New Rule: Navigate VUCA with Habits of Mind

By Bill Sommers So, as I sit here in my home under COVID19 stay at home restrictions, one question keeps reverberating with me in how to lead during this time: “How do we respond in a VUCA world that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon?” When I was a principal, a […]
Leveraging The Habits of Mind In The Midst of Disruption

By Craig Gastauer March 13, 2020 was the day we received the news that all districts in San Diego County were shutting down physical operations due to COVID-19. A week later, our teachers were directed to begin thinking in terms of what was essential for students to learn between now and the end of […]
Using Habits of Mind to Ensure the School Culture is a Supportive One

“All knowledge is sacred, but it should not be secret.” —Susan Cooper, writer Questions about the cultural inclusivity of the Habits Of Mind were raised at the Auckland Expo when a challenge to consider the cultural dimensions of the program was put to the presenters by a Maori teacher: “Why not ‘Habits of the […]
The 9 Habits of Mind for Powerful Writing

For many individuals the ability to select a topic, conjure up ideas, and then write about it is a tough process. Even more arduous is the action of physically building focused behaviors to continue writing with reader appeal in mind. It takes persistence, focus, pacing, planning, questioning yourself, developing your senses, and thinking outside the […]
Hurdling Resilience through Habits of Mind

Daniel Vollrath, Ed.D. (@HabitsofMindInc) is a special education teacher at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey, and a United States Professional Development Trainer for the Habits of Mind Institute. As a current educational leader within the classroom, Daniel’s best practices, strategies, goals, classroom culture, and interactions with students with a learning disability […]
Taking Responsible Risks

by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick “There is a time for daring and a time for caution, and a wise man knows which is called for.” John Keating, Teacher in Dead Poet’s Society So, the challenge, as John Keating puts it, is how do we become wiser? When we consider how to know […]
Building Community with the Habits of Mind

Daniel Vollrath (@HabitsofMindInc) is a special education teacher at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey, and a United States Professional Development Trainer for the Habits of Mind Institute, with a strong passion for developing curriculum, classroom culture, and mindfulness based on the Habits of Mind. Over the past five years, Daniel has […]