HABITS OF MIND How do people learn? How do people think? How do people produce knowledge? 1

What are the Habits of Mind?  A habit of mind is  knowing how to act intelligently when you DON’T know the answer  having the inclination to behave intelligently. 2

S1 : GATHERING DATA THROUGH ALL YOUR SENSES  Intelligent people know that all information gets into the brain through the senses  Intelligent people pay close attention to their environment 3

 Most linguistic, cultural, and physical learning  is derived from the environment by observing  taking in through the senses  Those whose sensory pathways are open, alert, and acute absorb more information from their environment 4

5 Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift. Albert Einstein If all meanings could be adequately expressed by words, the arts of painting and music would not exist. John Dewey

S2 : LEARNING CONTINUOUSLY  Intelligent people are in a continuous learning mode  They are always  striving for improvement  growing  learning  improving themselves 6

Insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Albert Einstein 7

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle 8

U1: LISTENING TO OTHERS WITH UNDERSTANDING & EMPATHY  Actively listening is a sign of intelligence  Paying close attention to what is being said  Reading between the lines  Holding your judgments until you’ve listened to the other person 9

10 Listening is the beginning of understanding... Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening. Let the wise listen and add to their learning... Proverbs 1:5

U2 : THINKING INTERDEPENDENTLY  Humans are social beings  All of us together are more powerful than any one individual  No one of us is as smart as all of us 11

Take care of each other. Share your energies with the group. No one must feel alone, cut off, for that is when you do not make it. Willie Unsoeld (famous mountain climber) 12

C1: MANAGING IMPULSIVITY  Thinking BEFORE acting or speaking  Intentionally forming a vision of a product, plan of action, goal, or destination  Reflecting on alternatives and consequences 13

14 The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.” (H. Overstreet) Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” (Vincent Van Gogh)

C2: PERSISTENCE  Not giving up easily  Staying focused on the task at hand  Looking at alternatives to solving a problem  Developing a plan for solving problems 15

16 Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time. Mirabel Morgan

Thomas Edison...  holds 1039 patents  invented  the rubber used in tires  batteries  fluorescent light bulbs  the movie camera  the phonograph 17

18 Results! Why, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work. Thomas Edison

19 “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Thomas Edison

C3: TAKING RESPONSIBLE RISKS Flexible people seem to have an uncontrollable urge to go beyond established limits They learn to view setbacks as – interesting – challenging – growth producing 20

 Flexible people  take educated risks  draw on past knowledge  are thoughtful about consequences  have a well-trained sense of what is appropriate  know that NOT all risks are worth taking  It is only through repeated experiences that risk taking becomes educated 21

The only way to succeed is to be brave enough to risk failure. Bobby Jindal 22

Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear. Mark Twain 23

C1 : METACOGNITION  Thinking about your thinking  Ability to know what we know and what we don’t know  Are you getting positive results with your pattern of thinking? 24

25 When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself. Plato I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside. Wayne Dyer

C2: QUESTIONING AND POSING PROBLEMS  Effective problem solvers know how to ask questions to fill in the gaps between what they know and what they don’t know 26

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning. Albert Einstein 27

C3 : APPLYING PAST KNOWLEDGE TO NEW SITUATIONS  Intelligent human beings  learn from experience  make new connections between past and present experiences 28

Everything we do seeds the future. No action is an empty one. Joan Chittister 29

E1 : STRIVING FOR ACCURACY AND PRECISION  Focusing on quality  Taking pride in your work  Focusing on excellence in one’s work 30

31 I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. Helen Keller

E2 : THINKING & COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY AND PRECISION  Language and thinking are closely entwined  Like two sides of the same coin, they are inseparable 32

 When you hear fuzzy language, it is a reflection of fuzzy thinking  Intelligent people strive to communicate accurately in both written and spoken word  Use precise language by:  defining terms  using correct names  using universal labels 33

34 The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for. L. Wittgenstein The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug. Mark Twain

35 Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Frank Outlaw

S1 : THINKING FLEXIBLY  The capacity to change your mind as you receive additional data  Approaching a problem from different angles  Shifting from one perspective to another  Flexible people are the ones with the most control 36

37 If you never change your mind, why have one? Edward deBono

S2 : CREATING, IMAGINING, INNOVATING All human beings have the capacity to generate: – new – original – clever – and ingenious: products solutions techniques 38

 Come up with different solutions  Be motivated from your heart and mind  Creative people are open to criticism in their efforts to refine their technique  Creative people take risks and try new things 39

40 The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination. John Shaar, political scientist

S3 : RESPONDING WITH WONDER AND AWE  Successful people have not only an “I CAN” attitude but also an “I ENJOY” feeling  They enjoy figuring out things by themselves and continue to learn throughout their lifetime 41

 Remain curious  Become a lifelong learner  Find the beauty all around you  Become passionate about  learning  Inquiring/questioning  mastering 42

The most beautiful experience in the world is the experience of the mysterious. Albert Einstein 43

S1 : FINDING HUMOR  It is said that laughter is the best medicine  people who engage in the mystery of humor have the ability to see situations from an original and often interesting vantage point 44

 Laughter  frees creativity  engages higher level thinking skills such as anticipation finding new relationships visual imagery making analogies 45

 not all humor is acceptable  human indifferences  hurting a person’s feelings  vulgarity  violence  profanity  making fun of others  laughing at others but not at yourself  causing pain 46

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