Empathy is Foundational During Our Current Uncertainty
By Allison Zmuda, Bena Kallick and Art Costa Empathy is a foundational part of healing from the political and social issues we are currently facing. Empathy can also be a response to a joyful experience. This newsletter focuses on the powerful experience people have experienced when they have been listened to with understanding and empathy. […]
How to Listen with Understanding and Empathy: Who Is the Spotlight Shining On?
By Arthur L. Costa, Bena Kallick, and Allison Zmuda “To listen fully means to pay close attention to what is being said beneath the words. You listen not only for what someone knows, but for what he or she is. Generative listening is the art of developing deeper silences in yourself, so you can […]
Holiday Reflection as 2020 Comes to a Close
By Art Costa, Allison Zmuda, and Bena Kallick An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of humanity. — Martin Luther King, Jr. 2020 is close to ending and although we have experienced many hardships and losses, we also […]
Personal Reflective Journaling
By Art Costa, Bena Kallick, and Allison Zmuda Healing is about taking the time to notice what gets in the way of feeling connected to your life, your community, and your sense of possibility. Healing, at its core, is about slowing down so that we can better listen to ourselves and each other. […]
Gratitude: Sustaining Hope in the Midst of Turmoil
In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized through it all, that in the midst of winter, I found there was within me, an invincible summer; […]
How do we deal with race, pandemic, international conflict, and other contemporary issues?
As we deal with contemporary issues such as race, global pandemic, international conflicts, displacement of people, and climate change, the need for redefining civility becomes all the more apparent and urgent. Civility must always be considered in the context of the moment. It is always a moving aspiration as it is influenced by present […]
“We are Better Together Than Apart” — An Interview with Superintendent Greg Hutchings
Dr. Gregory Hutchings has been unapologetic about his stance when it comes to combatting issues of racial inequities. In this interview, he talks about racial equity being at the heart of his work and decision-making as exhibited by the school reopening plan that he proposed known as the Virtual PLUS+ model. Dr. Hutchings was […]
Reflecting About the Internal Chatter: Thinking About Your Thinking
The world right now feels exhausting and unpredictable. There are so many interrelated and complex issues that have incredibly high stakes in our day-to-day lives personally, locally, and globally. How we behave and connect with the world in light of this depends on our outlook and our thinking. If there ever was a time […]
How to Coach for Thinking, Not Imitation
By Bena Kallick, Art Costa, and Allison Zmuda Coaching to develop skills is different from coaching for thinking. When you coach students to build skill development, the expectation is that they will be learning by imitation. However, when you coach learning that requires deeper, strategic thinking, then your purpose is to ask the kind […]
A Note to the Habits of Mind Community
By Bena Kallick, Art Costa, and Allison Zmuda This is not the way any of us would have imagined the last weeks of school. Shuttering schools has caused families all around the world tremendous hardship as we all are doing our best to protect health, manage finances, balance schedules, and grieve loss of events/milestones/face-to-face interactions as well […]