Helping Your Child Become A More Self-Directed Learner Introducing the Habits of Mind Wyckoff Schools January 20,2014

HABITS OF MIND AROUND THE WORLD 

College and Career Readiness Intellectual OpennessInquisitivenessAnalysis Reasoning, Argumentation and Proof InterpretationPrecision and AccuracyProblem Solving Conley, D. T. Redefining College Readiness. Eugene, OR: Education Policy Improvement Center.

According to Daniel Pink in his book, Drive Mastery Autonomy Purpose

21st Century Skills - Collaboration - Communication - Creative Thinking - Critical Thinking

Global Competencies Communicate Ideas Take Action Recognize Perspectives Investigate the World Mansilla, V. B. and Jackson, (2011) Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World. New York: Council of Chief State School Officers’ Ed Steps Initiative & Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning

Habits of Mind and Research Tony Wagner in his book, The Global Achievement Gap identifies: –curiosity –collaboration –associative or integrative thinking –a bias toward action and experimentation

He also added: What I find most significant about this list is represent it represents a set of skills and habits of mind that can be nurtured, taught and mentored!”

All are dispositions and the focus of this workshop is on the 16 Habits of Mind- a subset of dispositions.

16 Habits of Mind  Persisting  Managing Impulsivity  Listening with understanding & empathy  Thinking flexibly  Thinking about thinking  Striving for accuracy  Questioning & posing problems  Applying past knowledge to new situations  Thinking & communicating with clarity and precision  Gathering data through all senses  Creating, imagining, innovating  Responding with wonderment and awe  Taking responsible risks  Finding humor  Thinking interdependently  Remaining open to continuous learning

Questions to Stimulate the Habits What sense did you make of this? What questions came to mind as you think about this? Which part do you know for sure? Which part do you understand? Which part are you not certain about? What do you notice about this? What patterns do you notice? What do you wish was easier? What did you understand the question to be? What do you wonder about? Tell me more Help me understand Getting to I Got It!, Betty K. Garner Published by ASCD

Additional Thoughts About Questioning When asking an open ended question, use good wait time. Do not ask another question. Allow think time. Strategies for encouraging think time: –Count to signal wait time

. Stick to it! PERSISTING Persevering on a task even though the resolution is not immediately apparent.

P Failed in business, 1831 P Defeated for legislature, 1832 P Again failed in business, 1833 P Elected to legislature, 1834 P Defeated for Speaker, 1838 P Defeated for elector, 1840 P Defeated for Congress, 1843 P Elected to Congress, 1846 P Defeated for Congress, 1848 P Defeated for Senate, 1855 P Defeated for vice-president, 1858 P Defeated for Senate, 1858 P Elected President of the United States, 1860

Elected President of the United States, 1860 Abraham Lincoln

Think about your thinking! METACOGNITION Being aware of your own thoughts, feelings, and actions and their effects of on others

Metacognition: à T hink à A loud à P roblem à S olving

T HINK A LOUD P ROBLEM S OLVING When there is a challenging problem : 4Invite your child to describe their plans and strategies for solving the problem. 4Share their thinking as they are implementing their plan. 4Reflect on/evaluate the effectiveness of their strategy.

POSE QUESTIONS THAT CAUSE YOUR CHILD TO CHECK FOR ACCURACY: “ How do you know you are right? ” “ What other ways can you prove that you are correct? ”

Pause and Clarify-- (don ’ t interrupt) “ Explain what you mean when you said ‘ you just figured it out ’. ” “ When you said you started at the beginning, how did you know where to begin? ”

Provide data, not answers “ I think you heard it wrong; let me repeat the question. ” “ You need to check your addition. ”

RESIST MAKING VALUE- JUDGMENTS: “ So, your answer is 48. Was there another possible way to solve this problem?

STAY FOCUSED ON THE THINKING PROCESS: “ Tell us what strategies you used to solve the problem. ”

ENCOURAGE PERSISTENCE: “ C ’ mon, you can do it! ”

Understand others! Devoting mental energies to understanding others ’ thoughts and feelings. LISTENING WITH UNDERSTANDING AND EMPATHY

P ause P araphrase P robe Inquire Clarify LISTENING SEQUENCE :

Pausing: Using wait-time before responding to or asking a question allows time for more complex thinking, enhances dialogue and improves decision making.

Paraphrasing: Lets others know that you are listening, that you understand or are trying to understand them and that you care.

Probing: Increases the clarity and precision of the group's thinking by refining understandings, terminology and interpretations.

Speaker: Finish this sentence: “As I reflect on my child’s learning this year, I am thinking …” Listener: Use the Pause, Paraphrase Probe sequence

Speaker: Finish this sentence: “As I reflect on my plans for how I might change the way I am questioning, I am considering…” Listener: Use the Pause, Paraphrase Probe sequence

WHAT VALUES ARE YOU EXPRESSING WHEN YOU LISTEN TO OTHERS SO INTENTLY?

“One’s intelligence is the sum of one’s habits of mind.” Lauren B. Resnick Making America Smarter: The Real Goal of School Reform 2001

MODELING: “ What you are speaks so loudly, they can ’ t hear what you say. ” Ralph Waldo Emerson

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