need to enhance what previously obtained finding new ways to do reach similar . The previous year has shown this even clearly as virtual classroom took over every level of learning.
I agree, higher thinking involves several things happening at the same time!
Having a motivating behavior allows the person or student to develop better in the company.
The nature of people and their integral development in an organizational or educational environment can be better understood through four basic assumptions: individual differences, the person as a whole, motivated behavior and the value of the person (human dignity). By considering these principles, it is possible to create an environment in which people not only develop professionally, but also flourish in a personal and human sense.
Each person is unique, with a particular set of skills, experiences, and perspectives. Recognizing and valuing these individual differences is crucial to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, organizations and educational institutions must customize their strategies to support the development of each individual. This not only boosts performance, but also promotes creativity and innovation, as diverse perspectives can lead to more robust and effective solutions.
Seeing the person as a whole being implies recognizing that their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors are interconnected. Instead of focusing solely on professional or academic aspects, it is essential to consider the emotional and psychological well-being of each individual. By creating an environment that supports mental and emotional health, people are better equipped to manage stress, maintain motivation, and achieve higher performance in all areas of their life. Wellness programs, personal development activities and a healthy work-life balance are essential to address this holistic approach.
Motivation is a key factor in human behavior. People are more likely to push themselves and overcome obstacles when they are intrinsically motivated. This means that organizations should focus on fostering a sense of purpose and connection to work or study. Intrinsic motivation arises when people find meaning in what they do, feel competent, and have autonomy. Creating an environment that supports these aspects can include offering opportunities for growth, recognizing and celebrating achievements, and providing an appropriate degree of freedom so that people can make decisions and be creative in their work.
Value of the person (human dignity): Respecting and valuing human dignity involves treating each individual with respect and consideration. This translates into policies and practices that promote equity, justice and inclusion. People should feel valued not only for their specific contributions, but for their intrinsic value as human beings. A work or educational environment that prioritizes human dignity fosters relationships of trust and mutual respect, which in turn strengthens group cohesion and the sense of belonging.
Well, according to the previous text, it is important to know what a person is, the type of person that exists, since we interact day by day but without having the concept well defined and in this way the comment breaks down the topic in more depth.
OK, so what I am hearing is that the Habits of Mind are ways of behaving that help us create knowledge and thinking flexibly in response to questions and problems that don’t have immediate answers. This means being able to take a critical stance and look at our work from different perspectives; being able to ask questions, edit, and learn from other people. So basically, we’re not just trying to remember information but trying to use information to make decisions and act on it. It’s an important skill to have in order to become an intelligent, critical thinker.
In this sentence, it talks about a traditional setting in school. It is hard to imagine what this traditional setting would look like because we have gone so long now with seeing people through a screen or classrooms being empty. I would love to see a traditional setting again where everyone is together and not just through a screen but I do not know if this will happen before I graduate.
nostalgia: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.
When I think of “traditional school” I reminisce about better days. Ciara, I believe you are right, I don’t think traditional will ever be the same. At least before we are long gone.
I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m sick of it, but that doesn’t need to be said, we all know. I do believe though, that in some nonsensical roundabout way, that this will eventually help the educational system and its flaws. School never feels like learning, it feels like someone cramming a book down your throat and expecting you to understand its contents. I think Covid outlining kids use of cheating, not turning in assignments, not showing up to class really shows just how much the public school system has messed up. Recognizing these flaws we can eventually change our production line style education into something more productive.
I think the way you just worded this is perfect. Even though Covid has messed a lot of things up I think it has helped not only helped show how students act under pressure, but it also shows the schools and teachers what their students home life is like.
Why is it called a traditional setting? Is that just what we have done for the past so many years or what? Not everyone had access to education until a little bit ago.
It baffles me that in my journey to become an ELA teacher, we are constantly being preached to about how we need to change education from rote memorization into a way to develop critical thinkers and life-long learners, yet this is not typically reflected in how we, the educators, are assessed. I recently took the CST for ELA and was dumbfounded at the number of questions that relied upon whether I had read this author or that author. Everyone has specialty knowledge and also knowledge gaps, and I was stunned that one might be denied the opportunity to become an English teacher if they had not read Salman Rushdie or Dostoyevsky, even if they were extremely knowledgeable in other works. Yes, of course we need to work to fix this idolization of Jeopardy-style knowledge for our students, but can we fix the way we evaluate our teachers as well? Can we practice what we teach?
This not knowing is not celebrated but rather met with consequence (usually detrimental and/or dire). Cruz’s book focuses upon the origins of mistakes and how to claim/own/address/move.
When A person does not know an answer, they turn to a learning tactic they’re comfortable and familiar with in order to get the question answered. This tactic that they are familiar with is going to be the one they used the most. This is the building blocks for the HoM.
I think this is funny to think about. Getting flustered and looking all around the room and through all of your papers to try and find the answer and you can feel your face getting red and all of your classmates eyes on you.
This is important. I’ve often observed my students floundering and not knowing how to overcome a hurdles, rather expecting to have the answer ready-made and given to them. But that’s not how intellectual or practical challenges typically work.
I always thought it was interesting how students processed certain questions that they didn’t know the answer too, if you look around the room there will be several students doing something different to get their answer.
This is very good information to know so we can play to our Habits of Mind when tasked with something difficult.
Replicate to Create.
Inculcation to Innovation.
Rote to Rendered.
This sentence relates heavily to today’s schooling system as a whole. Many students succeed within school because they can simply remember a subject for a test, but then forget about it right after. This method for learning seems to be encouraged by the schooling system, but it provides no true benefits to its students.
Students need to be able to understand what is going in thier brain and grasp the meaning of it. Do not jut collect info and forget about it. Collect info and understand the meaning of it.
This line refers to producing knowledge as coming up with something on your own. It refers to reproducing knowledge as simply remembering something said to you or something you had to memorize. When testing for habits of mind, they test of knowledge students must come up with themselves (produce) instead of things they remember from recent assignments or tests (reproduce).
Habits of Mind is wanting to help students find a ‘critical stance’ within their work. While reading this, ‘flexibility’ caught my eye. Within this past year, our school has been forced to go online a number of times, so of course students are having to be flexible with their work, but this is not what I wanted to talk about. If teachers and the school would be more flexible with their work and not so much on turning things in on time, I would feel so much more obliged to do my work. But instead, I am on a time limit every single day balancing my school work, my job, and my mental health which overall has not been the best this past year. ‘Learning from another’s prospective’ caught my eye as well. Not everyone has a stable environment to be continuously sit at a desk and pump work out for a due date the following night. Again, this pulls into flexibility. If we were able to turn assignments in at our own pace and was more lenient with their students, I feel as that building a stance with my mind and work would be easier.
I love this quote because I agree with it 100%. Intelligence is great in itself, but we have to know how to apply it in our everyday lives. What good is it to have information and then not use it? If you learn something share it, form an opinion, and act accordingly.
this sentence presents the idea that studying and reviewing the habits of mind may teach some students different ways in which they can act on information that they have. It provides suggestions and options for those who may be confused.
I like this quote. It makes me think about the old saying “knowledge is power”, but that is only true if you know what to do with it.
Many people have great ideas and a lot of knowledge but not been taught how to act on it.
I think this is very important, being able to know how to use information obtained.
What behaviors indicate an efficient, effective thinker? What do human beings do when they behave intelligently? Vast research on effective thinking, successful people, and intelligent behavior by Ames (1997), Carnegie and Stynes (2006), Ennis (1991), Feuerstein, Rand, Hoffman, and Miller (1980), Freeley (as reported in Strugatch, 2004), Glatthorn and Baron (1991), Goleman (1995), Perkins (1991), Sternberg (1984), and Waugh (2005) suggests that effective thinkers and peak performers have identifiable characteristics. These characteristics have been identified in successful people in all walks of life: lawyers, mechanics, teachers, entrepreneurs, salespeople, physicians, athletes, entertainers, leaders, parents, scientists, artists, teachers, and mathematicians.
What do the others do to achieve or to settle into some degree of comfort with the challenges presented to us each and every day? Inside or outside of school?
The speaker submits to us that people with certain qualities are often attributed with being successful. But I’d like to point out the differences with what is a widely held standard of success, and what is small, but equally as impactful, personal success. There is no quantifying success. To do so only succeeds in alienating individuals and creating biased imagery of success.
It has been such a misconception for many years now that one must go to school and college in order to be intelligent and successful. As seen within this sentences to author makes a relation to intelligence to careers that require a college diploma. However, this reasoning has been found to be misconstrued, since many individuals have the ability to be intelligent in many aspects of life, rather than simple school subjects.
Horace Mann, a U.S. educator (1796–1859), once observed that "habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it." In Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind, we focus on 16 Habits of Mind that teachers and parents can teach, cultivate, observe, and assess. The intent is to help students get into the habit of behaving intelligently. A Habit of Mind is a pattern of intellectual behaviors that leads to productive actions. When we experience dichotomies, are confused by dilemmas, or come face-to-face with uncertainties, our most effective response requires drawing forth certain patterns of intellectual behavior. When we draw upon these intellectual resources, the results are more powerful, of higher quality, and of greater significance than if we fail to employ such patterns of intellectual behavior.
To a degree, classrooms and the actual structure of classes need to revamped to help stop resisting against a new model of education. In having lessons and units focused around the concepts, principles, etc that are still unknown, it would be interesting how education could be giving more unknowns than known material and find connections and ways to bring an understanding to those topics that have been largely unknown. When I was in Mexico, the culture there allowed me to write, reflect, and ponder much more thoroughly because there was not an inherent push to rush as fast and accurately as possible. The culture of thinking critically was approached differently than in the U.S., and the same can be said of realizing the proper educational environment needs to allow for a huge shift of emphasis to achieve such a shift and change in the approach of the environment, students are learning in.
What is it about these characteristics make these successful people successful?
By encouraging students to determine which habits they can apply to themselves can help them to recognize the kind of work they do and are capable of. BY defining them to a specific habit they are able to concentrate to that habit ti helping them.
It kind of intimidates me at how fast someone can pick up a habit. If it’s a good and healthy habit, it’s a great thing. Although more often than not, I feel as though one can pick up on the unhealthy habits easier. It makes me thing of softball. I can accidently pick up a bad batting habit and when I go to lessons, my coach will call me out for it. We’d end up taking weeks just to try to lessen the affects of this new habit.
Horace Mann was a Massachusetts educator in the 1800s, who was an enthusiastic supporter of public education. Mann would serve as both Secretary of Education for Massachusetts, along with being a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
When Horace Mann said the “habit is a cable,” i believe him. Habits are one of the hardest things to break and and it takes a strong minded person to break them. One of my habits is shaking my leg up and down when i am sitting. If i focus on it, I can stop it, otherwise it always happens.
Each situation in which our minds behave intelligently in order to work towards an answer builds upon one another. This allows us to utilize a vast majority of these situations to think critically when more evolved circumstances arise later in life.
This is a metaphor. This is a direct correlation to the point I made in my 200-300 word prompt with which I said my awe of the world leads to me making metaphors and using those metaphors as “spice” in most of my work.
The operative word here seems to be a pattern vs. a part of the set.
When these kinds of situations occur, we go back to our personal “habits of mind.” Although these are personal, most of us probably learned these ways of thinking from someone else. These behaviors were most likely a reflection of what we have seen others do in our lives.
A Habit of Mind is a composite of many skills, attitudes, cues, past experiences, and proclivities. It means that we value one pattern of intellectual behaviors over another; therefore, it implies making choices about which patterns we should use at a certain time. It includes sensitivity to the contextual cues that signal that a particular circumstance is a time when applying a certain pattern would be useful and appropriate. It requires a level of skillfulness to use, carry out, and sustain the behaviors effectively. It suggests that after each experience in which these behaviors are used, the effects of their use are reflected upon, evaluated, modified, and carried forth to future applications. Figure 2.1 summarizes some of these dimensions of the Habits of Mind, which are elaborated in Chapter 3. The following sections describe each of the 16 Habits of Mind.
How is it that we can use the Habits of Mind in our everyday life?
Each individual has a habit of mind that they personally can relate to. The behaviors and mode of actions we take indicate to the habits of mind that we each mind the most useful in our lives.
Recently, I read about the correct way to apply the CCL in the classroom and the skills needed for a student to applied and are very demanding. For example, in my 3-k program I let the children to use the blocks to crate what they please and I notice them getting angry when a tower they are constructing fall and the go back to erect the tower again, This is a sign of persisting in a task. I think that if the students knows some elements of the habits of mind, he/she would master the standard. Therefore, it will be a great deal if today teachers start using habits of mind to teach the children how have author control keeping in task and think clinically. The persisting in a task, thinking flexible, thinking about thinking, and striving for accuracy, and questioning and posing problem are skills a student must be able to use in solving mathematics problems.
I believe the answer to your first question is experience. This can work for productive or non productive habits of mind. For example a kid hitting another child to get a toy, it worked before so it should work again. A more mature example would be someone properly communicating their plans for a large project to a potential backer, if they explain their intentions clearly like they did with the last one they should get the same desired outcome.
The text basically states that by incorporating these Habits of Mind in your everyday life, many benefits will come from it.
If these intellectual behaviors are habits, then we really cannot choose when or not to use them. A habit is something that someone does without really realizing, because it is so common in their lives. Most of us cannot “choose” when to pursue these behaviors that we call habits.
We must skillfully apply these prior building blocks, or familiar situations, to help solve problems when they arise. Simply experiencing a similar situation at a previous occurrence is not enough, hence the reason it all depends on how we behave “intelligently.”
So much to say about the potential power and impact of reflection in the secondary classroom. Whole group. Individual. Teacher and student.
Our students are preparing to draft a larger paper in the next few days. I’ve included the Habits of Mind as an attachment to their work folder. We’ll be using these as a means of reflection into the paper and out of the product.
Figure 2.1. Dimensions of the Habits of Mind
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The Habits of Mind incorporate the following dimensions:
Aug 30
Many people struggle with finding their “why”, or finding what inclines them to produce good work. Many people are inclined to impress people, and overcoming this can help them produce more authentic work because it is more for YOU rather than for an audience.
Jul 17
Regina O
Regina O
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Value is the habit of mind we expect to teach every student to be when they grow to be an adult, a productive citizen. As a teacher, I have to work in modifying some of the less productive behavior.
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What do I do when the school values and the the family values differ?
Jun 4
Como esta escrito en el documento “Capacidad: Poseer las habilidades y capacidades para llevar a cabo las conductas” es de suma importancia que se cuente con las capacidades necesarias si es que quieres desenvolverte correctamente en el area que hayas escogido, ya que si no cuentas con las habilidades necesarias para hacerlo tendras muchas complicaciones, sin embargo esto se puede evitar experimentando hasta llegar a una actividad en la que te desenvuelvas bien y cumplas con los resultados estimados, en conclusión Las capacidades son fundamentales en a vida de un ser humano y nos serán de mucha ayuda si las sabemos aprovechar correctamente 
Jun 18
A Translator with Paul A's edits:
A Translator
Another Language .
. As stated in the document “Capacity: Possessing the abilities and capacities to carry out behaviors” it is of utmost importance to have the necessary capabilities if you want to develop correctly in the area you have chosen, since if you do not have the necessary skills to do so you will have many complications, however this can be avoided by experimenting until A activity in which you feel comfortable and fulfill the estimated results, in conclusion, capacities are essential in a human being’s life and they will be of great help if we know how to take advantage of them correctly.
Aug 30
commitment is a big thing in life. Where ever life takes you, you always have to be committed to the work. If you are just going to give up when things get hard you will be a nobody your whole life.
Jul 11
I think a lot of people struggle with reflection to improve their way of thinking. We see it now with people who we say are “stuck in their ways”. I feel that this would be the most challenging habit to create.
Jul 17
Regina O
Regina O
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Commitment is devoting to accomplish a specif goal and being prepared to face the challenges that appears in the path. A student commitment is to follow school rules, do the class and home assignments, while the teacher commitment is to be effective.
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Do these commitments are being followed by all school community members?
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Persisting
When I learn or consider tasks associated with learning, I belive persistance is key. It is important that one focuses primarily on the task at hand, rather than being preocupied by the tasks lingering on their to do list. While being persistent within our work, it allows us to put our best work forth since that is what the mind is focused on, and the completion of the task results in a positive outcome.
It’s means to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or warning.
Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they never quit.
It took me years to realize that it is never too late to pursue a career. I had to push myself out of the hole I was stuck in and work towards what I really want in life and that is to become an educator. No one but you can take the steps necessary to get to where you want. Here I am today continuing my education and so close to the end.
I totally agree and I can see myself in those sentences. I had a period of tie that I thought was not able to succeed, that I am a failure and I was able to quit. Taling to myself and thinking about mistakes that made me stronger I was able to fight that fear, and try and try again to achieve my goals. Today when I look back I see those mistakes, and action as a positive rewards that made me who I am today.
This is very true. You must take action before you ca be successful.You can not just sit around and do nothing and expect everything to be handed to you. You must work for want you want and it is never to late to start.
Success cannot always come easy. Without action, things would never get done. Being successful comes with responsibilities, like putting in the work. Working towards anything will make you better. For something to feel rewarding, the work must come first.
That’s related to me because success is having achieved popularity, and I still today care for my education and moving forward.
I agree and I think we can all agree how we make these mistakes our whole life but succeed by never quitting and keep going.
Efficacious people never give up. Unfortunately, students often give up in their class work. I often talk to them and put me as an example. I tell them that I have two jobs, three daughters and I am completing my Masters. I always try to tell them that there is nothing impossible in life.
We can’t even begin to move towards what we desire without putting some work in. Our actions are driven by our want to succeed.
In this line we see how successful people keep moving even after mistakes they never quit. In the Ted Talk by Diana Nyad she explains that even though the journey of swimming from Cuba to Florida had never been done she found a way and did it, after it taking 4 tries.
Conrad Hilton says keep moving. The first sentence says: Efficacious people stick to a task until it is complete.
During all of the years, I have achieved things but also I have fallen. I was blamed for not being able to do that or this, but I talked to myself that mistakes and experiences teach us how to do things next time the appropriate method. Mistakes make us face our fears. I never thought I was able to handle alone my life in another country far away from my family. I moved to the USA alone when I was 25 and through my hard work, mistakes, during my moments of crying and laughing I was able to succeed and to achieve my goal.
If people “keep moving,” and are persistent with their actions, they can accomplish success.
I actually used this HOM on my finite test this morning. There was one problem in particular that I kept getting stuck on, but instead of giving up I tried every possible equation I could think of to solve the problem until I got it.
A lot of people, myself included, struggle with persistence and trying to keep going when met with struggles and mistakes. With persistence, one will eventually find success.
Though I also struggled with persistence when finishing my degree 4years ago I am glad that I didn’t give up. I took a really long break and attempted a different career path and gained valuable skills and experiences that have better prepared me to be successful in the career that I was meant for.
—Conrad Hilton
Efficacious people stick to a task until it is completed. They don't give up easily. They are able to analyze a problem, and they develop a system, structure, or strategy to attack it. They have a repertoire of alternative strategies for problem solving, and they employ a whole range of these strategies. They collect evidence to indicate their problem-solving strategy is working, and if one strategy doesn't work, they know how to back up and try another. They recognize when a theory or an idea must be rejected and another employed. They have systematic methods for analyzing a problem, which include knowing how to begin, what steps must be performed, what data must be generated or collected, and what resources are available to assist. Because they are able to sustain a problem-solving process over time, they are comfortable with ambiguous situations.
I think it’s really important that high-profile athletes are modeling what it looks like to know one’s own limits and how to advocate for their own physical and mental health. The price for when people don’t feel like they can do that is often too high. As educators, I think we also have a responsibility to help our students develop this ability – and to support them in those choices.
“I was like: I think the girls need to do the rest of the competition without me. They were like ‘I promise you’ll be fine, we watched you warm-up’. But I said ‘no, I know I am going to be fine but I can’t risk a medal for the team and I need to call it…
You usually don’t hear me say things like that because I usually persevere and push through things, but not to cost the team a medal. So they were like: OK, if Simone says this, we need to take it pretty serious. I had the correct people around me to do that."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/sport/simone-biles-tokyo-2020-olympics/index.html
I think it’s important to know when to take a step back and regroup or allow time to reassess everything. Sometimes we aren’t going about things the right way or at the right time. I think it’s important to understand that there are different paths to success and that our definition of it will change as we learn and grow.
There are times that it makes feel pointless but taking a step back to assess the problem and look at the big picture, it can give you the answer. Having a different plan for every time the other one doesn’t work will make you efficacious. Being able to do this will also give you the ability to be comfortable taking on such problems.
This text brings up a mystery for me—how can one achieve success in problem-solving when it’s faced with something unfamiliar? It takes creativity, confidence, and lots of trial-and-error. This isn’t an exact science, but ultimately, knowing that you have the resilience and determination to keep going in the face of uncertainty is vital to effectively tackling unfamiliarity.
Efficacious people are confident that they can eventually solve any problem. We might think of them as people who embodied “can do” attitudes.
Not for nothing, but I love this word, “efficacious.”
I think this habit is important because people will often procrastinate or even not fully complete a task. Persistence is an important habit because it allows us to have complete work as well as displaying our best work and knowledge. It is important to stick to a task until it is completed.
Staying on top of things is an important habit to have. Procrastination is a word that everybody knows because everyone has done it at some point in their life. Being an efficacious person will make life ten times easier, not giving up until your task is completed
Being persistent and having a good work ethic kind of go hand in hand for me. If you’re persistent and can finish a task that you are assigned in the time that it needs to be finished, you also have a good work ethic. You worked hard and tirelessly to finish that task at hand.
When reading this Habit of Mind it made me think of how I am. When ever something is thrown my way I have to complete it then and there. Not only do I do that but it has to be perfect in my eyes. It has helped me develop a system of working.
I find that being persistent has always been on of my key attributes. Whether it is in school, sports, or extracurricular activities I have always been describes as persistent. Being a gymnast at a young age taught me to not give up when things get tough. To push through and persevere was the best way to accomplish your goals.
I would like to preface my next statement with the fact that I support and commend hard workers who try their best on every single task they are assigned. This is something that is very difficult. However, in the context of this sentence, and the paragraph as a whole, I do not believe this to be a healthy standard. The ability to be persistant is an admirable trait, but is also an all too easy way to suffer burnout in strong waves of crippling self doubt and perfectionist lines of thinking. Always be mindful of your emotional and mental state before starting on any task. Breaks can make those assignments blossom a hundred times easier than just bum rushing through it.
What mental connections are made to have these things align?
This sentence will stay with me forever. When I have the opportunity to teaching in a classroom, I would love to take this sentence as a part of the classroom. I believe this sentence is very meaningful, and as a future educator, I will teach the students that if they feel stuck completing a task, they need to analyze and look for other strategies to see if work but they should never give up.
I agree with you Laura. The way that this sentence is crafted is direct and impactful. It labels what it means to persevere and identifies the actionable steps that are essential characteristics of individuals who persevere. It definitely is a sentence worth sharing with students!
I think this personality trait is extremely useful as well as negative. I believe that it is great because I become organized and will never give up but if the plan doesn’t work I get frustrated because I spend so much time planning.
i believe sometimes its easier to not give up on a goal when you have a bigger purpose or motivation . recognizing when its worth trying to accomplish or solve something in life its also very important when its about being persisting as well
Sometimes I wish I could be a laid-back person sometimes about things because I am a persistent person about everything and anything even if it is small
Students often give up when they don't immediately know the answer to a problem. They sometimes crumple their papers and throw them away, exclaiming "I can't do this!" or "It's too hard!" Sometimes they write down any answer to get the task over with as quickly as possible. Some of these students have attention deficits. They have difficulty staying focused for any length of time; they are easily distracted, or they lack the ability to analyze a problem and develop a system, structure, or strategy of attack. They may give up because they have a limited repertoire of problem-solving strategies, and thus they have few alternatives if their first strategy doesn't work.
I find this paragraph ture about myself. I often will sometimes “give up” or “get distracted” when I can not find a solution to the homework or if I do not understand the homework. Instead of trying to find help or find ways to get the help, such as asking a classmate or a teacher to elaborate on the homework I instead find myself pushing the homework to the side and coming back to it later. I would not necessarily say I have an attention deficit, I just sometimes put something aisde if I does not seem “easy” on the surface. One of my goals for 2021 is to take a dive and challenge myself, whether it is doing the hardest homework first or challeging myself at the gym.
I think as an educator, especially in mathematics, it is essential to help students learn how to persist and work through the various and endless roadblocks they will face with math. Personally, I enjoy the problem-solving and the many times I have to restart or revisit a problem before finally “getting it.” To me it’s all part of the fun of mathematics. However, I want to share with my future students that persisting is essential to math learning and it’s all part of the process.
"Weekly open-ended math tasks can pique students’ interest, leading them to take risks and develop a growth mindset.”
Encouraging Persistence in Math:<a href=“https://t.co/gH7oQoBeuF”https://t.co/gH7oQoBeuF— Brian Aspinall (@mraspinall) May 28, 2018
I see this too often and I personally have urges sometimes t give up on a problem that takes too much effort to solve. I know many times in Calculus class I have to redo a problem 10 times before I am able to get it right on my own. I know that I could just look in the back of the book and write down an answer but the relief of finally getting it is such a perfect feeling. Too many students are missing out on this feeling of accomplishment. They lack the drive. Often times I think about the end to motivate myself in the beginning. Just thinking about how great it will feel to exercise my mind and feel success is enough to give me a little push.
I definitely see this a lot personally I always get stuck trying to start tasks however when I get to it I end up enjoying the activity. Habits are difficult to break however taking on tasks as time goes by it gets easier. I put the goal in mind to give myself a jumpstart.
As teachers we should give students the tools to explore rather than make them feel there is no in-between correct and incorrect.
I have to agree with this comment that children will give up when they do not know the answer. I was absolutely the child that gave up when things seemed hard or when there was not enough clarity for me, As Educators we should ensure that we are meeting children where they are are ensuring they feel understood and are understanding.
I read this sentence and I can see myself doing the same thing couple of years ago. changing my carrier from being a lawyer was not an easy decision. When I started taking a science course, sometimes I felt exhausted and I want it to drop the course. it was not an easy process to talk to myself and find a solution, I saw that are many different ways to solve this problem, and asking for help is a way that I do not feel uncomfortable anymore. I start to build plan B or C, in case my plan A does not work. I was not seeing that as a failure but as a way to persist in my success.
I can relate to this sentence because this happens with my 14 year old son. During parent teacher conference, his teachers always speak highly about his participation in class but that he falls behind when it comes to completing assignments in class. To them it seems that he is always in a rush to complete an assignment when he has trouble understanding what it is asking. I believe that there are students who need extra support from teachers. Assignments should be broken down for them and teachers should encourage students to ask questions when they don’t understand something.
I believe as students, we have all experienced some form of writing down any answer to get an assignment done. Whether it may be writing down a condensed, sloppy answer, to a completely incorrect one, sometimes we can be so exhausted or tired we just do it to get the assignment done.
People with ADHD are often given tips and tricks for how to better focus their attention. They are trained to work against rather than with their brain’s natural way of functioning. While I generally agree that people with ADHD can benefit from learning how to focus their attention and manage their time, I think many also cause themselves unnecessary pain trying to work against their natural inclinations. People with ADHD are better described as having “variable attention” and can be astonishingly focused (“hyperfocused”) on tasks that engage and interest them. Instead of always trying to better focus on externally mandated tasks, we can also give people with ADHD the opportunity and means to engage with tasks that are meaningful to them. We can help them to leverage their ability to hyper-focus and to think creatively. But this requires starting from a standpoint of seeing ADHD as a divergent way of thinking and processing (with attendant strengths and challenges) rather than simply as a deficit.
While I do agree with this, I believe they fail to mention the students who’s anxiety holds them back sometimes. It’s never “This is too hard, I can’t do it,” but more of “I feel like this isn’t good enough,” so they’ll do everything they can do avoid that feeling all together. Unfortunately, that sometimes results in no answer at all. Ultimately, I think educators should recognize that not all students lack skill, but simply fear what skills they have are not enough.
I agree. One piece this section fails to mention is the outcome that maybe it is not that students choose not to work but rather feel as if the work they do is not enough to secure the grade they would like. Just about everything we do is to keep ourselves from drowning, to get ourselves to the next assignment. Sometimes, the only answer we can come up with is none at all.
I think this lacks empathy and imagination for the many reasons a student might struggle to persist. I also think we should consider what we can do as educators to create conducive environments rather than simply looking to change the mindsets of students.
Metaphors:
1. Keeping focused is like trying to read in a hurricane.
2. Concentrating on one task is like trying to maintain balance while walking on a tightrope.
3. Education is like a ship heading towards an unknown shore.
4. Understanding a problem is like unlocking the door to a new world.
5. Studying is like climbing a mountain.
Similes:
1. Attention is like a key, unlocking the door to knowledge.
2. Technology is like a distraction beacon that draws attention away from learning.
3. Grasping a concept is like catching a fly in the dark.
4. Concentrating on a task is like trying to build a house in the middle of a battlefield.
5. Listening to directions is like following a treasure map.
Hyperboles:
1. My thoughts are so scattered I can’t concentrate on anything for more than a second.
2. Listening to lectures is like trying to paint a mural in a hurricane.
3. Staying on topic is impossible because distractions are everywhere!
4. Grasping a concept is like swimming through a raging river.
5. Processing complex information is like trying to understand an alien language.
Personifications:
1. Distractions call to me, demanding my attention.
2. My brain is constantly running in a million different directions.
3. Knowledge is a messenger that is trying to get my attention.
4. Understanding is a golden key, waiting for me to open the door.
5. Concentration is a petulant child, refusing to cooperate.
Extended Metaphors:
1. Comprehending a topic is like flying to a distant land, through a voyage of exploration and discovery.
2. Staying focused is like training for a marathon, needing determination and resilience on the journey.
3. Understanding a complex problem is like walking out of a dark tunnel into the light of understanding.
4. Grasping a concept is like forging a path through a thick forest of confusion.
5. Paying attention is like keeping a fire burning, requiring ongoing effort and attention.
I think persisting is an important way to deal with problems. When you’re facing a problem, you need to try to find ways to solve it. Coming up with a plan and strategies to help you is a vital life skill.
in my personal opinion this was me with math instead of trying to learn i was always choose to leave alone or give it up to somebody, eventually i understood and caught interest and even doe its still hard i try to find my ways around the problems .
I’ve seen students allow themselves to become easily distracted or avoid a task because they are frustrated as striving readers. Once they lose their motivation to persist, it becomes even harder to help them develop their skills. Persistence is key to life!
Managing Impulsivity
Impulsivity can lead to many negatives when attempting to focus on the task at hand. Technology plays a major part in this problem. When we hear notifications from our personal devices we impulsively and instinctively look to see if someone has responded to us or messaged us first. So if try to manage this impulse, only then can we learn and tackle the challenge at hand.
Identify the behavior to change
Goal-directed, self-imposed delay of gratification is perhaps the essence of emotional self-regulation: the ability to deny impulse in the service of a goal, whether it be building a business, solving an algebraic equation, or pursuing the Stanley Cup.
—Daniel Goleman
Effective problem solvers are deliberate: they think before they act. They intentionally establish a vision of a product, an action plan, a goal, or a destination before they begin. They strive to clarify and understand directions, they develop a strategy for approaching a problem, and they withhold immediate value judgments about an idea before they fully understand it. Reflective individuals consider alternatives and consequences of several possible directions before they take action. They decrease their need for trial and error by gathering information, taking time to reflect on an answer before giving it, making sure they understand directions, and listening to alternative points of view.
I feel like, as teenagers, this may be what we struggle with the most. Most of us don’t think twice about what we say or how it could hurt someones feeling. I myself have been working on that along with a load of other things for months and am very proud of how far I have come and the work I’ve done
This can related to all of us teenagers some of us don’t think about it before doing it cause children are adults (in their 20s) their brains are not fully developed.
1. have a vision
2. a plan
3. a goal … before I begin? I fear that I would never get anything done if I had all of that before I took action.
4. get clear on directions
5. consider different paths
6. gather info to avoid trial and error.
Wow… wow… this feels like a lot to work on. I’m curious to know how taking action and getting ready to take action mix in this habit.
Hi Paul,
I indeed had the same thought. It is quite an extensive list of what it means to be deliberate. If every problem-solving process that didn’t adhere to these exact steps could be written off as “impulsive,” then some of the best decisions in history may not not have been made. Particularly in art, in which processes take on a unique logic of their own, these specific steps might be less-than applicable.
I think that the role of intuition might have been given the short shrift in this Habit of Mind.
People who think before they act on things most of the time they are gonna be great with the outcome they receive and better things will come their way.
You have specified that you strive to clarify and understand directions and to articulate your thoughts. You have also emphasized your deliberate approach to problem solving and your consideration of alternatives and consequences before you take action. These qualities are all reflected in your reading of the text. You seem to be looking for ways to better understand your thoughts and actions by connecting the concepts outlined in the text to your own experiences. By doing so, you can reflect on your own behavior and approach to problem solving, which can help you identify potential areas of improvement and guide your practice. As you reread the text, consider how the concepts discussed can be applied to situations in your own life and how your deliberate approach and consideration of consequences reflects in the decisions you make.
You have described yourself as a reflective individual who seeks to understand directions, takes time to reflect before taking action, and listens to alternative points of view.
This is a great framework for managing impulsivity. As you read the text, ask yourself how the behavior it suggests matches or contrasts with the strategies you have already identified.
Consider situations where countering impulse and being deliberate might be especially important.
How can you use the tips in the text to come up with strategies to help you stay on track and achieve your goals? How can you practice and apply these tips in the context of managing your own impulsivity?
This habit is the one that I struggle with the most. While learning virtually I can have many impulses that can prohibit my education such as wanting to sleep in more or to go get coffee. At times, these impulses can have consequences to my learning. As the habit explains, I need to think about and access the consequences of an action before acting on it.
This is something I have been told since I was a child. I am a very impulsive person. I can think of plans on the spot and have people and times within the hour. But that can also be a bad thing in some situations. Sometimes I say things without thinking about what I’m about to say and sometimes I do things and realize later that it may not have been the smartest idea. Learning to think before you act can be beneficial to everybody and can even save some relationships or friendships.
This sentence is very good at explaining problem solvers as many people make decisions before they really take the time to think about the consequences so it is always good to think before you act.
Thinking before acting is something intelligent because it may be that you can get out of a problem and win a game or fight if you can think I think that persisting before acting is very intelligent in its own way
Being impulsive can be seen as an active problem solver. Being impulsive can mean you are aware of what needs to be done or improved around you, with the right guidance and structure this can be a positive thing.
eh the best action to not make a mistake
Impulsivity is a trait which comes from some people who may not be aware of the Habits of Mind. Thinking before acting is very crucial. For example if one is having a conversation, it is important to review the tone and message you want to send across before doing it. For if one impulsively says something it may portray to the wrong audience and be taken in an unintended way. As humans, with sensitive feelings, we should have an action plan or a goal before almost and activity whether that is a conversation, action, etc.
My main step to accomplishing a goal its writing it down and giving myself a period of time to solve it after that i develop a strategy on how to accomplish my goal.
In a high school classroom there are many situations where a direction or strategy is given through coursework. For example in my math class experiences, I have found that the more impulsive people are quick to give up when given a hard equation. However, the more effective people who are aware of the Habits of Mind take more time to understand the directions and find a way to figure out the problem. I feel as though this taps into being impulsive for if one is not willing to instantly understand and have their “gratification” then how will they make any other valuable decisions in life. Sometimes it takes a little longer to figure something out. This is okay, for it will only benefit us an give us more understanding of issues.
Understanding all aspects of a situation is important when evaluating what the best course of action should be. There is a lot less room for error when one takes each possible outcome into consideration. Looking at all alternatives can allow for a person to make the “right” decision.
Impulse its an emotion to me that we reflect the wrong way at times by just letting things out. for example i fought a person at work because i was holding in a lot of anger towards them and ended up getting fired . wrong move lead by impulsivity
Often, students blurt out the first answer that comes to mind. Sometimes they shout an answer, start to work without fully understanding the directions, lack an organized plan or strategy for approaching a problem, or make immediate value judgments about an idea (criticizing or praising it) before they fully understand it. They may take the first suggestion given or operate on the first idea that comes to mind rather than consider alternatives and the consequences of several possible directions. Research demonstrates, however, that less impulsive, self-disciplined students are more successful. For example, Duckworth and Seligman (2005) found
This sort of progression we have looked into more and more over the past few weeks. We read about the perception that the ideal thinker is one that already knew what to do, did not have to think further, and has already begun acting to solve the problem. We learned that it has not always been this way, but more recently in our culture the man chosen for a job first is the one who does not need to think about it. We have morphed thinking first and acting later into a sign of weakness. If you don’t move fast, you will eat the dust of your fellow man. Clearly, this mentality that is still pushed not only inhibits success, but even more importantly, it inhibits creativity.
For years, I always wondered why certain students would blurt out whatever came to their mind when a question was asked. Even when a question wasn’t asked, something would come out and almost always it was annoying. Through out the years, I have learned to exercise patience when I come across this, but never knew it was an actual habit of the mind. Reading this has made me more alert and I will come up with ways to help manage this if/when I come across it.
Al igual considero que una persona impulsiva puede llegar a ser un tanto problematica al no medir las consecuencias que pueden pasar.
Self-discipline predicts academic performance more so than cognitive ability.
As we seek to help our students develop better skills of active listening and second-level thinking, we should strive to create environments where students feel comfortable and safe, and our expectations of them are clear. We should also seek to find ways to help them practice and hone their self-discipline. This text proposes that by teaching active listening, second-level thinking, and self-discipline, we can help our students become more successful. We can provide our students with an environment that is positive and supportive, while clearly communicating our expectations. We can also seek out different tactics that help our students develop awareness and self-discipline, such as role-playing, creating reflective journals, and offering patience and positive reinforcement. Together, these tools can help our students actively listen to, reflect upon, and thoughtfully respond to the ideas expressed by themselves or their peers.
One effective way to teach students to think before blurting out answers is to ‘slow things down’ (Kohn, 2002). A step-by-step approach to decision making can become part of the regular functioning of the classroom. This is especially true when it comes to problem-solving or tackling new concepts. For example, try having kids pause and reflect when introducing activities. Ask them to take a break to “stop and think”, and check in to see if they’re feeling confident about the activity and ready to move forward. With practice, they can develop the skill of thinking before blurting out answers.
After that, I began to focus on pausing, thinking, reflecting, and reconsidering what it was I was about to say. Through this process, I started to be able to listen to people more, understand their perspectives better, and weigh in with an appropriate comment. Most importantly, I was able to think more deeply before speaking. Additionally, I started to take advantage of metacognition or the ability to think about my thoughts. By doing this, I practiced self-reflection to consider my thoughts and my own perspectives. Metacognition has therefore given me the ability to practice active listening without making judgments or giving my own biased opinion. It has also allowed me to stay true to the topic discussed and to present a more constructive deliberation.
I’m a very impulsive person and do a lot of things on the regular without analyzing, i agree with this statement that less impulsive people are definitely more successful
Highly self-disciplined adolescents outperformed their more impulsive peers on every academic performance variable, including report-card grades, standardized achievement test scores, admission to a competitive high school and attendance. Self-discipline measured in the fall predicted more variance in each of these outcomes than did IQ, and unlike IQ, self-discipline predicted gains in academic performance over the school year. (p. 940)
Self-discipline roots from impulsivity. A person who is impulsive, says impulsive remarks, or performs action impulsively, has a low self-discipline most of the time. There is a difference between a person who lives life on the edge vs. someone who is impulsive. I like to say I am someone who lives life on the edge. However, that does not mean I am not making smart decisions as I am still very aware of my grades, work, priorities, but also still trying to find a sense of adventure and creating a fun life. It is fully convincing that those who are impulsive have a lower IQ or grades that suffer. Self-discipline is important and one should always think of their actions before making a decision.
Listening with Understanding and Empathy
If one were to analyze my character, they would find that I am a very empathetic and understanding person, which is where Listening with Understanding and Empathy works in my world. One thing I excel at is paying attention to one’s thoughts, feelings, and ideas. I constantly put myself in the shoe’s of those around me, and use my personal experience to connect with them. A key factor in having a strong relationship with those you care about, is the ability to empathize with them when they face trials and tribulations. This is why Listening with Understanding and Empathy makes the list of top three Habits of Mind that are most involved in my life.
When you’re in a situation where someone is speaking to you in confidence, consider using these phrases to show them you’re listening empathically: For Example Thank you for sharing this with me.
Every human being is born with a sense of empathy, unless you are mentally ill. It is undoubtedly important to understand others problems and feel a sense of empathy when your friends or family are met with challenges.
Very important in music education. Perhaps the most important thing, actually.
The 16 #HabitsOfMind can be used to enhance mastery of music concepts, techniques and skills. Sharing the habits can result in a population of well-equipped music students who build upon basic skills that lead to proficient mastery of musical performance. <a href=“https://t.co/KN5H1XL5Cz”https://t.co/KN5H1XL5Cz
— Bena Kallick (@benakallick) April 26, 2022
Listening is the beginning of understanding. … Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening. Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.
I think about all the times my mom had told me about some of the things our family and friends have gone through. They had faced some hardships and made some mistakes. I heard it but did I really listen? I didn’t because if I did I wouldn’t have made the same mistakes. As they say, you live and you learn, but how many generations need to learn the same thing over and over?
On one of the previous Now Comment articles, I commented something similar to this sentence. I said that if I talked to every one in the world, I am quite certain I would be the smartest person in the world. When you actually pay attention to what people are saying, you are not only giving them respect, you are learning from them! My grandpa always has insightful things to say, and I always learn something when I talk to him. Everyone you know knows at least one thing that you don’t. It is only when you truly listen to them that you learn it.
Yes, paying attention to and listening to others while they speak is a sign of respect. And it is essential in all aspects of our lives, including school, relationships, and work.
I agree with you. I believe that when you listen to somebody you are learning from them and getting to understand their way of thinking, and experiences. Listening is a skill that we need to develop as it helps us understand each other better.
We listen to others as we would hope they listen to us. When we listen, we learn. This is about respecting others and learning from those.
You can just sit next to someone while they are talking, but that won’t mean much. You need to be there taking in every word they may have to say. Understanding what someone has to say will also help you learn
I agree with this that listening can help you better understand a situation. I’ve always liked to get feedback and input from my friends on projects and school related work. It is nice to have peers to lean on for help and to reflect on each others work.
I like this quote here. Like I brought up in another comment, “knowledge is power.” And you cannot gain knowledge without listening.
Throughout life I feel as if we dont listen as much as we should be. As humans we always want to be right, so we start speaking before we actually get a chance at listening; this causes us to not learn about eachother because we dont step back and just listen.
You have no idea how much knowledge you can actually learn if you would just open up your mind and listen to the people around you. You can learn so many different things that you would’ve had no clue about if you had not been listening. In order to gain wisdom from listening to someone talk, you do not even have to agree with what they are saying, you just have to be listening intently.
—Proverbs 1:5
Highly effective people spend an inordinate amount of time and energy listening (Covey, 1989). Some psychologists believe that the ability to listen to another person—to empathize with and to understand that person's point of view—is one of the highest forms of intelligent behavior. The ability to paraphrase another person's ideas; detect indicators (cues) of feelings or emotional states in oral and body language (empathy); and accurately express another person's concepts, emotions, and problems—all are indicators of listening behavior. (Piaget called it "overcoming egocentrism.")
It’s a tough choice to carry one with other people’s feelings. To see other’s people’s points of view and understand them.
Empathy is something I believe I mastered as a child. I have always been sensitive to others and was also taught that my feelings are not the only expression in the universe. Listen to others and understand where they are coming from. You can always relate with someone in their situation, even in it’s minor detail. Sometime the little things matter the most, and a little understanding can make a HUGE impact!!!
Keeping an open mind when listening is important and taking time to process what a person is saying before responding. I think it is a good idea to talk to people outside of your usual perspective to get a different perspective and sometimes it can strengthen your own.
I find this sentence particularly interesting. If the ability to empathize and understand others is a sign of high intelligence, this would mean that our actors, authors, and artists are some of our most brilliant minds. Despite this, many look down on these professions, telling people to shy away from them as these professions are “difficult” to be successful or not “real jobs.”
indeed listening sounds easy , however it is one of the most difficult things to do. both young children, teenagers and adults tend to want to have an opinion of any topic or voice out our feelings. the ability to demonstrate empathy and understanding is borne out of a great level of listening skills. day to day the goal should be aiming to listen more to others and talk less that way we can better understand differences in opinion and enhance our acceptance of others.
It seems easy to say that I want to listen to others before saying anything or acting, but it is a hard process that we incorporate our brain with or vulnerability to tall before listening. I was doing Yoga for a while, and as a person that I react very quickly, it helps me to talk before with my own self before jumping to conclusions.
It may sound very easy task. However, a lot of people will struggle practicing it. I believe if we can listen to other person and respect their point of view, this society will be a better place.
I think that listening with understanding and empathy is a habit of mind that I use quite often. I always like to listen to everyones opinion for I conclude my own strong one. I always try to understand others.
The ability to be able to truly listen and understand someone is harder than most people think. A lot of people today don’t take the time to really put yourself in other people’s situation. This causes disagreements and problems. Psychologists say this is one of the highest forms of intelligent behavior because it is a hard task made to sound easy. People may think they’re doing it or it’s simple but very few really take the time to do this.
Listening its more than just catching somebody conversation , songs can change your mood just by a beat sound, somebody voice can remind you to keep the good track in life or maybe learn about your dream career just by listening to a commercial
I agree with this. I believe that being a good listener is an important habit to develop because when you are a good listener you are able to communicate and understand others better.
Everyone needs the opportunity to be heard. While listening, we should make connection with other person and even try to find similarities between your own experience. it is important to understand and have empathy with the conversation.
i agree that it takes a lot of intelligence to understand a person and their Pov without being arrogant and stubborn.
This 45-second TikTok video starts with an animated heart-shaped graphic and four words in boldface: “Teach Empathy Through Kindness”. The drone shot shows a young woman surrounded by a crowd of people. She’s engaging in a conversation with two people while, at the same time, she’s listening attentively to a third.
The camera angle changes and an illustration of a heart appears as we discover the woman is a host of a public service discussion forum. She introduces a series of topics for discussion, and, before the forum begins, she encourages everyone to be kind and respectful of one another.
The scene then transitions to those in attendance discussing their personal stories of resilience and understanding. They share how empathy has positively affected their relationships, communities, and personal lives. As the video comes to its conclusion, fading music slowly takes over, and the woman ends her discussion by summarizing the importance of teaching and learning empathy.
This video utilizes drone and stationary shots with cool filter effects, creating an upbeat and interesting vibe. With the use of dynamic and creative editing, the message of the video is effective and resonates with its viewers. The TikTok ends with a question: “How can we teach empathy?” The video wraps up by asking everyone to comment so that the discussion may continue.
To understand listening, you have to listen patiently to what the other person has to say, even if you do not agree with it. It is important to show acceptance. Try to get a sense of the feelings that the speaker is expressing, and stay mindful of the emotional content being said as well as the literal meaning of the words. An empathic listener works to keep the speaker from becoming defensive. I think this is a really good skill that everyone should at least show some knowledge on.
I agree with the statement you made about how we need to listen to others even if we do not agree with them. Everyone deserves to be heard. Effective listening makes it possible to get clear messages across and avoid any misunderstandings.
People who demonstrate this Habit of Mind are able to see through the diverse perspectives of others. They gently attend to another person, demonstrating their understanding of and empathy for an idea or a feeling by paraphrasing it accurately, building upon it, clarifying it, or giving an example of it.
For me, this is one of the more difficult habits of mind. I have always seemed to struggle with understanding why people are upset in their particular situation and I guess that’s just because I was not in their shoes and did not know what they were feeling. I have also struggled with empathizing with others for the same reason. Without being in their situation, I just can’t understand the issue. It’s not every time, but it definitely happens often. It is something I really need to work on this year.
When you work in the hospitality industry listening is a must. I’ve worked with and served people from all around the world and I’ve never had a customer I couldn’t help. Even if there wasn’t a solution to a problem customers who felt heard and appreciated felt like they had a solution. Many times acknowledging the little things that people would normally brush off their shoulders mean a lot to customers and demonstrates that you really are listening.
Having empathy can sometimes be difficult but it is a necessary part of our interactions with others. Seeing things through another person’s perspective allows us to understand their situation better as well as find the best solution or way to help them with whatever issue they are facing. Having empathy would also overall make the world a better place because we would take the time to understand others instead of judging them prematurely.
Senge, Roberts, Ross, Smith, and Kleiner (1994) suggest that to listen fully means to pay close attention to what is being said beneath the words—listening not only to the "music" but also to the essence of the person speaking; not only for what someone knows but also for what that person is trying to represent. Ears operate at the speed of sound, which is far slower than the speed of light the eyes take in. Generative listening is the art of developing deeper silences in oneself, slowing the mind's hearing to the ears' natural speed and hearing beneath the words to their meaning.
We spend 55 percent of our lives listening, but it is one of the least taught skills in schools. We often say we are listening, but actually we are rehearsing in our head what we are going to say when our partner is finished. Some students ridicule, laugh at, or put down other students' ideas. They interrupt, are unable to build upon, can't consider the merits of, or don't operate on another person's ideas.
People spend a little over half their life listening to other, but they are never taught the proper way. In schools they are just listening and learning and at home as well. People just catch on to what is going on around them and mimicking what they are doing so if they grow up around people who do not know how to show respect while listen then they will never know the difference between right and wrong.
I do this quite a bit, but now I can catch myself when I do it. I think people like to hear themselves talk and we think what we have to say has more value. I took a psych class over the summer, but I took away that one of the most important things we can do is listen to others and learn from them. It isn’t always about us.
When someone is talking to me, I know it sounds rude but I don’t listen as well as I should and I notice that. I practice in my head what my next sentence is going to be and do not fully take in and understanding what is being said to me. I am sure many others do it as well, its just how we are
Some people listen to respond ad do not listen ti understand where the individual they are talking to is coming from. They will say things such as " are you finish" which shows they are not listening. When I am having a conversation with someone and they have finished talking I say to them " this is what I am getting from what you are saying" and I say what I got out of the conversation because I could be interpreting what they are saying wrong. Also, I would ask them " what did you hear me say"? I ask that because I want them to understand where I am coming from and I want to understand where they are going from. We should listen to understand and not wait to talk.
I sometimes do this but it’s not on purpose because when either my friends, brother, or mom talk to me i end up zoning out and thinking about what my next comment gonna be
We want students to learn to devote their mental energies to another person and to invest themselves in their partner's ideas. We want students to learn to hold in abeyance their own values, judgments, opinions, and prejudices so they can listen to and entertain another person's thoughts. This is a complex skill requiring the ability to monitor one's own thoughts while at the same time attending to a partner's words. Listening in this way does not mean we can't disagree with someone. Good listeners try to understand what other people are saying. In the end, they may disagree sharply, but because they have truly listened, they know exactly the nature of the disagreement.
I find this interesting because in English/rhetoric & composition, we spend a lot of time talking about the need to communicate to an intended audience. Writers and speakers are always asked to communicate with the audience in mind. But I don’t think we spend enough time asking listeners to listen with the speaker or writer in mind. We put all the burden on the speaker/writer and little on the listener. This is relevant, in my opinion, to debates about what constitutes “appropriate” language or proper usage conventions. Whose standards are we being asked to perform to and whose cultures, language practices and conventions are being marginalized? Focusing on listening and empathy seems important in this regard.
This is a very complex form of multi-tasking.
its hard to progress in life if you dont follow the on voice rule, following instructions most of the time its based on how good of a listener you are . Also being able to interact and connect its about being able to listen to other opinion with respect and not always agree but be able to interpret and add on with it .
I believe part of being a good listener is being curious with the topic that’s being talked about and also having experience with that topic as well. Talking with someone who is inexperienced won’t benefit the situation as much.
Thinking Flexibly
Of all forms of mental activity, the most difficult to induce even in the minds of the young, who may be presumed not to have lost their flexibility, is the art of handling the same bundle of data as before, but placing them in a new system of relations with one another by giving them a different framework, all of which virtually means putting on a different kind of thinking-cap for the moment. It is easy to teach anybody a new fact. … but it needs light from heaven above to enable a teacher to break the old framework in which the student is accustomed to seeing.
yo creo que esas personas que no son capaces de pensar con flexibilidad es porque ya tienen un hábito, ya tienen una manera fija de como ver y hacer las cosas, así que cuando se presenta un nuevo método muestran miedo e inseguridad porque es algo a lo que no están acostumbrados y prefieren no intentarlo y quedarse dentro de su propia burbuja.
This is true in all areas of life, not just school. Often times we find a way of doing things that works, so we stay there and never move. It’s like if it isn’t broke don’t fix it, but we need to do things differently to see things a new way. There’s more than one right way so collaboration is key.
I think one of the most challenging aspects of being a teacher is that there is no final point in learning and understanding. There is always more to learn and there are always deeper understandings and new ways of working with the same information and processes. One of the things I look forward to as a teacher is learning how to rework my own ideas of concepts and rework my explanations of these concepts.
Music is my getaway when thinking about something that’s either hard to explain or either hard to elaborate.
—Arthur Koestler
An amazing discovery about the human brain is its plasticity—its ability to "rewire," change, and even repair itself to become smarter. Flexible people have the most control. They have the capacity to change their minds as they receive additional data. They engage in multiple and simultaneous outcomes and activities, and they draw upon a repertoire of problem-solving strategies. They also practice style flexibility, knowing when thinking broadly and globally is appropriate and when a situation requires detailed precision. They create and seek novel approaches, and they have a well-developed sense of humor. They envision a range of consequences.
It is amazing what the human brain can do. This ability to change is what makes people have the most control. learning to use the brain and its abilities to the fullest is what makes these people flexible and in control
In resource room we often would ask each child to tell about their weekend (or some activity) and then ask each of the other children to tell us one thing the child that spoke did over the weekend. I think this is a great idea for general education classrooms especially in the early years. Although it can be time consuming with25 Plus children, I believe that listening is an important skill for children to learn. (and adults,lol)
This is a good point. I also think we should normalize pauses in conversation. We shouldn’t have to have instantaneous answers and responses. It should be okay to say, “wow, I hear that. Let me think about that for a minute.” When conversation is so fast paced, it can be hard to really listen and reflect before speaking. I think this contributes to the phenomenon of formulating a response while listening.
I believe as we age and the more we learn is how our minds become more flexible. Being able to receive information and process it with great understanding is a trait that is used in everyday life, so it should be cherished
That is a skill that not many have because it is really about being focused on classes or when they are talking to you, you have to listen very well to be able to decide which opinion is the one that you like or are interested in the most.
Being able to think flexibly is an important habit of mind. The ability to think about more than one thing at once can help to stay organized and focused. It is common to forget about things, such as important dates for events or assignments in school. If one is able to think flexibly, they will not only think about the task at hand, but rather everything going on as a whole.
This sentence implies that “thinking broadly and globally” is only appropriate in some situations, which I somewhat disagree with. I disagree with the statement that thinking broadly is uncalled for in certain situations, but I would agree more if the statement said “thinking broadly in an outward manner.” Not every situation calls for a solution to end world hunger, but more simplistic thinking can be utilized for more time-efficient ways to solve smaller-scale problems. This choice between broad and simplistic thinking is thinking flexibly in action.
Flexible people can address a problem from a new angle using a novel approach, which de Bono (1991) refers to as "lateral thinking." They consider alternative points of view or deal with several sources of information simultaneously. Their minds are open to change based on additional information, new data, or even reasoning that contradicts their beliefs. Flexible people know that they have and can develop options and alternatives. They understand means-ends relationships. They can work within rules, criteria, and regulations, and they can predict the consequences of flouting them. They understand immediate reactions, but they also are able to perceive the bigger purposes that such constraints serve. Thus, flexibility of mind is essential for working with social diversity, enabling an individual to recognize the wholeness and distinctness of other people's ways of experiencing and making meaning.
Being flexible is having the ability to change your mind based on new information or ideas provided to you. Having flexibility is a big skill, especially in problem solving. If you are stuck on one thing and it isn’t working, taking other people’s ideas or exploring other options will help you solve it quicker.
These types of people are able to look at and understand several different sources of information and these individuals are open to change. Our brains are more capable than we think and this allows for new techniques and ways of learning.
This goes hand in hand with the common idea that when proposed with a problem we need to think "outside of the box, which we now know can be titled “lateral thinking.”
If we think inside the box all the time it does no good for us. We have to go out on limps and expand our mind. You might struggle on a problem but if you think about it with a different attitude it might just help you.
As such, they can think critically, ask new questions, and come up with creative solutions to complex issues. We might look to those who think flexibly as role models to observe their creative process of asking different questions and generating new approaches that allow them to think outside the box. Ultimately, flexible thinking leads to better problem-solving and more efficient decision-making.
We see in this text that flexible thinking helps us think critically and ask new questions, which leads to better problem-solving. It essentially allows us to see a different angle or perspective on a dilemma. It can be seen as a type of “lateral thinking,” as de Bono (1991) refers to it, which allows us to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to complex problems. It offers us a chance to develop new tools and come up with innovative ideas on how to approach an issue, which can lead to enhanced decision-making. Yet, there is still an unknown element to this process – how can we maximize the potential of this type of thinking and use it to its fullest capacity?
We, as students, are taught to pull several sources of information together in research papers, school projects, et cetera. As we mature, being able to accept other people’s perspectives is important to help shape our own opinions and be able to converse efficiently with our peers.
Flexible thinkers are able to shift through multiple perceptual positions at will. One perceptual orientation is what Jean Piaget called egocentrism, or perceiving from our own point of view. By contrast, allocentrism is the position in which we perceive through another person's orientation. We operate from this second position when we empathize with another's feelings, predict how others are thinking, and anticipate potential misunderstandings.
This skill often is perceived by myself and others as more of a negative idea, referred to as “overthinking.” We think through every aspect of situations and often think of the worst case scenario, when in reality our brains are thinking flexibly and simply blocking out the positive outcomes.
Another perceptual position is macrocentric. It is similar to looking down from a balcony to observe ourselves and our interactions with others. This bird's-eye view is useful for discerning themes and patterns from assortments of information. It is intuitive, holistic, and conceptual. Because we often need to solve problems with incomplete information, we need the capacity to perceive general patterns and jump across gaps of incomplete knowledge.
There is a common idea amongst our generation that considers how we often find ourselves replaying conversations in the shower with ourselves and coming up with a better comeback or something else we should have said. Here we see that it is simply a habit of the mind, as we are looking over our experience and learning from it.
Yet another perceptual orientation is microcentric, examining the individual and sometimes minute parts that make up the whole. This worm's eye view involves logical, analytical computation, searching for causality in methodical steps. It requires attention to detail, precision, and orderly progressions.
Transitioning from macrocentric thinking to more microcentric thinking is one of the most valuable skills found in intelligent people. It allows the individual to understand big patterns and substitute for unknown information, while also focusing on minor details. My brain connected this with the creation of art. An artist needs to be able to transition between these thinking systems when engaging in the artistic process.
When reading the definition of microcentric thinking, my mind darts to the concept of overthinking. Delving too far into each step of a process can cause worrisome thoughts and overthinking for some individuals. I struggle with this, thinking too deeply into situations that only call for simple thoughts.
Overthinking is a problem and has always been a problem. We overthink things that we can’t control and we shouldn’t but most of us do. Some people overthink worse than others but I think there has been a time in someone’s life that they have overthought.
Flexible thinkers display confidence in their intuition. They tolerate confusion and ambiguity up to a point, and they are willing to let go of a problem, trusting their subconscious to continue creative and productive work on it. Flexibility is the cradle of humor, creativity, and repertoire. Although many perceptual positions are possible—past, present, future, egocentric, allocentric, macrocentric, microcentric, visual, auditory, kinesthetic—the flexible mind knows when to shift between and among these positions.
Some students have difficulty considering alternative points of view or dealing with more than one classification system simultaneously. Their way to solve a problem seems to be the only way. They perceive situations from an egocentric point of view: "My way or the highway!" Their minds are made up: "Don't confuse me with facts. That's it!"
There have been plenty of moments in the classroom where I was talking to someone and we came to a disagreement or making a decision, and they barely bothered to listen to me. Their idea or thought could have been organized poorly, yet they wouldn’t imagine changing their mind and doing something different. This is often a problem with group projects. A lot of students do not want to listen to anyone in general, let alone their partner’s ideas for a project when they have their own idea.
Thinking About Thinking (Metacognition)
I believe this paragraph glamorizes ones thinking about their own thinking. In my experience with thinking about my own thoughts I tend to quickly escalate into an over thinker as I second guess myself over everything I thought to be ‘right’.
I am also a very thoughtful thinker. Every thought that crosses my mind is thought with tenderness, and with the act of being intentional. I am very aware of my thoughts and feelings, and intentions and actions. When it comes to thoughts, they are each intricately detailed, and filled with the creativity of my imagination. This is where Thinking about Thinking plays a significant role in my life
It’s mean a student learns about his or her own style of learning. A student learns about which strategies are most effective for solving problems.
Como estudiante del nivel medio superior estoy en contacto directo con este proceso o se supone debería de estarlo, no obstante, otra cosa con la que estoy viviendo todos los días es con el hecho de que las personas como compañeros de clase, autoridades y por supuesto yo misma, no somos capaces de ser concientes de este proceso y más que ser concientes de este, de usarlo a nuestro favor y desmenuzarlo por pasos, porque tal y como se menciona en esta habilidad mental, la metacognición permitirá al individuo desarrollar todo un sistema para resolver cierta problemática pero cuando no nos detenemos a analizar los pasos antes de ejecutarlos, de antemano sabremos que el resultado final no será el adecuado o el camino para llegar al resultado deseado será mas escabroso del que hubiera sido. Por ello hago incapie en la importancia de esta habilidad y de su desarrollo, análisis y práctica diaria no solo en los estudiantes que esten leyendo esto si no en todas y todos que visualicen este comentario.
When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself.
We know that active listening is a technique that requires us to reflect back all we hear without adding our own judgement or perspective. It allows us to give a better understanding of the text, and encourages our writing group for open dialogue. We all find something interesting, surprising, exciting,and sometimes even mysterious in what we read.
In this text we are made to think about how we persist, and what techniques can help to understand the text better. We can focus on self-reflection, having an open dialogue, and find something unique and special in the text we may not have seen before. This gives us new perspectives and encourages us to look at things in a more creative way. We can push ourselves to discover new things and uncover answers to the mysteries that may be hidden in the text.
—Plato
The human species is known as Homo sapiens sapiens, which basically means "a being that knows their knowing" (or maybe it's "knows they're knowing"). What distinguishes humans from other forms of life is our capacity for metacognition—the ability to stand off and examine our own thoughts while we engage in them.
Occurring in the neocortex, metacognition, or thinking about thinking, is our ability to know what we know and what we don't know. It is our ability to plan a strategy for producing the information that is needed, to be conscious of our own steps and strategies during the act of problem solving, and to reflect on and evaluate the productiveness of our own thinking. Although inner language, thought to be a prerequisite for metacognition, begins in most children around age 5, metacognition is a key attribute of formal thought flowering at about age 11.
Lexile Level: 645L – 985L
Rewrite:
Metacognition is when we think about what we know or don’t know. It’s about coming up with a plan to find the answers we need. When we’re thinking about and solving a problem, metacognition helps us think carefully about our strategy. Most children start using inner language around age 5, but by 11, they’re able to use metacognition more effectively.
Keywords: Metacognition, Prerequisite, Formal thought.
Metacognition: The ability to think about one’s own thoughts and thinking processes.
Prerequisite: Required as a basis for something else.
Formal thought: Think logically and scientifically about a cognitive problem.
The major components of metacognition are, when confronted with a problem to solve, developing a plan of action, maintaining that plan in mind over a period of time, and then reflecting on and evaluating the plan upon its completion. Planning a strategy before embarking on a course of action helps us keep track of the steps in the sequence of planned behavior at the conscious awareness level for the duration of the activity. It facilitates making temporal and comparative judgments; assessing the readiness for more or different activities; and monitoring our interpretations, perceptions, decisions, and behaviors. An example would be what superior teachers do daily: developing a teaching strategy for a lesson, keeping that strategy in mind throughout the instruction, and then reflecting upon the strategy to evaluate its effectiveness in producing the desired student outcomes.
Question 1: What are the components of metacognition?
Quote from text: “The major components of metacognition are, when confronted with a problem to solve, developing a plan of action, maintaining that plan in mind over a period of time, and then reflecting on and evaluating the plan upon its completion.”
Definition of key terms: Metacognition – thinking about how you think; plan of action – an outline of steps with intended goals;maintaining – staying aware and conscious of; reflecting – directing one’s thought back to consider someting.
Question 2: Why do we need to plan before we embark on a course of action?
Quote from text: “Planning a strategy before embarking on a course of action helps us keep track of the steps in the sequence of planned behavior at the conscious awareness level for the duration of the activity.”
Definition of key terms: plan- an outline of steps with intended goals; sequence of planned behavior – step-by-step plan of action; conscious awareness – being aware with intention and attention.
Question 3: What is an example of when metacognition can be used in practice?
Quote from text: “An example would be what superior teachers do daily: developing a teaching strategy for a lesson, keeping that strategy in mind throughout the instruction, and then reflecting upon the strategy to evaluate its effectiveness in producing the desired student outcomes.”
Definition of key terms: strategy – a plan to achieve a goal; instruction – an action of teaching; evaluating – determining value, worth, and quality of something.
Go back to the text and re-read it to find the answers to my three questions before moving on to the next paragraph. Paraphrase the quotes I have provided in my answers.
https://positivepsychology.com/positive-reinforcement-classroom/
Intelligent people plan for, reflect on, and evaluate the quality of their own thinking skills and strategies. Metacognition means becoming increasingly aware of one's actions and the effect of those actions on others and on the environment; forming internal questions in the search for information and meaning; developing mental maps or plans of action; mentally rehearsing before a performance; monitoring plans as they are employed (being conscious of the need for midcourse correction if the plan is not meeting expectations); reflecting on the completed plan for self-evaluation; and editing mental pictures for improved performance.
Last Friday our class read articles posted by Margaret Wheatley. In these articles she talked about the importance of listening to what others are saying and becoming more open to others’ thoughts. In today’s reading, this section talks about how the human brain works to solve problems. It was mentioned that some people do not use this ability, and how a reason could be that people are choosing not to take that extra time.
This section also talked about metacognition and provided an explanation of what it was. Stating how it means “becoming increasingly aware of one’s actions and the effect of those actions on others..” More examples were provided, but this line had me thinking about Margaret Wheatley’s articles. In today’s society many people will never agree with each other and this is okay. The problem is that those same people will begin to passionately despise each other because they do not see eye to eye. As a result, when one believes something the other will decide to believe the opposite. Only because the idea of agreeing with that person seems disgusting. I found that today’s reading was providing insight into why that was. Because many people choose not to achieve metacognition; therefore, they do not generate a “reflective consciousness.” While I’m sure there are other factors playing into our society’s inability to consider other people’s point of views. I thought it was interesting how this section provided some reasons behind it.
Do you think that people disagree because they aren’t capable of using their reflective consciousness?
Wheatley, Margaret J. Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to
Restore Hope to the Future San Francisco: Berrett-Koshler Publishers, Inc.,
2002.
https://nowcomment.com/documents/251070
Ponder, plan and try
Test our knowledge in the sky
Share our wisdom wide.
I have often heard that we are our own worst critics. Thinking about thinking can be a habit of the mind that provokes our mind to be critical of the own thoughts that it creates. Often times when i have an idea i may thinking about me having that idea and not like it so much anymore.
I believe being your own critic is a good thing. Having accountability is good, but not too much to where it starts messing with other aspects of life.
Interestingly, not all humans achieve the level of formal operations. As Russian psychologist Alexander Luria found, not all adults metacogitate. Although the human brain is capable of generating this reflective consciousness, generally we are not all that aware of how we are thinking, and not everyone uses the capacity for consciousness equally (Chiabetta, 1976; Csikszentmihalyi, 1993; Whimbey, Whimbey, & Shaw, 1975; Whimbey, 1980). The most likely reason is that all of us do not take the time to reflect on our experiences. Students often do not take the time to wonder why they are doing what they are doing. They seldom question themselves about their own learning strategies or evaluate the efficiency of their own performance. Some children virtually have no idea of what they should do when they confront a problem, and often they are unable to explain their decision-making strategies (Sternberg & Wagner, 1982). When teachers ask, "How did you solve that problem? What strategies did you have in mind?" or "Tell us what went on in your head to come up with that conclusion," students often respond, "I don't know. I just did it."
We want students to perform well on complex cognitive tasks. A simple example might be drawn from a reading task. While reading a passage, we sometimes find that our minds wander from the pages. We see the words, but no meaning is being produced. Suddenly, we realize that we are not concentrating and that we've lost contact with the meaning of the text. We recover by returning to the passage to find our place, matching it with the last thought we can remember, and once having found it, reading on with connectedness. This inner awareness and the strategy of recovery are components of metacognition.
Sometimes I tend to skip over words while I think about other things such as what my day will look like, what I’m having for dinner that night, or other random things like that. Especially with books I don’t enjoy reading or a book I’m not interested in, I tend to get distracted. “While reading from a passage, we sometimes find that our minds wander from the pages. We see the words but no meaning is being produced.” This explains my problem exactly. I see the words on the page, but I do not read them.
I catch myself thinking about thinking on the daily. I usually catch myself doing this at practice or when doing homework or reading. The more the author talks about this idea and what goes on in our minds when it happens the more I relate to it because that is what happens with me also.
Striving for Accuracy
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake.
An individual who commits to the ways of Confuscianism is a stressed person with little breathing room- me.
Now I don’t disagree with this statement. I am a strong believer in admitting faults. However, the speaker uses this quote in reference to intellectual faults. The lines between striving for accuracy can easily be replaced with perfection, and often is in places of education. Accuracy is important, but if we were all accurate all the time,nothing would be learned and nothing would be fixed. Humanity strives off of building onto each other and fostering a place of experimentation.
How can we every learn from our mistakes if we don’t own up to them and fix our mistakes.
I completely agree with this statement. If you know that you have made a mistake and you just continue on like nothing happened thats a problem. When we make mistakes, we need to correct them or else we will never learn from them and know how to not make that same mistake again.
Honesty within is absolutely vital. White and other Coloured lies may be said outside. Perhaps there are justifications for that. But if lies are told within, it is a HUGE deal.
Your entire life compass will be lost if this is done continuously.
We all have bearings that keep us steady. And truth (as much as we know it) to ourselves is how we keep progressing.
An example of that is,I wanna be a surgeon so for that I’ma need steps in order to be successful and do what I want,also you live and you learn from every mistake in your life so that means keep going and never quit whats gonna make you happy.
—Confucius
Whether we are looking at the stamina, grace, and elegance of a ballerina or a carpenter, we see a desire for craftsmanship, mastery, flawlessness, and economy of energy to produce exceptional results. People who value truthfulness, accuracy, precision, and craftsmanship take time to check over their products. They review the rules by which they are to abide, they review the models and visions they are to follow, and they review the criteria they are to use to confirm that their finished product matches the criteria exactly. To be craftsmanlike means knowing that one can continually perfect one's craft by working to attain the highest possible standards and by pursuing ongoing learning to bring a laserlike focus of energies to accomplishing a task.
I would describe myself as a person who desires craftsmanship, mastery, and flawlessness. All throughout my life I strived for perfection and accuracy on everything in my life. This aspect of the Habits of Mind describes who I am as a person perfectly.
For myself I constantly check over any of my work before I put it out for people to judge, but putting so much care into your work can almost become a burden that one places onto themselves to constantly be ‘perfect’.
This is an important concept because it emphasizes the fact that we will not be perfect the first time we do something but as a result of time and experience we can improve our skills and the way in which we act upon a task.
i used to be the type of girl growing up that felt like i couldn’t do a lot of things and honestly gave up on first tries but lately i been tryna keep in mind that practice make perfect and work hard on with dedication on all goals.
These people take pride in their work, and they desire accuracy as they take time to check over their work. Craftsmanship includes exactness, precision, accuracy, correctness, faithfulness, and fidelity. For some people, craftsmanship requires continuous reworking. Mario Cuomo, a great speechwriter and politician, once said that his speeches were never done; it was only a deadline that made him stop working on them.
Some students may turn in sloppy, incomplete, or uncorrected work. They are more eager to get rid of the assignment than to check it over for accuracy and precision. They are willing to settle for minimum effort rather than invest their maximum. They may be more interested in expedience rather than excellence.
As a dancer, everything we do revolves around one thing: technique. Every breath, body position,and muscle is used so specifically that one false move can set an entire movement off. In ballet specifically the first thing we learn is plie, which is the french equivalent to “to bend” or “bending.” It is a simple standing position that progresses to almost a squat. But that is not all. It starts with an upright, standing position, with just about every muscle from the feet up engaged. So what does that mean? Constant thoughts include, but are not limited to “turn out legs from hips, keep feet flat on ground,don’t force turnout, straighten legs but keep knees unlocked, pelvis under, and keep hips even.” While maintaining lower body strength, the upper body has similar techniques that are more related to posture. In the end, muscle memory is the most important part. Consistently good technique creates the accuracy we all want. Accuracy and consistency are what makes the best dancers of all styles.
Lately i been applying this habit to myself because sometimes i just do things to do it in a rush , leave it alone after a while incomplete or just not give all of me to it . Its all connected between controlling impulsivity , being persisting and even double thinking about how it can help you tomorrow .
Expediency is defined as “the quality of being convenient and practical despite possiby being improper or immoral.” In other words, If someone is expedient, they value convenience rather than quality of work.
Here, Costa and Kallick, are comparing “successful” people to “unsuccessful” people. They used a ballerina that strives for perfection in their craft that realizes they can always improve as a comparison to a successful person. And they used a student that turns in sloppy uncorrected work as a comparison to an unsuccessful person. I think this ties back to the beginning of the piece(Paragraph 7), where the authors said they were curious about how people/students behave when they don’t know an answer. These successful people reaize they don’t know everything about their craft, so they go out and try to perfect everything they do know t help them learn more, while these students that turn in sloppy work don’t care enough to try and get a correct answer.
Questioning and Posing Problems
Finding problems to solve like students that are good at questioning and posing problems go beyond asking simple questions.
As a literacy teacher, I was struck with this habit of mind since it is one of the strategies that successful readers use to comprehend text. It seems that it’s not just about what you read, but being curious and wondering are habits of effective thinkers as well!
The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. … To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances.
- productive and garner new insight and information on a topic at hand.
Asking questions isn’t something you should be afraid of especially if your teachers trying to assist you and help you.
We can see from this text that people respond to questioning by challenging themselves to raise new questions, to discover new possibilities, and to look at old problems in new ways – all of which require imagination and creativity. This encourages us to keep exploring and discovering new things, something that can be both exciting and rewarding. It’s almost like a mystery we can solve – one that encourages us to think outside of the box.
People can respond to questioning in different ways. There are those who think of new ideas and delve deeper into exploring a problem. While others can use their knowledge to solve a problem. No matter how a person responds to questioning, it involves creativity and exploration to reach an understanding. For second grade readers, understanding this can be done in a simpler way. People use their imagination to come up with new ideas when they are asking questions. They use practice and skills to come up with a solution to a problem.
Keywords from the original text: Formulation, Problem, Possibilities, Creative Imagination, Advances.
Formulation: the attitude expressed in asking a question
Problem: an unclear, complex, or disagreeable situation
Possibilities: something that may happen or be true
Creative Imagination: the ability to think of new ideas
Advances: an improvement or progress made in a particular area
Now that you have read the simplified version of this passage, and have the definitions of the keywords, you may want to read the original version again. You may find that you understand it better now that you know the definitions of some of the words used.
—Albert Einstein
One of the distinguishing characteristics of humans is our inclination and ability to find problems to solve. Effective problem solvers know how to ask questions to fill in the gaps between what they know and what they don't know. Effective questioners are inclined to ask a range of questions:
Thinking that everything is asked and answered, or solved, just stuck uu in an infinite number of problems that can be solved without being a genius.
from those that seek facts and information, to the “why” and “how” questions that open up possibilities, to those that lead to creative solutions. To me, the most important lines in this passage are “One of the distinguishing characteristics of humans is our inclination and ability to find problems to solve” and " Effective problem solvers know how to ask questions to fill in the gaps between what they know and what they don’t know."
Humans are unique because we use our brains to identify and tackle difficult issues. We are resourceful in wanting to go beyond what we already understand in order to get a better understanding. Through asking questions, we can recognize the differences between what we are already familiar with and where we need more information. Looking further into the conversation, creative solutions can be achieved.
I’m hoping you would recognize that humans have a great capacity to think critically, to ask questions, and to solve even the most complex problems. By asking questions, we can make progress and learn about ourselves and the world around us. I’m also hoping you will see the importance of staying curious and using inquiry to discover new ways to look at problems and come up with innovative solutions.
- What evidence do you have?
- How do you know that's true?
- How reliable is this data source?
They also pose questions about alternative points of view:
- From whose viewpoint are we seeing, reading, or hearing?
- From what angle, what perspective, are we viewing this situation?
Effective questioners pose questions that make causal connections and relationships:
- How are these (people, events, or situations) related to each other?
- What produced this connection?
Sometimes they pose hypothetical problems characterized by "if" questions:
If this happens, then what will the outcome be? Posing hypotheticals can help people think through a situation or problem methodically and develop strategies and solutions that fit. Here’s an example: A student wants to make sure they complete their homework on time — they might ask themselves, “if I spend an hour on homework each night, will it be finished by the due date?” Through posing hypotheticals people are able to problem-solve in a structured manner, while also practicing critical thinking skills.
To simplify the text so it’s appropriate for a 2nd grade reader, the following could be used:
Have you ever thought through a problem and tried to figure out the best way to solve it? Hypotheticals can help people do that. Hypotheticals ask “what if?” questions. For example, a student might ask, “What if I spend an hour doing my homework every night? Will I get it done by the due date?” Problem solving with hypotheticals helps people come up with strategies and solutions. It also helps them practice their critical thinking skills.
- What do you think would happen if … ?
- If that is true, then what might happen if … ?
Inquirers recognize discrepancies and phenomena in their environment, and they probe into their causes:
- Why do cats purr?
- How high can birds fly?
- Why does the hair on my head grow so fast, while the hair on my arms and legs grows so slowly?
- What would happen if we put the saltwater fish in a freshwater aquarium?
- What are some alternative solutions to international conflicts, other than wars?
Some students may be unaware of the functions, classes, syntax, or intentions in questions. They may not realize that questions vary in complexity, structure, and purpose. They may pose simple questions intending to derive maximal results. When confronted with a discrepancy, they may lack an overall strategy to search for and find a solution.
Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
Which mean students that are good at applying past knowledge to new situations recall how they have solved a problem previously.
And here again we have another strategy that effective readers use to comprehend text. Being able to recall important prior knowledge and use it to understand a text is another high impact reading strategy.
I use the applying past knowledge to new situation with me students during reading, math. or science. I call it prior knowledge. I activate the past lesson’s knowledge for a better and easier understanding of the lesson. This even helps for adults not yo commit the same error again.
I learned to use AI before. Today, I learned the Stable Diffusion first time. It’s amazing to change the text into image. Especially I looked what my peers created in my group, it’s really amazing to witness so many different excellent out comes of those creative ideas. The AI can indeed do a lot.
I've never made a mistake. I've only learned from experience.
—Thomas A. Edison
Intelligent humans learn from experience. When confronted with a new and perplexing problem, they will draw forth experiences from their past. They often can be heard to say, "This reminds me of …" or "This is just like the time when I …" They explain what they are doing now with analogies about or references to their experiences. They call upon their store of knowledge and experience as sources of data to support, theories to explain, or processes to solve each new challenge. They are able to abstract meaning from one experience, carry it forth, and apply it in a novel situation.
I relate a lot of things between the months of November-March to basketball. It takes up a majority of my time and is usually on my mind. Getting closer to sectionals and tournament time really relates to Striving for Accuracy. The quote presented here that reads, “A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.” This is very relatable. On the basketball court, when you make a mistake you must fix it immediately and make sure it doesn’t happen again. If you continue to make the same mistake it could cost you the game. Just a few days ago we had a team meeting where we talked about striving for accuracy but it wasn’t necessarily put in those words. We talked about fixing little mistakes that are made consistently, we talked about playing for something bigger than ourselves, but in all honesty the overview of the conversation was us putting our heads together to strive for accuracy. We currently have six seniors on our team who are playing for something. The tournament stats next week and if we lose a game we are done with basketball, some of us forever. We must strive for accuracy and reduce mistakes to make it as far as we are capable of making it in the tournament. We must take pride in the game and cut down on the mistakes that are made.
By using what you already know from situations from the past, you are able to use those new skills in new situation to avoid any past failure.
Being able to compare past experiences with what is present in life is an important skill to have. This is oftentimes how humans relate to one another, or engage in conversation. This knowledge can help with new situations, like if the same problem occurs twice. Some may be more knowledgeable than others based on their past experiences in life and how they apply them to the present.
Tying to another habit of mind i feel is applied to my own life is the ability to think flexibly and open yourself up to new experiences, in turn, allowing for a more experienced and rounded past knowledge that can be applied to current and upcoming situations.
I couldn’t agree more Rosie. All experiences are valid and those experiences become our prior knowledge which we then applied to later on when needed. This habit of mind correlates with everyone. I believe being flexible with our past knowledge gives us a great insight to the future.
Every experience gives us the capacity to analyze what we have done and the opportunity to carry out a different outcome the next time. We learn from the challenges we must face.
I agree with this quote; we learn from experience. I believe it is very important to reflect on our past experiences to incorporate what they taught us into new situations.
Applying what knowledge you know into different/new situations is that for example you messed up with a drawing,its your responsibility to fix those mistakes that has been made.
Create a visual example of an old-fashioned teacher’s desk that embodies an analogy between the transfer of knowledge from the teacher to the students, acting as a bridge for understanding abstract ideas, and an unexpected innovative solution to a complex problem. Remember AI is just a Thinking Partner in this process. Be sure to edit this prompt to make it say what you want it to say.Copy and paste this prompt into an image generator like https://StableDiffusionWeb.com..
Counter-Argument: Some people argue that reliance on past knowledge can lead to inefficient or biased decision-making. Without carefully considering every option, people can easily fall into the “if it didn’t work before, it won’t work now” mentality. Furthermore, past knowledge may be outdated or no longer valid in the current context. This can lead to a limited view and even the entrenchment of erroneous ideas.
Types of Evidence: Evidence to support this counter-argument could come from research into the psychology of decision-making, or knowledge about relevant trends that pose a challenge to past assumptions. Examples could also be drawn from case studies of how past knowledge inhibited progress or saw solutions confined within pre-existing boundaries.
Find Reliable Sources: Reliable sources to find evidence for this counter-argument could include research papers published in scientific journals, peer-reviewed studies, survey and poll results, or newspaper articles. Government publications or reports may also be of use as may longer-term trends and analysis from experts in relevant fields.
It is not always necessary to use prior knowledge because you as a person are not giving yourself enough room to grow and learn more. By being open-minded, you can use prior knowledge and learn more at the same time.
Isn’t there some saying about this. maybe “trust me I learned from experience”?
I completely agree with this statement. When I do something or even if i just talk to someone, I am always talking about my own experiences and what happened. When I give advice I always tell them what worked for me and how that experience went.
There are no such thing as mistakes, doing a task wrong just helps learn for the next experience you may encounter.
Over the past couple years honestly I have learned this strategy can change the game, especially when it comes to the recruiting process in volleyball for me. Within the paragraph it states that “They are able to abstract meaning from one experience, carry it forth, and apply it in a novel situation.” Ive made many mistakes in that process, whether it is my response or my video. I have then learned from those past mistakes how to respond and almost know exactly what to say when approached by a coach. “I’ve never made a mistake. I’ve only learned from experience.” Thomas Edison
Too often, students begin each new task as if it were being approached for the first time. Teachers are dismayed when they invite students to recall how they solved a similar problem previously—and students don't remember. It's as if they had never heard of it before, even though they recently worked with the same type of problem! It seems each experience is encapsulated and has no relationship to what has come before or what comes after. Their thinking is what psychologists refer to as an "episodic grasp of reality" (Feuerstein et al., 1980); that is, each event in life is separate and discrete, with no connections to what may have come before or no relation to what follows. Their learning is so encapsulated that they seem unable to draw it forth from one event and apply it in another context.
Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision
Ms. Gillespie’s third graders are thinking and communicating with clarity and precision by hiding a simple treasure and making a map in order for someone to find the hidden object! #notborntofollow #lifeatthecreek pic.twitter.com/uis6ehN45U
— OverallCreek.STEAM (@OverallCreek) April 22, 2020
I do not so easily think in words. … After being hard at work having arrived at results that are perfectly clear … I have to translate my thoughts in a language that does not run evenly with them.
—Francis Galton, geneticist
Language refinement plays a critical role in enhancing a person's cognitive maps and ability to think critically, which is the knowledge base for efficacious action. Enriching the complexity and specificity of language simultaneously produces effective thinking.
Language and thinking are closely entwined; like either side of a coin, they are inseparable. Fuzzy, vague language is a reflection of fuzzy, vague thinking. Intelligent people strive to communicate accurately in both written and oral form, taking care to use precise language; defining terms; and using correct names, labels, and analogies. They strive to avoid overgeneralizations, deletions, and distortions. Instead, they support their statements with explanations, comparisons, quantification, and evidence.
If you think about a certain situation and don’t express how u feel its only gonna eat you alive, so the best thing to do is let all that negative energy and thoughts just cleanse your body.
In addition, they check to see if their words and ideas are clear and concise, and if their statements describe the facts accurately. In this way, clear thinkers use language to make and refine thoughts, as well as to share them with others.
For a 6th grade reader we can adapt the text by changing it to the following:
How are language and thinking connected?
Language and thinking are very connected. It’s like both sides of a coin being inseparable. If someone doesn’t express their thoughts clearly, their thinking may not be very clear either. Smart people pay attention to how they communicate in writing or speaking. They make sure to use terms that are exact, and that they understand what they are trying to say. They stay away from overgeneralizing, omitting, or changing the facts of what they are saying. They also make sure that what they have written or spoken is clear and that their statements are truthful. This way, wise people use language to refine and express their thoughts and to share them with others.
The following keywords from the original text are not used in the rewrite: Analogies, Quantification, Distortions, Overgeneralizations, Deletions.
Analogy – a comparison of two things that are basically dissimilar, in order to explain or clarify a concept better.
Quantification – the use of exact numbers or amounts to accurately express an idea.
Distortions – altering facts or statements to change the meaning of what was said or written.
Overgeneralizations – making a statement or opinion that applies broadly to many situations when it actually only applies to a few situations.
Deletions – omitting parts of facts or stories when expressing ideas.
Now that you have seen a simplified version of the text and a list of definitions, please take the time to revisit the original text and see if you can comprehend it better.
We sometimes hear students and adults using vague and imprecise language. They describe objects or events with words like weird, nice, or OK. They name specific objects using such nondescriptive words as stuff, junk, things, and whatever. They punctuate sentences with meaningless interjections like ya know, er, and uh. They use vague or general nouns and pronouns: "They told me to do it," "Everybody has one," or "Teachers don't understand me." They use nonspecific verbs: "Let's do it." At other times, they use unqualified comparatives: "This soda is better; I like it more" (Shachtman, 1995).
Do you hand in your first draft? Do you leave time to revise?
Thank you for asking these questions! I can’t agree that sloppy writing necessarily equates to sloppy thinking. Writing is a wonderful way to express one’s ideas because of the opportunity one has to carefully consider their words and to revise. In speech, once the words are out, there is no retrieving them! I half-joke that I am much smarter on paper than I appear in person, but I think that might be accurate for many people.
This text encourages us to use more descriptive language with specific nouns, pronouns, verbs, and comparatives when communicating in school in order to avoid using slang. We can all work on being more conscious of our language by using words that are more precise and descriptive – knowing the exact word used in describing something – to better express what we mean and to make our communication more thorough and meaningful.
Gathering Data Through All Senses
I agree with this HOM and I dont think we do it. When someone is talking, we dont always listen without speaking. Now that I think about this it brought me back to the Listening HOM. Going forward we should try to use all senses instead of just a few.
Observe perpetually.
After reading through the article and watching the video, we can see that many of these habits overlap with eachother. Remaining open to continuous learning, and gathering data through all sense imply the same thing. Listening and learning from others to grow. The two quotes that follow these habits hint towards the same idea of gaining knowledge by observing , or remaining open to continuous learning.
—Henry James
The brain is the ultimate reductionist. It reduces the world to its elementary parts: photons of light, molecules of fragrance, sound waves, vibrations of touch—all of which send electrochemical signals to individual brain cells that store information about lines, movements, colors, smells, and other sensory inputs.
Intelligent people know that all information gets into the brain through sensory pathways: gustatory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Most linguistic, cultural, and physical learning is derived from the environment by observing or taking it in through the senses. To know a wine it must be drunk; to know a role it must be acted; to know a game it must be played; to know a dance it must be performed; to know a goal it must be envisioned. Those whose sensory pathways are open, alert, and acute absorb more information from the environment than those whose pathways are withered, immune, and oblivious to sensory stimuli.
When I think about learning a game, I do know that by playing it I will learn it better. However; I never truly realized all I was doing when playing the game. I watch my own moves, as well as others (visual). I listen to the reactions of other players when certain moves are made (auditory). I also feel the part and pieces that go along with the game (tactile). I become aware of certain positions of the game pieces or my body (kinesthetic). All of these sensory pathways allow me to better understand the best ways to play the game.
Basically Body Awareness through dance, however, I learn in a controlled environment the things our bodies can and cannot do, and what actions we need to take to perform a desired movement. Dance helps build coordination and spatial awareness, which improves teenage’s /children’s gross motor skills.
Everyday in your life no matter if your going to school,work,anywhere in the world your always gonna gather data no matter what, for example if you learn about a certain plant or animal it means your gathering data you ain’t never know before.
The more regions of the brain that store data about a subject, the more interconnection there is. This redundancy means students will have more opportunities to pull up all those related bits of data from their multiple storage areas in response to a single cue. This cross-referencing of data strengthens the data into something that's learned rather than just memorized (Willis, 2007).
Again, I think there is a trade off. People who are blind or deaf often develop an acuity of their other senses that is far greater than that of a sighted or hearing person. So I’m not sure it’s accurate to say that someone able to use all their senses is at an inherent advantage in intelligence over someone who is not. Instead, I’d think about the different ways people absorb knowledge and how to balance the tradeoffs.
By way of personal example, I recently learned that I have a rare condition in which I cannot produce mental visual images. I only recently learned that other people literally see things in their mind’s eye. I do not. This is clearly a deficit in some ways and I feel the loss of it now that I know others have this ability. At the same time, it goes a long way to explaining my intense presence in the moment, my constant narration of events and the scene around me, and the rich vocabulary I’ve developed. Things that other people see in pictures in their mind, I see in words that feel so real that I could touch, smell and see them. I’ve cultivated a different kind of intelligence as a result, but I would not say it is lesser.
We are learning more and more about the impact of the arts and music on improved mental functioning. Forming mental images is important in mathematics and engineering; listening to classical music seems to improve spatial reasoning. Social scientists use scenarios and role playing; scientists build models; engineers use CAD-CAM; mechanics learn through hands-on experimentation; artists explore colors and textures; and musicians combine instrumental and vocal music.
Some students, however, go through school and life oblivious to the textures, rhythms, patterns, sounds, and colors around them. Sometimes children are afraid to touch things or get their hands dirty. Some don't want to feel an object that might be slimy or icky. They operate within a narrow range of sensory problem-solving strategies, wanting only to describe it but not illustrate or act it, or to listen but not participate.
Creating, Imagining, Innovating
The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.
—John Schaar, political scientist
All human beings have the capacity to generate novel, clever, or ingenious products, solutions, and techniques—if that capacity is developed (Sternberg, 2006). Creative human beings try to conceive solutions to problems differently, examining alternative possibilities from many angles. They tend to project themselves into different roles using analogies, starting with a vision and working backward, and imagining they are the object being considered. Creative people take risks and frequently push the boundaries of their perceived limits (Perkins, 1991). They are intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated, working on the task because of the aesthetic challenge rather than the material rewards.
This idea as a whole rings very true to me. I and many other students have had run ins with teachers and other students where they have been told to give up. Whether it was art or writing or science they were told to give up, and some did. Some dropped poems or stories they were working on and other gave up on art as a whole. It’s entirely heartbreaking to know that an entire book might never be made just because of one person’s comment.
Whenever somebody is reconstructing something their creating a different image of how the want that exact thing to turn into the image they thought about.
I changed the mentality and the connotation behind trying new agendas. A new opportunity sounds better than a problem or a challenge!
Creative people balance emotional and logical elements, have a broad perspective, and think globally and strategically. They also persist with challenges in spite of setbacks, exhibiting a remarkable degree of resilience.
This 45-second viral-worthy TikTok video starts with the catchy and unique sound of a ‘finger piano’, which is accompanied by an upbeat hip hop beat and bright, vibrant colors with a fast-paced editing style. An animated character appears on the screen, dancing and wearing an intricate colorful costume. They take a pose and the video switches to a live action shot of a person performing the exact same pose.
The video then switches back to an animation of the character bursting into a flurry of colors, while the words “creativity is limitless!” appear on the screen. This transitions into a sequence of both animated and live action shots of people from all different backgrounds, showcasing their creativity in the form of art, music, and dancing. The video then zooms in on the animated character as they dance to the beat and sing inspiring words of wisdom about the power of creativity.
The visuals are made even more captivating with creative camera angles, filters, and different video formats and styles. At the end of the video, the animated character leaps up and takes one final pose with the words “How creative can YOU be?” flashing across the screen. The video closes with an exciting tune concluding the 45-second long experience and leaving the viewer impressed and inspired to express their own creativity!
The aspect of creativity is a very important part of young minds. With this being said, creativity holds a higher ground in the brain and ultimately leads the thinking/problem solving issues in a different way. creativity allows for multiple angles to be explored and different perspectives.
It seems as if we continue to remix ideas. Is everything a mashup?
Creative people are open to criticism. They hold up their products for others to judge, and they seek feedback in an ever-increasing effort to refine their technique. They are uneasy with the status quo. They constantly strive for greater fluency, elaboration, novelty, parsimony, simplicity, craftsmanship, perfection, beauty, harmony, and balance.
Like more open and sensitive, characteristics that can bring both rewards and pains. Like new ideas and taking risks, often opens people up to criticism and even scorn, it’s
makes us a bigger person.
I believe I focused on this habit of mind because I tried many different AI generated images to see the differences between them and to see if I would like them better than others. I found myself doing many different artists because I was never satisfied with image that was being generated.
Be able to receive criticism in order to improve their work is a skill that many people are not ready to face. Some people feel insulted when others criticize their work. I believe be able to receive criticism makes us a bigger person because we will learn and improve our work.
Students, however, often are heard saying "I can't draw," "I was never very good at art," "I can't sing a note," or "I'm not creative." Some people believe creative humans are just born that way and that genes and chromosomes are the determinants of creativity.
To enhance creativity one of the activities I use is the play center. In the area my student choose the material and structure they prefer. I noticed that when I tell them that the work completed looks nice, their face looks happy. I always post their art work not matter how it looks because I understand they are using their creativity, imagination and innovation.
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We’ve heard this before; the fear of criticism coming along with a perceived lack of talent can lead people to shy away from trying out their creative ideas. We’ve seen how even those with training and a natural inclination toward art are cautious about displaying their works because they feel that it will be critiqued and perhaps not accepted well. That worry even extends beyond the world of art, to singing, poetry, writing and more. Because people are scared to share their work and expose their creativity to the world they often question and doubt their own talents. This insecurity is what leads to people avoiding trying out their creative ideas. It’s important to remember though, that even the most creative among us had to start somewhere!
I wrote this passage to challenge the idea that creativity is entirely genetic and to help people understand that all of us are capable of being creative, no matter our biology and genetics. For example, in the first sentence, I ask “Are humans born with a creativity gene?” to show that there are scientific explanations to creativity. By quoting student remarks, such as “I can’t draw,” I want to emphasize that people are socialized to believe they are not creative and that there are factors beyond genes at play. Finally, I strive to give readers the message that creativity is an ability that we can develop if we focus on it, rather than something we’re born with or not.
Two key quotes in this passage are “Some people believe creative humans are just born that way and that genes and chromosomes are the determinants of creativity" and "I strive to give readers the message that creativity is an ability that we can develop if we focus on it, rather than something we’re born with or not.” The first quote introduces the idea that genes and chromosomes are not the only explanations for creativity, and the second quote suggests that we can improve our creativity with hard work, dedication, and focus. I hope these quotes show readers that creativity is something we can learn and develop.
Overall, I wanted this passage to provide readers of all ages with encouragement and evidence that they possess the ability to be creative and that they can grow creative skills. I also want to push people to embrace creativity and to explore different forms of expression. How do you think this passage impacted your understanding of creativity?
Are there any recommendations you would make to emphasize this point even more? What other facts, evidence, or quotes might help to make my point clearer and easier to understand? Your thoughts will help me to continue “unraveling the perplexity” surrounding creativity.
I foster creative development by setting up classrooms that allow children to interact with materials and people, and to explore and experiment to make sense of their world. I strongly believe that these are the two most important components of creativity. I use many activities like songs, stories and games that require the participation of the whole group and encourage students to exchange ideas and collaborate. I help guide them to respond to each other’s ideas with thoughtful comments and to arrange their thinking in their own way. I also model problem-solving strategies that they can use when faced with challenges.
This is a great example of a strong example of “Thinking Interdependently.” We need teachers willing to create an environment that encourages collaboration and the sharing of ideas. As we can see, different people have their own way of processing information and can come up with unique solutions if given the chance to explore and collaborate with others.
I believe that everyone is creative in some way. Creativity is not limited to art, defining creativity is almost like taking creativity away.
I think it’s important to reconsider our understanding of creativity. Creativity isn’t limited to fine arts or performing arts. Creativity can be an essay on Beowulf (constructing sentences in a way one has not done previously), or approaching a math problem in a new way, or finding a faster way to load the dishwasher, or finding a faster way to get to work.
Today, as I was developing my self & world questions, I found myself thinking again how I feel as though I lack the creativity to think outside of the box. I know that the question I chose to write a post about is something that people may not think of on a daily basis, but I feel like my thoughts and ideas are sometimes very limited. One of my goals for the remainder of this year is to actually push the boundaries or “limits” of my thinking and creativity, and tap into different parts of both by reading and researching more, as well as going out and experiencing more on my own.
This text offers us an optimistic and kind reminder that we are all creative and we can learn to tap into those creative powers in our own unique way. We shouldn’t limit ourselves or our expectations; instead let’s take delight in the amazing and unique creative powers that each of us possess. Loving ourselves and our creative spirit can be a powerful way to improve and help us be more positive. It’s empowerings to embrace the creativity within all of us.
While I can see where many people would come from when saying genes have a big role in how a person comes out, it also has to do with how they may have grown up. In most,but not all cases, the environment contributes a great factor toward creativity. A more excepting environment can let creative genes shine.
I would completely disagree. Creativity is something that can and should be fostered in students of every age.
This is why I believe encouraging your students to reflect and build on their strengths is so important, we shouldn’t be reaching for “perfection” but rather improving yourself.
Responding with Wonderment and Awe
The most beautiful experience in the world is the experience of the mysterious.
—Albert Einstein
Describing the 200 best and brightest of USA Today's All USA College Academic Team, Tracey Wong Briggs (1999) states, "They are creative thinkers who have a passion for what they do." Efficacious people have not only an "I can" attitude but also an "I enjoy" feeling. They seek intriguing phenomena. They search for problems to solve for themselves and to submit to others. They delight in making up problems to solve on their own, and they so enjoy the challenge of problem solving that they seek perplexities and puzzles from others. They enjoy figuring things out by themselves, and they continue to learn throughout their lifetimes. One efficacious person is chemist Ahmed H. Zewail, a Nobel Prize winner, who said that he had a passion to understand fundamental processes: "I love molecules. I want to understand why do they do what they do" (Cole, 1999).
It is not only important to know what people are doing with their lives, but also learning why they do that. Was it because of money, were they inspired by someone, or did it just happen by chance?
whenever your going on vacation or anywhere your always gonna have that once in a life time of wonder and excitement.
Some children and adults avoid problems and are turned off to learning. They make such comments as "I was never good at these brain teasers," "Go ask your father; he's the brain in this family," "It's boring," "When am I ever going to use this stuff," "Who cares," "Lighten up, teacher; thinking is hard work," or "I don't do thinking!" Many people never enrolled in another math class or other "hard" academic subject after they weren't required to in high school or college. Many people perceive thinking as hard work, and they recoil from situations that demand too much of it.
This is interesting sentence. As educators we should teach students to stay out these negative thoughts because this would interfere with their learning performance and success.
I thought the sentence “many people perceive thinking as hard work, and they recoil from situations that demand too much of it” was important because it highlights why students may shy away from certain subjects or tasks in life. I think this is less about them thinking the work is “too hard” or them being lazy but actually a perfect example of how people respond when they have feelings of inadequacy. They may not believe in themselves or think that it is more work to try and easier to give up. This is something we should steer students away from early on.
Cause in middle school my 8 grade teacher I couldn’t understand him or his explained but when I started pulse high school my math teacher she taught and explain the math problem perfect and I got better at math and now I don’t take math regents since I pass it.
My nephew is at a very impressionable age and likes to ask a million questions a day. He loves to get down in dirty with nature and the bugs but the minute I run away from a bug he acts like he’s scared too. If he asks 10 questions in a row and someone tells him to stop he gets shy and hides away. This is how we limit children or students and turn them off from learning. We have to show them we too are compelled, enthusiastic, and passionate about learning.
I agree with this and I do it too. Why would people want to do something they don’t like or aren’t good at? The most important thing to learn is that you reap what you sow, with hard work there is something to be gained. You might not get what you expect, but walking away because it’s too hard only hurts you.
We want students to be curious, to commune with the world around them, to reflect on the changing formations of a cloud, to feel charmed by the opening of a bud, to sense the logical simplicity of mathematical order. Intelligent people find beauty in a sunset, intrigue in the geometric shapes of a spider web, and exhilaration in the iridescence of a hummingbird's wings. They marvel at the congruity and intricacies in the derivation of a mathematical formula, recognize the orderliness and adroitness of a chemical change, and commune with the serenity of a distant constellation. We want students to feel compelled, enthusiastic, and passionate about learning, inquiring, and mastering (Costa, 2007).
Where I am in my life I always want to experience new mysteries. For instance, this past week I have been trying to find a new show that brings forth this mysteriousness. For example, when you watch a new show you are always on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen to the characters and the plot but when you rewatch a show you do not get to experience the feelings of wonderment and awe. That is why I am always looking for new things to do or try so I can re experience the feelings that come with mysteriousness.
I too always want to experience new mysteries. This reminds me of a show we both watch, The vampire Diaries. Even though we have finished it we keep re-watching it to pick up on new clues we did not the past time watching it. We are re-experiencing the feelings that come with mysteriousness.
To me, this habit of mind naturally leads to so many of the other habits discussed here, just as they discussed at the beginning of this article.
I think responding with wonderment and awe is important because it causes someone to look at things from a new perspective or to focus on something that they hadn’t before. When we are intrigued by all things, we begin to see the beauty that is placed in their differences as well as understanding the purpose that everything has and its impacts in our world each day.
Taking Responsible Risks
There has been a calculated risk in every stage of American development—the pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, businessmen who were not afraid of failure, dreamers who were not afraid of action.
After reading this article, it is noticeable that I take responsible risks. Playing poker always involves risks but trusting myself and taking a little risk, I able to win.
This past year I have been trying to include this habit more so in my life. In doing so, I have made so many new memories and experienced so many different things. I learned how to ski, I went cliff diving, and so much more. I cannot wait to continue using this habit in order to learn new things.
—Brooks Atkinson
Risk takers seem to have an almost uncontrollable urge to go beyond established limits. They are uneasy about comfort; they live on the edge of their competence. They seem compelled to place themselves in situations in which they do not know what the outcome will be. They accept confusion, uncertainty, and the higher risks of failure as part of the normal process, and they learn to view setbacks as interesting, challenging, and growth producing. However, responsible risk takers do not behave impulsively. Their risks are educated. They draw on past knowledge, are thoughtful about consequences, and have a well-trained sense of what is appropriate. They know that all risks are not worth taking.
Risk takers go beyond because they wanna reach the very top without stopping because if they stop they gotta start new goals.
I usually like to know what happens, but lately, I’ve learned that not knowing the outcome of some things benefits me even more, it gets me out of my comfort zone and allows me to critically think and problem-solve in ways that I was unsure that I even had to apply. It also leads me to new roads that I had not even thought of.
We did this in our workshop today by learning about how the students learned about the pollution in the Hudson River and how they took the risk to use Minecraft and create poems where they showed empathy.
I totally agree that people sometimes take risks without thinking about the consequences of their actions. When I came to the USA, for me was a risk to leave my family there, my job, and everything that connected me with my country. Today I see that risk as a responsible one, since it was for a better life and having more opportunities for myself. I want for my students to think intellectual way and being capable to think and question themselves why I am taking that risk?.
I think people sometimes take the risk without thinking like wait a minutes like do something that may result in loss, failure, etc. For example every time you invest money, you’re taking a risk.
The article clarifies that risk – taking doesn’t mean you need to always take risks. Instead, take your chances and understand the issue before you take a risk.
Risk takers can be considered in two categories: those who see the risk as a venture and those who see it as adventure. The venture part of risk taking might be described in terms of what a venture capitalist does. When a person is approached to take the risk of investing in a new business, she will look at the markets, see how well organized the ideas are, and study the economic projections. If she finally decides to take the risk, it is a well-considered one.
The adventure part of risk taking might be described by the experiences from Project Adventure. In this situation, there is a spontaneity, a willingness to take a chance in the moment. Once again, a person will take the chance only if experiences suggest that the action will not be life threatening or if he believes that group support will protect him from harm (e.g., checking out the dimensions of weight, distance, and strength of a bungee cord before agreeing to the exhilaration of a drop). Ultimately, people learn from such high-risk experiences that they are far more able to take actions than they previously believed. Risk taking becomes educated only through repeated experiences. It often is a cross between intuition, drawing on past knowledge, striving for precision and accuracy, and a sense of meeting new challenges.
Bobby Jindal, then executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, stated, "The only way to succeed is to be brave enough to risk failure" (Briggs, 1999, p. 2A). When people hold back from taking risks, they miss opportunities. Some students seem reluctant to take risks. They hold back from games, new learning, and new friendships because their fear of failure is far greater than their desire for venture or adventure. They are reinforced by the mental voice that says, "If you don't try it, you won't be wrong," or "If you try it and you are wrong, you will look stupid." The other voice that might say, "If you don't try it, you will never know," is trapped by fear and mistrust. These students are more interested in knowing whether their answer is correct or not than in being challenged by the process of finding the answer. They are unable to sustain a process of problem solving and finding the answer over time, and therefore they avoid ambiguous situations. They have a need for certainty rather than an inclination for doubt.
In general, I’m all for students taking intellectual risks — ethically and safely, of course. The worst that can happen is that one might be proven wrong. Being wrong might not be the greatest feeling in the world, but it is always a step in the direction of finding the right answer. If you can truly learn from your mistakes, then it would seem as though there isn’t a risk that’s too big within the field of human thought.
We hope that students will learn how to take intellectual as well as physical risks. Students who are capable of being different, going against the grain of common thinking, and thinking of new ideas (testing them with peers and teachers) are more likely to be successful in an age of innovation and uncertainty.
After growing up in a almost sheltered environment where I did not get to experience many new things, I have finally become old enough to start doing those things on my own. I would say that one of my biggest goals in life is to experience as much of life as possible by trying new things, meeting new people, and just living. I did not know that this sort of mind set was a habit for most people, but it makes sense because it is human nature to be curious.
I wanted to take my fears and turn them into successes, even if it was just for a moment.
While in school, and especially finishing up my senior year, I have learned that is very important to start taking more risks. Branch out to new people, invest in another job, or maybe taking a day to completely isolate yourself to catch up on schoolwork, such as I had to do this past week. Earlier this week I took a night off from work and completely caught up with my schoolwork. Without realizing, I employed one of the Habits of Mind in this past week.
Finding Humor
After reading the section on finding humor, I realize this is one habit I 100 percent have mastered. My whole family has this habit or at least a bit of it. Growing up my dad always initiated humor and thrived off of having humorous interactions. Now, I can find myself loving a good laugh or joke. I also am normally the first to laugh at my own mistakes. I never get to caught up on messing up because I normally just laugh at myself. Especially in sports, when I mess up a drill at soccer, or hit a hurdle at track I am normally already laughing at myself before anyone else has the chance to. I feel this habit has allowed me to be more comfortable and okay with making mistakes. For me mistakes are a way to learn and grow.
I have always found my sense of humor to be somewhat quirky and strange compared to the likes of most people, but I have come to find that the way that I enjoy humor has shaped me into the person I am today. With that being said, I find it very easy to learn something new when it incorporates an element of humor within itself. Although sometimes its not the type of humor I wanted or expected, I still enjoy the efforts made by those who developed it and put it into the piece for learning.
To me, humor has always been something that has made learning something more enjoyable and easier to remember whether it be because something humorous helped me to understand a topic better or if something humorous happened to lightened the mood in an otherwise dull and boring situation and make me pay more attention. There are some exceptions for serious topics where humor should not be utilized, but outside those few exceptions, humor is something that should always be welcomed.
You can increase your brain power three to fivefold simply by laughing and having fun before working on a problem.
Doug Hall explores the way in which humor can improve our daily lives. Humor has the ability to improve thinking, problem solving, and brain power. For me, I always found myself to think/learn better in a fun classroom setting instead of a monotone, boring setting. Humor can bring people together and jumpstart early learners
Being able to make mistakes and learn from them while not being too hard on yourself and being able to laugh it off is very important. When people are too hard on themselves they often shutdown, finding humor in situations eases nerves and encourages learning even when a task is done incorrectly.
I know sometimes when you make a mistake or do something you shouldn’t have your just gonna sit back and think about then its gonna make you laugh because there’s that one thought/question that goes through your mind and that’s what made me do that or think about it.
—Doug Hall
Why we laugh, no one really knows. Laughing is an instinct that can be traced to chimps, and it may reinforce our social status (Hubert, 2007). Humor is a human form of mutual playfulness. Beyond the fact that laughing is enjoyable, it may have medicinal value as well. Laughing, scientists have discovered, has positive effects on physiological functions: blood vessels relax, stress hormones disperse, and the immune system gets a boost, including a drop in the pulse rate. Laughter produces secretion of endorphins and increased oxygen in the blood. Humor has been found to have psychological benefits as well. It liberates creativity and provokes such higher-level thinking skills as anticipating, finding novel relationships, visual imaging, and making analogies. People who engage in the mystery of humor have the ability to perceive situations from an original and often interesting vantage point. They tend to initiate humor more often, to place greater value on having a sense of humor, to appreciate and understand others' humor, and to be verbally playful when interacting with others. Having a whimsical frame of mind, they thrive on finding incongruity; perceiving absurdities, ironies, and satire; finding discontinuities; and being able to laugh at situations and themselves.
As someone who always tries to find humor or create it, this instantly caught my attention. I was surprised to see all the health benefits of laughing besides simply lightening the mode. I think it’s important that everyone allows themselves to find humor. In a time when being outraged and upset is celebrated I think finding humor could be a good habit for many to try.
“If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” This is a quote from Jim Valvano’s 1993 ESPY Speech. He was not a scientist, he was a basketball coach. But this quote is something everyone, no matter the profession, should take the heart.
I believe that humor is one of the best coping mechanisms. When something goes wrong in my life the first thing I will often do is make a joke about it. After making humor of the situation my nerves are usually at a better point to handle the situation.
I enjoyed reading this section on humor because humor is something I personally value and feel at ease/comfort when I am around humorous people. As stated in the article, humor allows one to be “verbally playful when interacting with others.” I think humor can serve as an icebreaker in any setting, work, school, or personal. Scientifically, it has been discovered that laughter reduces stress while boosting ones immunes system which I believe is very powerful and overlooked. As I teacher, encourages joy and laughter is important so that students feel heard, seen, and connected to their environment or those around them.
Finding humor within situations if oftentimes a great coping mechanism. While many like to grieve and react in a sad way to hard matters, some find humor. Finding humor can make a situation lighter, and could change the topic at hand quickly. Incorporating humor can make others feel better, along with yourself. This instinct is sometimes helpful when it comes to hard situations in life.
The ability to find humor within life not only benefits an individuals mental health but also seems to have positive benefits on ones physical health as well. Personally, I feel that by finding humor in life one can also find comfort in situations that may be uncomfortable to not only make oneself feel better, but also make others feel safe and also find comfort within another.
When reading through this piece I connected most to this section. I feel like I am always laughing with my friends, family, and even strangers. Reading this line about how laughing has multiple positive effects on physiological functions shocked me. It is nice to know that when I am cracking a joke with my friends it is good for myself and for my friends.
Some students find humor in all the wrong places—human differences, ineptitude, injurious behavior, vulgarity, violence, and profanity. They employ laughter to humiliate others. They laugh at others yet are unable to laugh at themselves. We want students to acquire the habit of finding humor in a positive sense so they can distinguish between those situations of human frailty and fallibility that require compassion and those that truly are funny (Dyer, 1997).
This sentence and the one before it I believe defines most of the internet celebrities people tend to admire. They can play at it sure, but they’ll never out right make fun of themselves without following it up with mentioning something cool they did or bring someone else down along with them. It really makes you wonder what kind of humor the next generation is going to have.
After reading this I had to think about how my friends and I roast each other. I don’t disagree that by humiliating others for laughter is bad, but between us, roasting has never gone too far. In general though, you do want to be aware of what you might say to who you might roast. One of the best examples of this I thought of comes from The Office, you know what I’m talking about… “boom, roasted.”-Michael Scott.
Sometimes its hard for us to not see certain weird aspects in others and laugh but its all to certain extend ,there’s a difference with making a little hard joke and actually becoming a bully as this sentence describes . Those actions are negative and nothing with such a negative impact on somebody else should cause anybody any sense of humor
I have realized in my observations that many teachers have started using platforms and tools such as TikTok and memes to begin conversations and to get students engaged and thinking. I find that placing concepts and topics into memes and “funny” brain break activities helps a lot.
Thinking Interdependently
Take care of each other. Share your energies with the group. No one must feel alone, cut off, for that is when you do not make it.
I feel like this one sentence alone shows what all of us need to be doing. Leaving people out can really hurt them and everyone should always feel included.
Whenever you see someone looking upset but not that any random person but sometimes it’s nice for others that have that soft spot when someone is feeling down or upset, it only has to take 2 mins to make somebody’s day better than it turned out to be.
—Willie Unsoeld, mountain climber
Humans are social beings. We congregate in groups, find it therapeutic to be listened to, draw energy from one another, and seek reciprocity. In groups we contribute our time and energy to tasks that we would quickly tire of when working alone. In fact, solitary confinement is one of the cruelest forms of punishment that can be inflicted on an individual.
I think that this claim should be challenged?
1. Humans:
Traits: Social, supportive, collaborative
Support: “We congregate in groups, find it therapeutic to be listened to, draw energy from one another, and seek reciprocity. In groups we contribute our time and energy to tasks that we would quickly tire of when working alone”
What Assumption does the author make? The author assumes that humans are social beings, that we benefit from being around other people, and that solitary confinement is a cruel form of punishment.
I find this very interesting because I used to love working by myself but I quickly found myself overwhelmed. Now I find myself working better in groups and do it without even noticing. In this workshop, I constantly found myself asking Oscar or Juela if I am doing something right or if I missed anything. They also depended on me as well for help which I was very helpful. Our work felt lighter and more enjoyable.
This punishment has been found to be in violation of international human rights by several organizations, including the United Nations. Additionally, studies have found that those placed in solitary confinement experience extreme physical, psychological and social harm. Therefore, it is important to understand the negative impacts of solitary confinement, from both a humanitarian and research perspective.
Collaborative humans realize that all of us together are more powerful, intellectually or physically, than any one individual. Probably the foremost disposition in our global society is the heightened ability to think in concert with others, to find ourselves increasingly more interdependent and sensitive to the needs of others. Problem solving has become so complex that no one person can go it alone. No one has access to all the data needed to make critical decisions; no one person can consider as many alternatives as several people.
This is a habit that both I and the Silver Creek basketball team are implementing in our state run this year. We are stronger together than individually.
We can analyze a situation and arrive at a greater understanding by sharing our thoughts and working together. Working together can bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to go.
Some students may not have learned to work in groups; they have underdeveloped social skills. They feel isolated, and they prefer solitude. They say things like "Leave me alone—I'll do it by myself," "They just don't like me," or "I want to be alone." Some students seem unable to contribute to group work and are job hogs; conversely, other students let all the others in a group do all the work.
We must acknowledge these issues and our responsibility to help these students learn how to work in groups with others. To prevent the struggles these students experience, we must help them identify why they are uncomfortable and offer specific strategies for successful collaboration. We must design learning activities that nurture cooperative rather than competitive interaction and give guidance to self-monitoring by having students evaluate their own progress and set self-improvement goals. Ultimately, we must equip our students with the skills to work with others, the skills that enable them to contribute to the growth of the group.
I just heard about a really interesting text on how teachers can facilitate group work better for students who are struggling with socialization and students who don’t pull their weight. We can start by recognizing that some of these students may not have been taught how to work in groups, and they may be feeling isolated or like they’re not included. It’s our duty as teachers to equip them with the skills to contribute to the group, to make sure everyone is working together, rather than competing with each other. We can do this by offering specific ways for them to collaborate, by providing them with strategies for successful group work, and by helping them understand and monitor their own progress. Ultimately, this will help them become more comfortable working in groups and encourage teamwork, and it could reduce the struggles these students experience in group work.
We all have bad days were we might just wanna be on our own, some of us even have conditions that make it hard to be around others but to be a successful adult you have to find a way to break that fear because the worlds revolves around interacting and making connections to succeed in the future.
Working in groups requires the ability to justify ideas and to test the feasibility of solution strategies on others. It also requires developing a willingness and an openness to accept feedback from a critical friend. Through this interaction, the group and the individual continue to grow. Listening, consensus seeking, giving up an idea to work with someone else's, empathy, compassion, group leadership, knowing how to support group efforts, altruism—all are behaviors indicative of cooperative human beings.
Working with groups/peers is so important in learning and is import to create that space inside the classroom.
This tends to be difficult for me personally, though honestly it feels much better to take criticism in stride in the long run. It’ll also make you more proud of the finished product.
Remaining Open to Continuous Learning
The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.
Have you heard of the Dunning-Kruger Effect? It shows that the most confident people are not the experts, but the ones with only a slight understanding about a given topic. Experts know they always have more to learn.
It’s important to be open once in a while because even tho someone is trying to help you or someone you shouldn’t bottle up because the only thing its gonna break inside is you, so just talk and expand your mind and to always listen to advice even if it sounds off.
you learn something new everyday but most people think they know it all and their ignorance takes over if they were more open minded and tried to listen more often there knowledge would be greater.
It is impossible to learn without receiving feedback. Although it can be difficult to accept negative feedback and criticism, it is essential for success. Negative feedback helps us to identify our weaknesses and mistakes more quickly, giving us the chance to make improvements and become better overall. It is important to remember that no one is perfect, and to look for potential growth opportunities in negative feedback. Understanding that the feedback is meant to help you can make it easier to take action and improve. Finally, when responding to negative feedback, it is important to maintain a positive attitude, and express your appreciation for the feedback. What do you think about this idea and arrangement: to respond kindly and with appreciation, implying it has been taken into consideration?
—John F. Kennedy
In a world that moves at warp speed, there is more to know today than ever before, and the challenge of knowing more and more in every succeeding day, week, month, and year ahead will only continue to expand exponentially. The quest for meaningful knowledge is critical and never ending.
Intelligent people are in a continuous learning mode. They are invigorated by the quest of lifelong learning. Their confidence, in combination with their inquisitiveness, allows them to constantly search for new and better ways. People with this Habit of Mind are always striving for improvement, growing, learning, and modifying and improving themselves. They seize problems, situations, tensions, conflicts, and circumstances as valuable opportunities to learn (Bateson, 2004).
Also example like Persisting.
Managing Impulsivity. Listening with Understanding and Empathy. Thinking Flexibly. Thinking about Thinking.
Striving for Accuracy. Questioning and Posing Problems. Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations.
A great mystery about humans is that many times we confront learning opportunities with fear rather than mystery and wonder. We seem to feel better when we know rather than when we learn. We defend our biases, beliefs, and storehouses of knowledge rather than invite the unknown, the creative, and the inspirational. Being certain and closed gives us comfort, whereas being doubtful and open gives us fear. As G. K. Chesterton so aptly expressed, "There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; there are only uninterested people."
Metacognition is one of the most interesting things that is talked about in this text. As humans, our brains have the ability to evaluate themselves and even teach themselves about themselves as we carry out our everyday lives. We use this part of the brain to plan our own future actions, assessing how they will effect the world around us. In addition, we can use these abilities to grow as people, as we are able to evaluate ourselves and identify how we could be better. Many people do not use these opportunities to help them grow as a person, and they may be stuck in one place for a long time without realizing why.
As a student that is focused on maintaining straight As, learning new topics in school sometimes worries me because I am afraid I will not understand it. For example, with every new Calculus lesson I fear becoming more and more confused. I am not necessarily afraid of being confused, but rather how it will affect my grade. When I am outside of school, I find it intriguing to learn new information, especially items that I am eager to learn more about.
You have recognized that fear appears to motivate you in a school setting, but can also can hold you back when it comes to learning outside of school. It seems that in a learning environment, fear can have both positive and negative outcomes. Fear can be used as a motivator that helps you be more attentive in your classes and be more inclined to ask teachers for help so your grade doesn’t suffer. On the other hand, fear can become a huge obstacle that keeps you from exploring new topics, like the ones you are eager to learn more about. Have you rethought how the fear of getting a bad grade can be advantageous for you, or are you trying to find a way that you can use it to expand your learning away from school too?
Some of us have fear when we have to learn new things because we have never done it before. Some of us even start to project outcomes that become reality before we do anything. We can not go in learning something with preconceived notions. We just have to go in and learn it and a lot of times we will see that the more we do it the more we are comfortable with it.
As I’ve gotten older I realize I ask myself or others questions about culture and history. They probably did teach me in school but I didn’t care for it so it didn’t stick. Obviously, there is a lot I could have truly learned if I wasn’t so uninterested.
Jody Passanisi shares some twenty-first-century tools to help engage students.https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_Class_Revisited/ZSYRDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1
Because of a curriculum employing fragmentation, competition, and reactiveness, students from an early age are trained to believe that deep learning means figuring out the truth rather than developing capabilities for effective and thoughtful action. They have been taught to value certainty rather than doubt, to give answers rather than to inquire, to know which choice is correct rather than to explore alternatives. Unfortunately, some adults are content with what they already believe and know. Their childlike curiosity has died. They exhibit little humility because they believe they are all knowing. They do not seek out or discover the wisdom of others. They do not know how or when to leverage a love of and lust for learning. As a result, they follow a path of little value and minimal opportunity.
Students’learning can be enhanced this by creating a curriculum that builds on strengths, encourages dialogue, values inquiry, and provides great opportunity.
Our wish is for creative students and people who are eager to learn. This Habit of Mind includes the humility of knowing that we don't know, which is the highest form of thinking we will ever learn. Paradoxically, unless we start off with humility, we will never get anywhere. As the first step, we must already have what eventually will be the crowning glory of all learning: to know—and to admit—that we don't know and to not be afraid to find out.
The Right Stuff
The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.
Overall throughout this whole activity I’ve learned how your mind can expand
—B. B. King
The 16 Habits of Mind just described were drawn from research on human effectiveness, descriptions of remarkable performers, and analyses of the characteristics of efficacious people. These Habits of Mind can serve as mental disciplines. Students, parents, and teachers, when confronted with problematic situations, might habitually use one or more of these Habits of Mind by asking themselves, "What is the most intelligent thing I can do right now?" They also might consider these questions:
All of this is very interesting work and there are so many connections that I can make. I previously read Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What overlaps do you see?
while reading this article I would say that I have used habits of mind, without knowing that. I found myself in most of those habits, and I like to practice as much as I can, questioning myself while taking an action, or saying anything, before saying something to someone or giving an opinion. We need to take into consideration other people’s ideas, opinions, and feelings. We are not all the same, but using the habits of minds we can create a positive environment and an healthy relationship with others.
- How can I learn from this? What are my resources? How can I draw on my past successes with problems like this? What do I already know about the problem? What resources do I have available or need to generate?
- How can I approach this problem flexibly? How might I look at the situation in another way? How can I draw upon my repertoire of problem-solving strategies? How can I look at this problem from a fresh perspective (lateral thinking)?
- How can I illuminate this problem to make it clearer, more precise? Do I need to check out my data sources? How might I break this problem down into its component parts and develop a strategy for understanding and accomplishing each step?
- What do I know or not know? What questions do I need to ask? What strategies are in my mind now? What am I aware of in terms of my own beliefs, values, and goals with this problem? What feelings or emotions am I aware of that might be blocking or enhancing my progress?
- How does this problem affect others? How can we solve it together? What can I learn from others that would help me become a better problem solver?
Community organizer Saul Alinsky coined a very useful slogan: "Don't just do something … stand there!" Taking a reflective stance in the midst of active problem solving is often difficult. For that reason, each of these Habits of Mind is situational and transitory. There is no such thing as perfect realization of any of them. They are utopian states toward which we constantly aspire. Csikszentmihalyi (1993) states, "Although every human brain is able to generate self-reflective consciousness, not everyone seems to use it equally" (p. 23). Few people, notes Kegan (1994), ever fully reach the stage of cognitive complexity, and rarely before middle age.
These Habits of Mind transcend all subject matters commonly taught in school. They are characteristic of peak performers in all places: homes, schools, athletic fields, organizations, the military, governments, churches, or corporations. They are what make marriages successful, learning continual, workplaces productive, and democracies enduring. The goal of education, therefore, should be to support others and ourselves in liberating, developing, and habituating these Habits of Mind more fully. Taken together, they are a force directing us toward increasingly authentic, congruent, and ethical behavior. They are the touchstones of integrity and the tools of disciplined choice making. They are the primary vehicles in the lifelong journey toward integration. They are the "right stuff" that make human beings efficacious.
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General Document Comments 0
For the past few weeks I have been going to the gym, and without thinking about it I have been implementing one of the 16 habits into my daily life. Every day when go to the gym I have employed the sixth habit of “striving for accuracy.” While I am at the gym, I push myself more and more everyday to go past my limit and to keep going. I am always doing my best, setting high standards for myself, and always looking for ways in which I can improve. Therefore, I have been implementing this habit without knowing it.
In the past seven days, I have done work in my graduate course in COMM: Media Affects Research and Theory. I have gone into two assignments with a “I don’t want to do this” mentality that I am sure is familiar to my students. In these moments, I have to draw upon the Habit of Mind, Persistence. I know I can do the work so efficacy is not the issue. It’s the BIC (Butt in Chair) that must drive how the work is completed.
I think what is at play is I want to read and to discuss vs. create artifact (another term familiar to Room 407 students). I am learning through Habit of Mind, Flexible Thinking that asynchronous instruction does not always allow for real-time, continuous conversation and this is how the work must happen.
The most recent or evident habit that I can recall having to work interdependently. Being far outside of my comfort zone in theater has really shed some light on some of these habits that I would not readily apply to my life. I am in a constant state of learning and observing from my peers who may be younger than me in that class but possess more experience. One of these peers is Aidan Garrison. Aidan is a sophomore who I was paired up with to create a radio drama to present to the class, no guidelines other than it was to have 20 unique sounds and 5 unique talking characters. We were virtually starting from scratch, we applied the creating, imagining, innovating, habit to come up with a unique and captivating story in only a few days. However we really had to drive home the working interdependently because one of us was in person and one of us was at home making group work all the more challenging.
Over the last few days, I have became sick and had to stay home away from others. While I have been staying away from others, I have turned to shopping online to keep my mind occupied. I have not bought anything yet because I am demonstrating “Managing Impulsivity.” I have fought back the impulsive wants to buy everything I am seeing that I want. This is a habit I will have to continue to demonstrate while I continue to stay home away from others.
Over the past week, and really over the past several years, I have often found myself looking for humor in most situations. I usually am an upbeat and happy person every day, and I am not a huge fan of boring and super serious situations or people. I believe you can make a good joke about any topic, and I often do, even if it is just to myself. I love to mess around, but I make sure I understand my setting and audience at all times. Finding humor is usually a great way to communicate with someone in a more personal sense, but it is not appropriate 24/7.
In the past few weeks, I have been employing the “managing impulsivity” habit. For one example, there have been a few instances at work where one of my managers have crossed the line with some of the things that they have gotten mad at myself and fellow coworkers for and looking back on those situations, there were a few things that I wanted to say them that were just impulsive thoughts that did not really hold any truth and would have just made the entire situation worse than it already was. I have also been “managing impulsivity” by not buying every cool piece of technology that I see that I want when I see adds and what not while online.
Since the beginning of this quarter,I have been practicing “thinking flexibly”. Working as a class on NowComment has allowed me to hear other people’s opinions and look at things from a different point of view. I like to keep an open mind and consider different perspectives because I feel like it helps me learn and grow.
For almost 3 weeks now, I have been in quarantine. It gets really tiring and boring really fast, but going to school still needed to be a top priority. Within these many weeks, I think I’ve been experiencing the habit of “striving for accuracy.” Education is pretty important to me and my family, which is why I believe that even at home I tried to make my work as thought out and accurate as possible. I had the choice to make my work easy and short, but without even realizing I was striving for accuracy, I did anyway and worked hard for good work.
Last week my friend ask me if I wanted to go visit her, but I knew I had to ask for permission because I would have to take a plane. Without knowing the 16 habits, I have actually implemented thinking and communicating with clarity and precision many times. Before I told my parents I made a list of the places we were going, and how I was planning to get there. After talking with my parents they agreed because I had giving them explanations and evidence.
Over the past couple of months if I am being honest I have been trying to find answers and reaming open to continuous learning. I have been striving to grow and learn from past experiences and try to understand what my future ahead could possibly look like.
For my whole life, I have always talked to myself. As embarrassing as it is to say this, sometimes I do it out loud, in public. I am also what people would call an overthinker. After reading this, however, I think it is just metacognition. I try to think out everything I need to complete, what I say in situations and how they turn out, and how my actions affect me and others.
This past week, I have been using one of the habits of mind without even knowing that I was. This habit would be Striving for Accuracy. In the last week of wrestling practice before sectionals, I have been trying to perfect my moves. Striving for Accuracy, I have been trying to perfect my technique.
In the past seven days, I can name several situations in which I unconsciously was implementing the second of the 16 Habits of Mind: Managing Impulsivity. When I go to the grocery, the rule is to only get what’s on the list or something I remember we need back at home. However, I have noticed I want to buy random things not on the list, but have resisted because I know I should not. Another example of managing impulsivity was last night when I was leaving the gym, I had the urge to get Chic-fil-a. Instead, I utilized the fourth habit of mind, thinking flexibly, and considered my alternative options for dinner back at home. In the end, I resisted getting fast food and made pasta for dinner.
This past week I have unconsciously implenting the 16th habit our of the 16 Habits of Mind. Recently I just started a new job where everything is still new to me. I feel I was well trained by my managers, but I sometimes do things wrong or thing in the wrong place. Having the open mind that I am still new and still learning new things helps me not get annoyed when I am constantly being corrected or reminded of the right way of doing things.
I consider myself a math person, but this year I’m taking Calculus, which has truly been challenging me. There have been many moments where I don’t understand the lesson at first, so I won’t get the assignment done until the last minute simply because I am not understanding it in the moment. Before my next test, I must practice the first of the 16 Habits of Mind: Persisting. I’m always trying to get things done as soon as possible so I can have more free time, but Calculus ends up taking a lot more time than I am willing to give. All in all, I need to allow myself a lot of time to figure out the lesson while also getting my assignment done.
In the past seven days, I have employed persistence, the first Habit of Mind. I figured there was something out there in the world that explained the general habits of our minds, but I never considered it to this level. I feel that I have not only applied this within the last seven days, but within the last year. When I was younger, I was what my mom called “a homebody.” I loved to be home, going out never excited me. But as I’ve grown up, all I wanted to do was be out of the house. I wanted to explore the things around me, be surrounded by nature, find something new, etc. Soon after this happened for me, the pandemic hit. Now, the only time I really leave my house is for work. I love my job, but it has been getting harder lately, due to the weather changing. I have been persisting to work my hardest at work, no matter the situation. I want to take as much stress off of my coworkers as possible. This has only gotten harder. Luckily, we have been hiring a lot of new people and I can slowly feel the pressure being lifted off of my shoulders. There is going to be more people to help, which disperses the pressure. Not giving up on myself and my work is about to pay off. I am also applying this persistence to my school work. I am not enjoying having all of these assignments piling on me, but I will soon be graduating with not only my diploma, but an associates degree in general studies from Ivy Tech as well. Persistence is worth it in every aspect. It helps me to stay calm, feel good about myself and choices, and reach my goals easier.
Since the beginning of November I have been implementing many of the 16 Habits of Mind into my daily life. But there is one I do on a daily basis that sticks out the most. Everyday around 3:00 p.m. I go to basketball practice and try to do my best or Striving for Accuracy. Everyday I basketball I choose to do the best I can and try to improve on something everyday even on days I feel like going to the gym is a chore.
In a week span I feel like I have used all these habits at least once at some point in time. Although the last habit I have been doing a lot lately is Striving for Accuracy. The reason being is because we have been working towards sectionals and winning those games for basketball. Therefore you have to always try your best and give your best effort at all times to help improve yourself and your teammates so we can reach our end goal. Lately in practice we have been trying to perfect things and touch a few thing up. Therefore as a team we have all been Striving for Accuracy by mentally and physically preparing ourselves for big games down the road. It also talks about high standards and lately we have definitely been talking about goals and achievements we want to reach this year as a team. Such as winning conference, advancing to state, and overall playing and communicating well as a team. The last thing it talks about is checking and finding ways to improve constantly. As a induvial I always try to improve my shoot or something I might have messed up in a drill. I strive to do better if I reach failure. As a team we are the same way. For example one of my teammates could mess up and teammates on the side line will encourage her to strive to do better next time by just saying finish that or talk on defense. It is the little things that make you strive for Accuracy. Just by doing those little things it can change your perspective and work effort a lot.
Thinking past the last 7 days I think about all the time I have spent with my friends. I was stuck in my house for 2 weeks with Coronavirus and this past week was my first week out. I have been with my friends almost everyday and we have not had a shortage on laughter. Being with my friends and being able to joke with them and smile with them is a different kind of happiness that is hard to explain. In my opinion there is no better feeling than having a good laugh. It is good to know now that laughing actually has positive effects on not only mood but also positive effects on physiological functions. Now I will make sure to set some time out to just have a good laugh everyday.
In the past seven days or so, I have found myself engaging in thinking flexibly. I started working on a new art project. During the course of my artistic process, I have had to think about what I wanted the overall message of my work to be. And I also had to think about the minor details. I think the artistic process is really about transitioning your learning from the macrocentric, to the microcentric. Making art is all about making decisions and letting them happen. Making a decision in the micro can have a huge effect on the macro. This sort of sensitivity needs to be balanced well constructing in artwork as well as critical thinking. Artists are some of the most intelligent people in the world, and it only makes sense that they are able to think flexibly.
I couldn’t tell you how long now that I find myself thinking about my thinking—days, weeks, months. I usually do this when I’m reading, as it provokes something to think about. Heck, I’m kind of doing it now just thinking about all the times I’ve done this. Other times I try to think about not thinking. When you stop thinking, things can become more peaceful. Another time I metacognate is when I think or read the Bible and things like that, where it’s good to reflect on what I value and do.
In the past week I have started track conditioning. We have a new coach so this comes with new rules and new techniques. So without realizing it I have been using the fourth of the 16 habits, “thinking flexibly.” I have been changing my perspective on what it means to train speed. This season has been much different than any other season. It has been difficult adjusting, but by “thinking flexibly” I have opened my mind to a new way of thinking and new possibilities.
In the past few days, I have been working on persisting. Over the course of months, I have been attempting to develop my own hobbies and skills, seeing that I am unable to leave my house for many of the days. Getting stuck in a complacent routine without developing has been a struggle, but I have created different incentives and goals for myself to improve on something as best I can moving forward, however that may be. Different strategies of doing this have been rejected over time as I attempt to build a better work ethic for myself.
The habit that stood out to me the most in my life is definitely habit number 2(Managing Impulsivity). I see this especially when I’m driving home from the gym or baseball especially. I really want to get some fast food because I am extremely hungry, but I don’t think about the costs. It’s going to be more to get a 10 piece from McDonald’s than it will be to eat a chinken sandwhich at home. But these past few weeks, I’ve stopped myself from impulse buying and saved money, time, and I’m eting healthier.
From the past seven days, the Habit of Mind I have employed most visibly is Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision. I am interested in a career field requiring extensive data analysis and communication of findings. To build on what has already been found, researchers use previous works to suggest a starting point for their own. Innovations are often extensions off what has already been explored. With this, precise communication of data is crucial.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been designing my own scientific experiment for a class. I have two lab partners, so we have to work together to communicate our findings. When a student in my lab group is not clear on the instructions, it becomes up to me to accurately and clearly tell them. The initial confusion may have come from misunderstanding or completely vague and non-descriptive language, but further clarity always cleans up any grey areas. From reading this article, I will be able to more clearly communicate now that I can recognize situations where thinking and communicating with clarity and precision are needed. This becomes important for instructions, data, and results.
Typically I work almost every day of the week and on the days that I don’t I have classes a Ivy Tech. Working so much and picking up so many shifts has always been an impulse for me because if I’m not working I feel like I’m wasting my time. Today, however, I did the unthinkable. I asked someone to cover my shift. I did this to give myself more time today to work on school and to work on scholarship applications. Today I included managing impulsivity into my life by taking a step back from my hectic schedule and making time for me.
Throughout the past seven days, and basically my whole life I have been practicing the habit Finding Humor. Whenever I become frustrated, I either become angry or start making fun of myself. Both sound like terrible options. Yet when I am doing calculus homework, I would much rather make myself laugh than slowly build up a mound of anger. When I do say I make myself laugh, I mean I am making self-deprecating jokes directed at myself. Is this healthy in any way? Probably not, but it’s either tears of joy or sadness when it comes to calculus. Now as I am reading about this habit, I am quite proud of myself for choosing humor over anger. The section Finding Humor talked about all the benefits of humor and how laughing is extremely beneficial in provoking higher-levels of thinking. While my jokes are destroying my self esteem, it is good to know there is some benefit to the laughter.
Besides using humor against myself, I do use humor in many other ways. While these scenarios did not pop up in the past week. I used to use humor to help people feel better if they weren’t having a good day. I decided way back in fifth grade, 2013, that laughter is more enjoyable than crying. For this reason, I try my very best to make people laugh. I am quite pleased to discover that I am not only helping people feel better, but also improving their thinking ability.
In most every situation I find myself in, I am always looking for a way to make it more humerus not only for myself, but for others around me as well. I would have to say that I have been incorporating this not only in my free time but also while I am at work. While I know its not appropriate to joke around at work, I believe that it offers a healthy exchange between myself and the other customers during the time of the pandemic.
This past week, my school has finally started our rehearsals for our first musical this whole year. Something I have been doing while working on the production is trying to be perfect with my work and how I perform. While reading the section Striving for Accuracy, I thought about theatre. During a show, I tend to put all my concentration into it and forget about other things I need to get done such as homework and chores. I put a lot of time and effort into my performance and practice, so when I mess up just a little bit, I get really upset with myself.
Not only for the past seven days, but past couple of months I have been persisting on exercising. No matter the weather or what is going on with my schedule, I have found time everyday to get what I want done. Today for example there was a lot of snow,but I did not let that get in the way of my morning jog. I am normally not the most persistent or persevering person, so this habit I gained is pretty surprising to me.
I strive for accuracy when I go to the gym because I wanna improve myself. I set high standards for myself whether that be how often I go or how hard I go when I’m there.
I honestly really enjoyed reading through this article. As I was reading each Habit of Mind I was thinking about if I employed these habits. After all, these are habits of the most intelligent individuals. One that stood out to me the most was “Listening with Understanding and Empathy”. The article says that the ability to listen to another person’s point of view is a major indicator of intelligent behavior. This is one of my own personal qualities that I have believed to be a bad quality. Simply because I am constantly changing and adapting my opinions based on the words of others (which alludes to another habit, “thinking flexibly”). The article mentions “attending” to another person and their opinions. This has been a helpful tool of persuasion for me. You will never be able to change someone’s mind by spouting off your own opinion without referencing the opinion of the person you are speaking too. You have to not only think about their opinion’s but understand why they think this way. Doing this will aide in coming up with a rebuttle or response that actually gets the person to listen. I do this often. Politics and the issues of the world are often a topic of conversation for my family. I have always had different political beliefs than my family and I have been brushed off as “too young” many times. However, when I meet them with an intelligent response that challenges their outdated beliefs, they actually listen.
I like habits of mind as a general way to think about solving things. I think not only solving a problem but knowing how you solved it is very important. Almost like algebra, they don’t just ask what you got for x, but how you solved for x. You use to think with clarity, applying past knowledge, and persisting,
I can no consider that my struggle could be from a lack of thinking clearly so this gives me more of a reason to be mindful of this and also to self reflect on it.
i truly believe that people have the potential for greatness if only given the opportunity to develop and grow. Unfortaunely, in the u.s. much of the capacities of poor working class people are cut short. denial of this breeds myths that poverty is inherit in minority races in the united states.
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