I feel passionately that the Habits of Mind are one of the keys to becoming successful. Our Habits of Mind must continue to develop in order to meet the ever increasing demands of the challenges we face as we continue to grow and acquire greater degrees of excellence in a field. I talk about this […]
Sophie is a Year 5 student at Wilderness College in South Australia. She has written the most beautiful story about the Habits of Mind and the value she sees in them. The way she integrates humour and the insightfulness she shows about the Habits of Mind is truly remarkable. We are thankful to Sophie and […]
Doing some web browsing the other day I came across some work being done at th Denali Montessori School, in Anchorage Alaska. Student in their Ignite program had made mask and hand sculptures and written personal reflection essays about the Habits of Mind. These artifacts had gone on public display. The image to the left was […]
“I’ve already done persistence!” This was what my daughter came home saying after her teacher had “done” persistence for the third time this semester. And it’s the sort of thing I hear from lots of teachers and students just before their work with Habits of Mind falls over. How do you avoid the “We’ve done this […]
I’m always amazed how quickly students engage with the Habits of Mind. I like to think I’m a reasonably good teacher. I work hard at making my classes relevant and interesting for students. But when we come to the Habits of Mind, they seem to automatically make their own connection. They see the relevance and […]
Responding with Wonderment and Awe is a reaction. The disposition successful people have developed is not the response of wonderment and awe, which everyone is capable of, it is the action of Searching for Wonderment and awe. The story below powerfully illustrates this point. While we might be exposed to the amazing and wonderous, the […]
Rohan taught me to always introduce all 16 Habits of Mind. I often get asked “which Habit of Mind should I start with?” and my answer is always “All of them.” Although we might choose to focus on just a few Habits of Mind, if we don’t at least mention the others, we might be […]
Habits of Mind have made an appearence in the Dartmouth Presidential Lectures. In the video below Dr Kim, new president of the World Bank discusses his views on important Habits of Mind. Making particular reference to Questioning and Posing problems. It is a great endorsement for the Habits of Mind that the Habits of Mind […]
Because the Habits of Mind are derived from studies of successful people, they have an authenticity about them that makes them easy to spot in real life. These are how successful people really use their minds, so if you observe successful people you can see them in action! To convince yourself, or others, of the […]
Kingsmead College in Johannesburg, South Africa, have been working with the Habits of Mind for several years now. I had the great pleasure of working with their whole staff in 2011. The Habits of Mind at Kingsmead work are lead by Ingrid Beekhuizen, who is also part of the Habits of Mind team at Thinking […]
I was recently at Westbourne Park Primary School in Adelaide South Australia where I presented a Habits of Mind Learning Community of Excellence Award to the school. During the presentation the principal, David Adams, outlined the evidence he has collected that shows the significant impact the Habits of Mind have had on the schools literacy […]
One of the ways we identify a Habits of Mind school is the way the Habits are recognised, displayed and valued in the school environment. In the video below we see a wide range of examples. Leave your thoughts and comments below or use the contact form to send your own examples.
One of the greatest strengths of the Habits of Mind is that it gives us a common language to talk about successful behaviours. By building this common language in the home, workplace or school it helps us clearly communicate our expectations and discuss our growth of Habits of Mind. In schools and homes we often […]
