How can Costa's Habit of Mind be used in the classroom? Each of Costa's habits can be used in a variety of different ways from teacher led discussions, by asking the children what particular habit relates to the given task, through to the teacher and the student incorporating them into their every day activities. I have outlined each of the habits and given an example of how this can be used in the classroom setting.
1. Persisting
Have the students identify characteristics of persistence shown by individuals in well-known events, such as Valerie Adams, and identify what might have occurred if more or less persistence was shown. Have a classroom contract of never giving up no matter what the circumstances are in any curriculum area.
2. Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision Remind students to avoid the vagueness of terms like always, never, all, everybody, teachers, celebrities, technology, they, we, should and must. Post these kinds of words or phrases where students can be reminded of them, and know to avoid them.
3. Managing impulsivity Model the use of patience in the classroom, including wait time during discussion, or using helpful sentence stems that reflect intentional choice (such as "After reviewing all of the possible solutions . . . ").
4. Gathering data through all senses Allow students to "cite" sources from sensory data in addition to traditional textual sources. Also consider including the compelling use of such data in a rubric for formal assessment.
5. Listening with understanding and empathy Identify the most common "listening set-asides" in conversation so that students can begin to recognise common "errors" that occur in everyday communication. These errors might include comparing, judging, or giving advice instead of really listening and understanding a message.
6. Creating, imagining, innovating Offer persistent sources of inspiring thought, design, art or multimedia through writing prompts, discussion points or simply as a daily class closure. This models not only creativity, but also expertise, and is readily available on YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. Encourage students to use a different presentation styles.
7. Thinking flexibly Use RAFT assignments (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) where students must consider a situation, letter, speech or poem from a perspective other than their own, or that of the original speakers.
8. Responding with wonderment and awe Don't just allow opportunities for student choice in topics, formats or learning pathways insist on it. Refuse to move the class forward until they are bringing their own passions into the learning experience.
9. Thinking about thinking Ask students to map out their own thinking process. This can be done simply at first, e.g., diagramming the relationship between a want and a need, a gesture and a need to gesture. Then make it increasingly complex, mapping out how characters from books or thinkers in history might have arrived at certain starting or stopping points in thought.
10. Taking responsible risks Create an environment where failure is analysed, not punished. Encourage risk taking in a way where if the risks fail, they will reflect and take further risks to succeed.
11. Striving for accuracy Use "three before me," a strategy that insists on a piece of art work, for example, that the owner will show three classmates to get feedback on what they could improve on to get a be. Similar to what we are doing in class today.
12. Finding humour Point out humor where it is not immediately apparent, especially in stories and examples from your own life. This can help establish the "relativity" of "things," which supports more accurate analysis. Humour makes everything better.
13. Questioning and posing problems Create a "parking lot" area in the classroom, stocked with post-it notes, where students can post questions that may not fit into the pace or format of a given class. Then highlight the better questions periodically, or use them as jumping off points for discussion or even lesson planning.
14. Thinking interdependently Using digital and social media imposes at least a topical need for interdependence from the beginning. The more thinking is published and shared, the more opportunity there will be for cognitive interdependence. Encourage group work as often as possible. Using Think/Pair/Share will help thinking interdependently.
15. Applying past knowledge to new situations Use question stems like "What do you remember about . . . ?", "When have you ever seen anything like this?" or "Tell me what you know about . . . " Whether you consider this activating schema, prior knowledge, or simply getting students more comfortable and in tune with what they already know, it can be a huge boost to the learning process.
16. Remaining open to continuous learning Ocassionaly revisit old ideas, writing and projects to identify areas for development, improvement or connecting prior knowledge to new learning. This is especially natural in digital domains, where content is more fluid -- updated, shared, hyperlinked, curated, reformatted into more or less visual terms, then shared again.
Links to ICT
Clips to share with students The following clips can be shared with students to explore the different habits of mind and the idea of learning from failure. These could also be used as an activity in which the students have to identify the different habits of mind that they believe are being used. The real life situations addressed in these clips stem critical thinking and rich discussion.
Learning from Failure
Persisting
Thinking Flexibly, Questioning and Posing Problems, Persisting, Remaining Open to Continuous Learning
Questioning and Posing Problems
Persisting
Empathy
Finding Humour, Creating, Imaging and Innovating, Responding with Wonderment and Awe
Managing Impulsivity
Prezi Presentation This interactive tool can be shared with the students to explore and create understandings of the 16 habits of mind.