and (2) to be caring and sensitive, to be “thoughtful” of others. The man-
ner in which teachers and administrators respond to students can create
and sustain a thoughtful environment that creates trust; allows risk taking;
and is experimental, creative, and positive. This environment requires lis-
tening to each other’s ideas, remaining nonjudgmental, and having rich
data sources.
When Lisa Davis was a teacher at West Orchard Elementary School
in Chappaqua, New York, she described her experiences with a thought-
ful environment this way:
Habits of Mind are a natural part of my classroom community
because they are the attributes that my students and I strive to
embrace as learners on a daily basis. Early in my career, I knew
that I didn’t want to respond to my students by saying, “Good
answer” or “Great work.” I didn’t want to use those comments
because they have little meaning, except to imply that the child’s
answer priorto the “great one” wasn’t as good. Or it tells the child
who might have answered next to give up because the “great
answer” already has been given.
Ta k i n g m y c u e s f r o m a n a r t e d u c a t i o n c o u r s e , I k n e w t h a t i f
I could be specific in my praise it would have a more meaning-
ful effect. For example, if you say to a child, “That’s a great paint-
ing,” the child might temporarily feel good about the praise. If
you say, however, “I like the way you mixed the colors blue,
white, and green in the ocean. It gives me a feeling of move-
ment,” the child is required to engage and reflect on the com-
ment. Even if she disagrees, she is still engaged in a thought
process that, more than likely, will trigger the idea of “move-
ment” the next time she attempts a similar task.
Evaluative comments tend to shut down thinking, and “thin
comments,” as my 4th graders refer to them, don’t give the learner
any information. My question, then, became, “How can I respond
with ‘thick,’ or meaningful, praise in the classroom without being
evaluative?” The Habits of Mind helped me be specific in my
praise by making me focus on what’s important. While the rightCreating “Thought-Full” Environments 99