Learning & Leading With Habits of Mind

To w a r d a M i n d f u l L a n g u a g e o f L e a r n i n g 125

“What did you think of “What CONCLUSIONS can you
this story?” draw about this story?”

“How can you explain... ?” “What HYPOTHESES do you
have that might explain... ?”

“How do you know that’s “What EVIDENCE do you have
true?” to support... ?”

“How else could you use “How could you APPLY this... ?”
this... ?”

“Do you think that is the best “As you EVALUATE these
alternative?” alternatives... .”

As children hear these cognitive terms in everyday use and experience
the cognitive processes that accompany these labels, they internalize the
words and use them as part of their own vocabulary. Teachers will also
want to give specific instruction in the cognitive functions so that students
possess experiential meaning along with the terminology (Beyer, 1991).

Communicating and Reinforcing Terminology

A 5th grade teacher standing yard duty on the playground noticed

the beginnings of a scuffle between two 6th grade boys. She imme-

diately scurried over to break up the fight. Before she got there,

however, she overheard one of her 5th graders intervene and say,

“Hey, you guys! Manage your impulsivity!”

—Marilyn Tabor, Irvine Unified School District, Irvine, California

Children love to use the Habits of Mind terminology. Teach them
what metacognition, persistence, and impulsivitymean. Ask them to cre-
ate posters listing the Habits of Mind. Invite them to create logos and sym-
bols for each habit, and display both the posters and the logos on the
classroom walls.
When students use one or more of the Habits of Mind, be quick to
offer a label. The word splashes provided earlier offer a range of labels
that have similar meanings. Here are examples of what to say: