Implementing the Habits of Mind - TLC Home · Thinking and Learning in Concert Yarrambat PS Implementing the Habits of Mind Yarrambat Primary School March 14, 2007 Martin and Pat

Thinking and Learning in Concert Yarrambat PS

Implementing theHabits of Mind

Yarrambat Primary SchoolMarch 14, 2007

Martin and Pat Buoncristiani

Thinking and Learning in Concert

[email protected]

http://ThinkingAndLearningInConcert.org


AgendaFocus on practices for implementing Habits of Mind

• Review your expectations for Yarrambat PS and compared them to HoM• Discuss how HoM fit into lesson planning• Review successful practices:

– HoM provides a common language and structure for a coherent “thoughtful school”– Look at what teachers need to do to understand the complexity of the HoM– Examine how we can expect the Habits to develop – Examples of school cultures from other places

• Investigate how questioning can activate thinking about cognitive operations and HoM


Experience with Habits of MindImplemented HoM in primary school and in university classes

Pre-service education with a focus on integrating thinking into primary science

Several workshops in US and Australia

–some with Art Costa and Bena Kallick

Workshops for parents: “What parents need to know about How Children Learn”

Presentations at conferences, papers,

Consultations

About usPat: classroom teacher, teacher educator, principal

Martin: physicist, university professor, science educator


About YouWho is a teacher of Preps? Juniors? Middle? Upper?Specialists (Art, Music, PE, Library, LOTE ...)Divide up into groups

Why the grouping? The Habits don’t just appear, they develop over time and with experience (for all of us).

Preps have a different understanding of the Habits, different strategies for using Habits than upper level students and consequently the Habits may need to be approached differently.


What do you want your students to be able to

do five years after they leave this school?

Here is a Question to Start us Off

processing


When you look at your list, what relationship do you see between these outcomes of a successful education and the Habits of Mind – the habits of successful people?

processing


What others have said

Discover his or her abilitiesBe creativeBe able to solve problemsKnow what and how to studyBe self- motivated and confidentBe able to operate in a variety of environmentsHave basic skills that enable on going learningBe productive citizensBe lifelong learnersAppreciate the value of education


“Education is what you have left when you have forgotten everything you learned in school.”

- Albert Einstein, 1936

all the facts


Implementation of HOM is like a journey.

How far along the road do you think you have come?

What are some specific questions or problems you have right now?

Write them on the yellow sticky note.

Place the question on the road at the point in the journey you find yourself right now.

processing Activity: Roadside Map –


Where do the Habits of

Mind fit into my lesson planning?

Habits

Of Mind

Cognitive Tasks that require

thinking skills

Thinking skills

Content


What are the characteristics of schools where HoM have been successfully implemented?


1. Current values about education have been made explicit

•Most teachers have the same set of values and expectations about education

•They cut across subject and year boundaries

•They are talked about in a purposeful way that makes them explicit

•The school community remains focused on them

The HoM provides a framework for discussing these values


2. Everyone uses a common language - the language of Habits of Mind

Habits of Mind terminology allows teachers to share a common language and develop common meanings,

Students are able to frame the Habits in their own language and draw on their own experience to recognise them,

then

students, teachers and parents use the same terminology.

This helps develop a sense of coherence within the school community about what we believe is important and what we are striving to achieve.



3. Recognise and value current practice

The Habits are not another ‘add on’. They are about how we do things.

The Habits are not new – good teachers have been working with them always.

Explicit use of the HoM enables us to focus our practice and build in a purposeful and coherent way to focus on what we know to be good practice.


A Curriculum audit is a useful early step.


4. Teachers know they are supported as they strive to implement the HabitsEach of the HoMs is complex and there is time and opportunity to explore and unpack them together.

A wide repertoire of thinking strategies is in use in all schoolactivities.

There is a focus on understanding the developmental nature of the Habits.

Regular meetings are held to review where we have been, where we are now, where we go next – a shared journey.


5. The school has developed a strategy for the implementation of the Habits of Mind

6. That strategy is reflected in all school documents from lesson plans to school improvement plans


A school using Habits of Mind successfully becomes a “thought-filled” place

HoM becomes integrated

into the school culture

• Curriculum• Assessment & Reporting• Communication with Parents & Community• Staff Meetings• Policy and Planning Documents• Icons, mascots etc• Welfare / Discipline


Successful Practices1) Current values about education have been made

explicit.2) Everyone uses a common language - the language

of Habits of Mind.3) Recognise and value current practice.4) Teachers know they are supported as they strive

to implement the habits.5) The school has developed a strategy for the

implementation of the Habits of Mind. 6) That strategy is reflected in all school documents

from lesson plans to school improvement plans


Signals In The School Environment:

• Mottoes• Recognitions• Acronyms


Mottoes:

“THE UNITED MIND WORKERS”

Bleyl Middle School StaffCypress-Fairbanks School District

Houston, Texas


Recognitions

WasatchElementary School

Salt Lake City, Utah


Posters


Children’sPosters

“Don’t call outin assembly ifyou loose a

tooth. You waituntil assembly

is over.”Gage, Grade 1

Clip


AcronymsQueen ElizabethSchoolStudents:

Pose powerful QuestionsTry to Understand othersEmpathize with othersAre Eager learnersNever give up

WHERE THINKING REIGNS SUPREME!


SLOGANSLYNNWOOD

LIONS“PAWS”

TO THINK


SLOGANS

“Thought is taught at Huntington Beach High School”

Huntington Beach, California


SLOGANS

“THINKING MAKES US WHITTIER”

Whittier Elementary School,

Waukesha, Wisconsin


AcronymsHamptonHighSchoolStudents

Have empathy for othersAre accurate and preciseManage their impulsivityPose powerful questionsTake time to thinkObserve Through All SensesNever give up







“When I was doing this work, I was thinking about how hard the kids at Furr had to work and what they had to overcome in order to succeed. The body is the body of a student and the head represents our mascot, the bull. The uplifted hand stands for persistence.”

Juan, Furr High SchoolHouston, Texas


Unpacking a Habit

Each Habit is COMPLEX and contains many sub-skills that need to be identified:

“I’d like to be persistent, but I don’t know how?”


Persisting

Persevering on a task even though the resolution is not immediately apparent.

Stick to it!

"It's always too soon to quit!"Norman Vincent Peale


Think of a event in your life where you demonstrated persistence and it led to a success.

List the various skills, attitudes, feelings, strategies that you utilized in demonstrating your persistence.

Discuss and compare your list with a partner.

Create a composite list.

Share with the group.

processing Think Pair Share


Each of the Habits of Mind has a complex set of associated sub-skills.

As teachers we must be aware of the these sub-skills and understand how to create classrooms where they are developed.

It is very helpful to create concept maps of the HoMs you are using


At your table construct a concept map for one of the following three Habits:

Managing Impulsivity

Listening with Empathy and Understanding

Striving for Accuracy

processing Unpack a Habit


Development of the HabitsHabits of mind do not suddenly appear.

They develop and continue to become refined throughout life.

A Habit in a prep is different from an upper level student and from an adult.

They need to be approached differently at each grade level.

How does

Working Interdependently

develop?


In the beginning –– Enjoys working in a group because she gets to work with friends– Working in a group means taking turns– Recognizes familiar situations in class when she works in a group

After some time working in groups –– Understands working in groups is about having one outcome for the group.– Group work is often about equal division of labor.– Has difficulty working with people very different to herself

After some more time –– Begins to incorporate other Habits of Mind like Listening with Empathy and Understanding while working in groups– Is able to add to others ideas, and recognizes that the product of the group is more than the sum of the parts– Can recognize situations at home, school and in the community where working in groups helps generate better results

After some more time –– Can effectively employ a range of complex cooperative strategies– Recognizes new and novel situations where it is appropriate to work cooperatively– Values diversity in a group as a positive influence


The big picture of growth and development of HoM

Schools that succeed with the Habits of Mind seem to recognize the process of continuous development of the Habits of Mind and take this into account in their implementation.

Novice ExpertSimplistic understanding of a habit Recognizes the complexity of habitsRequires guidance Self-directed applicationApplies one habit at a time Integrates use of habitsLimited tools and strategies Multiple tool and strategiesPoor or inappropriate selection Appropriate and skillful selectionDifficulty recognizing habits Recognizes situations to apply habits


processing

As you watch this video think about what is going on in the

teacher’s mind ...

and the students’ minds.

A Habits of Mind Lesson


I know all the HoMs

I am planning for development in HoMs

I plan so students will activate whichever HoMs are most appropriate

I make decisions about which ones we need to focus on explicitly

I’m beginning to be aware of some of the HoMs

I rely on my teacher to point me in the right direction

In the future I’ll be able to work it out on my own


SummaryFocused on practices for implementing Habits of Mind

• Reviewed current, shared values and compared them to HoM

• Discussed how HoM fit into lesson planning

• Reviewed successful practices

• HoM provide a common language and structure for a coherent “thoughtful school”

• Looked at what teachers need to do to understand the complexity of the HoM

• Examined how we can expect the Habits to develop

• Investigated how questioning can activate thinking about cognitive operations and HoM


Implementation of HOM is like a journey.

How far along the road do you think you have come?

What are some specific questions or problems you have right now?

Write them on the blue sticky note

Place the question on the road at the point in the journey you find yourself right now.

processing Activity: Roadside Map –

Revisited


Changing our habits

Do we need to break some old habitsand do things differently?

It isn’t always easy to break oldhabits.

BlanketBreakHabit.mov


Please contact us

Thinking & Learning In Concert

… promoting the harmonious integration of skillful thinking and learning

[email protected]