<p>We use the term “Habits of Mind” to mean having a disposition toward <strong>behaving intelligently </strong>when <strong>confronted</strong> with <strong>problems</strong> to which <strong>we do not immediately know the answers.</strong></p><p>These Habits of Mind may serve as <strong>mental disciplines.</strong> When confronted with problematic situations, students, parents, and teachers might habitually employ one or more of these Habits of Mind by asking themselves, <strong>“What is the most intelligent thing I can do right now?”</strong></p><ul><li>How can I learn from this? </li><li>What are my resources? </li><li>How can I approach this problem flexibly? </li><li>How can I draw upon my repertoire of problem-solving strategies? </li></ul>

Habits Of Mind

<p>The 16 Habits of Mind identified by Costa and Kallick include:</p><ul><li>Persisting</li><li>Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision</li><li>Managing impulsivity</li><li>Gathering data through all senses</li><li>Listening with understanding and empathy</li><li>Creating, imagining, innovating</li><li>Thinking flexibly</li><li>Responding with wonderment and awe</li><li>Thinking about thinking (metacognition)</li><li>Taking responsible risks</li><li>Striving for accuracy</li><li>Finding humor</li><li>Questioning and posing problems</li><li>Thinking interdependently</li><li>Applying past knowledge to new situations</li><li>Remaining open to continuous learning</li></ul>

The 16 Habits of Mind

<p>The Water Foundation has identified 13 Habits of a Systems Thinker.</p><ul><li>Seeks to understand the “big picture”</li><li>Observes how elements within systems change over time, generating patterns and trends</li><li>Recognizes that a system’s structure generates its behavior: focuses on structure, not on blame</li><li>Identifies the circular nature of complex cause and effect relationships, i.e. interdependencies</li><li>Changes perspectives</li><li>Surfaces and tests assumptions</li><li>Considers an issue fully and resists the urge to come to a quick conclusion</li></ul><p><br></p>

13 HABITS OF A SYSTEMS THINKER

<ul><li>Considers how mental models (i.e., attitudes and beliefs derived from experience) affect current reality and the future</li><li>Uses understanding of system structures to identify possible leverage actions</li><li>Considers both short- and long-term consequences of actions</li><li>Finds where unintended consequences emerge</li><li>Recognizes the impact of time delays when exploring cause and effect relationships</li><li>Checks results and changes actions if needed:, “successive approximation”</li></ul>

<div>October 19, 2012</div><img src="https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_200px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif" srcset="https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_200px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 200w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_250px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 250w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_300px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 300w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_310px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 310w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_350px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 350w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_450px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 450w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_500px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 500w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_550px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 550w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_600px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 600w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_620px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 620w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_650px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 650w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_700px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 700w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_750px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 750w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_768px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 768w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_800px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 800w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_900px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 900w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1000px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1000w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1100px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1100w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1200px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1200w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1240px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1240w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1300px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1300w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1400px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1400w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1440px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1440w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1500px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1500w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1536px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1536w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_1600px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 1600w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_2000px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 2000w, https://media.edutopia.org/styles/responsive_2880px_original/s3/masters/d7_images/slates/heick-habits-of-mind.gif 2880w, " width="745" height="774"><div>Image credit: iStockphoto</div><p>In outcomes-based learning environments, we generally see three elements in play: 1) learning objectives or targets are created from given standards; 2) instruction of some kind is given; and then 3) learning results are assessed. These assessments offer data to inform the revision of further planned instruction. Rinse and repeat.</p><p dir="ltr">But lost in this clinical sequence are the <a href="https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/what-are-habits-of-mind/" dir="ltr">Habits of Mind</a> that (often predictably) lead to success or failure in the mastery of given standards. In fact, it is not in the standards or assessments, but rather these personal habits where success or failure -- in academic terms -- actually begin.</p><p>Below are all 16 Habits of Mind, each with a tip, strategy or resource to understand and begin implementation in your classroom.</p><p>The habits themselves aren't new at all, and significant work has already been done in the areas of these "thinking habits." However, in a 21st century learning environment -- one often inundated with information, stimulation and connectivity -- there may be a newfound context for their application.</p><p>And a renewed urgency for their integration.</p><p dir="ltr">The <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108008.aspx" dir="ltr">Habits of Mind by Art Costa and Bena Kallick</a> don't simply represent fragments of practice to "add on" to what you already do, but rather new ways to think about how people learn.</p><h3>1. Persisting</h3><p>Have students identify characteristics of persistence shown by individuals in well-known events, or imagine what might have occurred if more or less persistence was shown in a given scenario.</p><h3>2. Managing Impulsivity</h3><p>Model the use of patience in the classroom, including wait time during discussion, or using helpful sentence stems that reflect intentional choice (such as "After reviewing all of the possible solutions . . . ").</p><h3>3. Listening to Others with Understanding and Empathy</h3><p>Identify the most common "listening set-asides" in conversation so that students can begin to recognize common "errors" that occur in everyday communication. These errors might include comparing, judging, placating or giving advice instead of really listening and understanding a message.</p><h3>4. Thinking Flexibly</h3><p>Use RAFT assignments (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) where students must consider a situation, letter, speech or poem from a perspective other than their own, or that of the original speakers.</p><h3>5. Thinking About Our Thinking (Metacognition)</h3><p dir="ltr">Ask students to map out their own thinking process. This can be done simply at first, e.g., diagramming the relationship between a want and a need, a gesture and a <em dir="ltr">need</em> to gesture. Then make it increasingly complex -- mapping out how characters from books or thinkers in history might have arrived at certain starting or stopping points in thought.</p><h3>6. Striving for Accuracy and Precision</h3><p>Use "three before me," a strategy that insists on any important assignment being checked by at least three other people before being handed in.</p><h3>7. Questioning and Posing Problems</h3><p>Create a "parking lot" area in the classroom -- stocked with post-it notes -- where students can post questions that may not fit into the pace or format of a given class. Then highlight the better questions periodically, or use them as jumping off points for discussion or even lesson planning.</p><h3>8. Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations</h3><p>Use question stems like "What do you remember about . . . ?", "When have you ever seen anything like this?" or "Tell me what you know about . . . " Whether you consider this activating schema, prior knowledge, or simply getting students more comfortable and in tune with what they already know, it can be a huge boost to the learning process.</p><h3>9. Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision</h3><p dir="ltr">Remind students to avoid the vagueness and abstraction -- and imprecision -- of terms like <em dir="ltr">always, never, all, everybody, teachers, celebrities, technology, they, we, should</em> and <em dir="ltr">must</em>. Post these kinds of words or phrases where students can be reminded of them -- and know to avoid them. And hopefully know <em dir="ltr">why</em> they should avoid them.</p><h3>10. Gathering Data Through All Senses</h3><p>Playfully allow students to "cite" sources from sensory data in addition to traditional textual sources. Also consider including the compelling use of such data in a rubric for formal assessment.</p><h3>11. Creating, Imagining and Innovating</h3><p>Offer persistent sources of inspiring thought, design, art or multimedia through writing prompts, discussion points or simply as a daily class closure. This models not only creativity, but also expertise, and is readily available on YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.</p><h3>12. Responding with Wonderment and Awe</h3><p>Don't just allow opportunities for student choice in topics, formats or learning pathways -- insist on it. Refuse to move the class forward until they are bringing their own passions into the learning experience.</p><h3>13. Taking Responsible Risks</h3><p>Create an environment where failure is analyzed, not punished.</p><h3>14. Finding Humor</h3><p>Point out humor where it is not immediately apparent, especially in stories and examples from your own life. This can help establish the "relativity" of "things," which supports more accurate analysis. Humor makes everything better.</p><h3>15. Thinking Interdependently</h3><p dir="ltr">Using digital and social media <a href="http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-21st-century-thinking-is-different/" dir="ltr">imposes at least a topical need for interdependence</a> from the beginning. The more thinking is published and shared, the more opportunity there will be for cognitive interdependence, though even opportunities aren't guarantees that it will happen.</p><h3>16. Learning Continuously</h3><p dir="ltr">Intermittently revisit old ideas, writing and projects to identify areas for development, improvement or revision. This is especially natural in digital domains, where <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/txc/summary/v002/2.1.bryant.html" dir="ltr">content is more fluid</a> -- updated, shared, hyperlinked, curated, reformatted into more or less visual terms, then shared again.</p><p>I know that these are just the tip of the iceberg and that there are many approaches one can take.</p>

The “habits of mind” – the routines of the affective system – enable us to associate those emotions (and feelings that follow them) with the corresponding experiences.

A quick tour of Costa and Kallick’s 16 Habits of Mind, along with suggestions for implementing them as classroom best practices.

"A route without a destination, however, may be efficient, but what to end?"
~Simon Sinek

Productivity & Management

<p>In outcomes-based learning environments, we generally see three elements in play: 1) learning objectives or targets are created from given standards; 2) instruction of some kind is given; and then 3) learning results are assessed. These assessments offer data to inform the revision of further planned instruction. Rinse and repeat. </p>

<p>But lost in this clinical sequence are the <a href="https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/what-are-habits-of-mind/">Habits of Mind </a>that (often predictably) lead to success or failure in the mastery of given standards. In fact, it is not in the standards or assessments, but rather these personal habits where success or failure -- in academic terms -- actually begin. </p>

<p>Below are all 16 Habits of Mind, each with a tip, strategy or resource to understand and begin implementation in your classroom. </p>

<p>The habits themselves aren't new at all, and significant work has already been done in the areas of these "thinking habits." However, in a 21st century learning environment -- one often inundated with information, stimulation and connectivity -- there may be a newfound context for their application. </p>

<p>And a renewed urgency for their integration. </p>

<p>The <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108008.aspx">Habits of Mind by Art Costa and Bena Kallick </a>don't simply represent fragments of practice to "add on" to what you already do, but rather new ways to think about how people learn. </p>

<p>Have students identify characteristics of persistence shown by individuals in well-known events, or imagine what might have occurred if more or less persistence was shown in a given scenario. </p>

<p>Model the use of patience in the classroom, including wait time during discussion, or using helpful sentence stems that reflect intentional choice (such as "After reviewing all of the possible solutions . . . "). </p>

3. Listening to Others with Understanding and Empathy

<p>Identify the most common "listening set-asides" in conversation so that students can begin to recognize common "errors" that occur in everyday communication. These errors might include comparing, judging, placating or giving advice instead of really listening and understanding a message. </p>

<p>Use RAFT assignments (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) where students must consider a situation, letter, speech or poem from a perspective other than their own, or that of the original speakers. </p>

5. Thinking About Our Thinking (Metacognition)

<p>Ask students to map out their own thinking process. This can be done simply at first, e.g., diagramming the relationship between a want and a need, a gesture and a <em>need </em>to gesture. Then make it increasingly complex -- mapping out how characters from books or thinkers in history might have arrived at certain starting or stopping points in thought. </p>

<p>Use "three before me," a strategy that insists on any important assignment being checked by at least three other people before being handed in. </p>

<p>Create a "parking lot" area in the classroom -- stocked with post-it notes -- where students can post questions that may not fit into the pace or format of a given class. Then highlight the better questions periodically, or use them as jumping off points for discussion or even lesson planning. </p>

8. Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations

<p>Use question stems like "What do you remember about . . . ?", "When have you ever seen anything like this?" or "Tell me what you know about . . . " Whether you consider this activating schema, prior knowledge, or simply getting students more comfortable and in tune with what they already know, it can be a huge boost to the learning process. </p>

9. Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision

<p>Remind students to avoid the vagueness and abstraction -- and imprecision -- of terms like <em>always, never, all, everybody, teachers, celebrities, technology, they, we, should </em>and <em>must </em>. Post these kinds of words or phrases where students can be reminded of them -- and know to avoid them. And hopefully know <em>why </em>they should avoid them. </p>

<p>Playfully allow students to "cite" sources from sensory data in addition to traditional textual sources. Also consider including the compelling use of such data in a rubric for formal assessment. </p>

<p>Offer persistent sources of inspiring thought, design, art or multimedia through writing prompts, discussion points or simply as a daily class closure. This models not only creativity, but also expertise, and is readily available on YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. </p>

<p>Don't just allow opportunities for student choice in topics, formats or learning pathways -- insist on it. Refuse to move the class forward until they are bringing their own passions into the learning experience. </p>

<p>Create an environment where failure is analyzed, not punished. </p>

<p>Point out humor where it is not immediately apparent, especially in stories and examples from your own life. This can help establish the "relativity" of "things," which supports more accurate analysis. Humor makes everything better. </p>

<p>Using digital and social media <a href="http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-21st-century-thinking-is-different/">imposes at least a topical need for interdependence </a>from the beginning. The more thinking is published and shared, the more opportunity there will be for cognitive interdependence, though even opportunities aren't guarantees that it will happen. </p>

<p>Intermittently revisit old ideas, writing and projects to identify areas for development, improvement or revision. This is especially natural in digital domains, where <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/txc/summary/v002/2.1.bryant.html">content is more fluid </a>-- updated, shared, hyperlinked, curated, reformatted into more or less visual terms, then shared again. </p>

<p>I know that these are just the tip of the iceberg and that there are many approaches one can take. </p>

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Integrating the 16 Habits of Mind

Habits Of Mind

The 16 Habits of Mind

13 HABITS OF A SYSTEMS THINKER

13 HABITS OF A SYSTEMS THINKER

Adhesive Labels Help Critical Thinking Stick

Why productivity hacks and resolutions fail

8 Ways to Encourage Healthy Debate in the Classroom

Bite‑sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Integrating the 16 Habits of Mind

Habits Of Mind

The 16 Habits of Mind

13 HABITS OF A SYSTEMS THINKER

13 HABITS OF A SYSTEMS THINKER

Adhesive Labels Help Critical Thinking Stick

Why productivity hacks and resolutions fail

8 Ways to Encourage Healthy Debate in the Classroom

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career