How the Habits of Mind Become a Shared Language of Learning
By James Anderson Are you talking the talk? Or walking the walk? There’s nothing quite like walking into a school where the Habits of Mind have been adopted as a language for learning. You see the Habits of Mind displayed on the walls. You read about them in school documents. And you hear parents, […]
Musicals that Support “Persisting” Habit
By Dr Keith Mason The 16 Habits of Mind can impact education in numerous subjects. This article focuses on Habit of Mind Number 1: Persisting, and how it is ever present in musicals. Themes, characters and songs in musicals can beautifully illustrate persisting, while students explore the persisting habit through musicals. The process of […]
Keeping Students With Learning Disabilities Motivated at Home
This post was first published on Edutopia and is reprinted with the author’s permission. The things that used to be routine in schools—morning announcements, bells ringing, classroom interactions, hallway gatherings, lunch chats, and peer bonding—are temporarily gone with the wind. As virtual learning continues with no end in sight here in New Jersey, staying on […]
Keeping Special Education Students Motivated: Tips and Tricks
Daniel Vollrath is a special education teacher, and a United States Professional Development Trainer for the Institute for Habits of Mind. As a current educational leader within the classroom, Daniel’s best practices, strategies, goals, classroom culture, and interactions with students with a learning disability are centred around the Habits of Mind. Read more from Daniel […]
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 […]
An Intersection of Adult Education with Habits of Mind
By Carol Hill Adults with low academic skills struggle in a number of ways. Statistics are only part of the narrative. Most adult basic education students have stories of failure and resilience. Oftentimes failure describes academic struggles (Belzer, 2004; Crowther, Maciachlan & Tett, 2010; Davis, 2014). Furthermore, failure also characterizes the personal, financial, and […]
Leading in the VUCA World: Not Much Has Changed
By Dr. Jeff Dillon Leading in a VUCA World initially seems unattainable when education is so firmly built upon traditional pedagogical instructional models. As educational leaders, we take comfort in this model because it is predictable and safe. Why would a leader leave this place of self-comfort to embrace the VUCA World? The COVID-19 […]
Featuring Communication with Schools and Families
By Bena Kallick and Allison Zmuda As we read through these examples, we were struck by not only what they were saying but the ways in which each was presented. The tone was invitational, honest, and resilient. They ask their communities to read these with some creative possibilities for the present and a mind […]
After the Conference: Developing Personal and Practical Knowledge
“Learning can’t exist in a vacuum or silo. It needs to be connected both to why you do what you do and how you go about getting things done in your everyday work.” —Tanveer Naseer Why is it that teachers go to conferences or have school seminars, yet no matter how polished the presenters […]
When Teachers Become Solutions to The Problems Schools Face
By Thomas R. Feller, Jr., Ashley Smith and Lauren Bowers John Hattie wrote “the greatest effects on student learning occur when teachers become learners of their own teaching, and when students become their own teachers” (emphasis ours) (Hattie, 2012). Based on our combined 50+ years experience in multiple districts and states, as well as […]