Presented by Coach Corey Toles

1. A New Lebanon Central School District Staff Presentation The Power of the Habits of Mind and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in Promoting Self-Directed Learning Presented by Coach Corey Toles

2. Self-Directed Learners: • are continual learners who use a plethora of problem solving and thinking strategies to maximize one’s learning • create balance between independence and interdependence • know when to utilize internal resources to approach challenges, solve problems, or find answers to questions • know when to utilize external resources for others viewpoints, ideas, and perspectives

3. Three Principles of Self-Directed Learning: • Self-Management • Self-Monitoring • Self-Modification

4. Self-Managers: • Establish clear goals • Gather information thoroughly • Is persistent in accomplishing tasks • Require constant managing of one’s own behaviors and resources, and outside resources

5. Self-Monitors: • Involve the process of reflecting and metacognition • Make informed, intelligent decisions about proceeding through tasks and solving problems

6. Self-Modifiers: • Alter one’s behavior based on data accumulated during self-monitoring and feedback from others • Self-evaluate and make informed decisions • Revise strategies • Continually strive for optimum effectiveness through various types of feedback

7. Habits of Mind • Discipline specific behaviors and qualities that lend themselves to academic success • They are characteristics of students who practice thoughtful behavior • Abilities, skills, strategies, and patterns of thinking that grow students into collaborative workers, complex thinkers, effective communicators, and self-directed learners

8. Persistence Precision of language and thought Managing impulsivity Questioning Flexibility of Thinking Using all the senses Checking for accuracy Drawing on past knowledge and experience Listening with understanding and empathy Metacognition Creativity Wonderment Habits of Mind

9. PERSISTENCE “Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other a matter of time.” - Marabel Morgan

10. Learners display persistence when: • a task is attempted multiple times independently • efforts are devoted to problem solving • they demonstrate an unwillingness to “throw in the towel” • utilize a plethora of resources to answer a question or more thoroughly complete a task • work carefully and patiently through an algorithm

11. We can foster persistence by: • Emphasizing persistence as a vital life skill • Modeling persistence through our own experiences • Faciliating problem solving • Ask probing questions • Provide guidance through frustrating steps • Persevere through the toughest points of a task • Welcome looking to other resources and/or collaborating with peers

12. PRECISION OF LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT “I do not so easily think in words….. after being hard at work having arrived at results that are perfectly clear… I Have to translate my thoughts in a language that does no run evenly with them.” - Francis Dalton

13. Learners display precision of language and thought when: • They think before they speak and articulate their thoughts in a well-thought out manner so their audience can understand them clearly • They avoid using over generalizations, fillers, and exaggerations • i.e. “um”,“like”, “you always”, “you never”, “everybody is”

14. We can promote precision of language and thought by: • Probe students to articulate more precisely • Assisting students in identifying imprecise language • Ask clarifying questions to assist in formulating more accurate responses

15. MANAGING IMPULSIVITY “…goal directed self-imposed delay of gratification is perhaps the essence of emotional self-regulation: the ability to deny impulse in the service of a goal, whether it be building a business, solving an algebraic equation, or pursuing the Stanley cup.” - Daniel Goldman

16. Learners manage their impulsivity by: • Thinking through actions before expressing themselves • Not blurting out the first solution that comes to mind • Withholding from interrupting another person • Not blurting out the first solution that comes to mind • Listening to others express ideas and waiting patiently for their turn to express their ideas • Making sure they understand directions before engaging in a task

17. We can foster the management of impulsivity by: • Model and exercise our restraint by providing appropriate wait time during questioning • Being silent by taking “thinking time” • Using creative techniques that randomly call on students

18. QUESTIONING “The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances…..” - Albert Einstein

19. Indicators that learners are participating in effective questioning: • Thorough and thoughtful responses follow questions • Recognizing that their might not be one solution • Knowledge of how to ask relevant questions is present • Critical thinking and enhanced learning are promoted

20. Three levels of questioning: • First-level questions • Who, what, when, where • Second-level questions • How and why • Third-level questions • “what if”

21. First-level questions require: • Fact collection • Generating information • Organizing • Recording data • Can elicit information from others • Identifing

22. Second-level questions involve: • Processing of information • Comparing and contrasting • Making inferences • Sequencing and organizing

23. Third-level questions encourage: • Visualizing relationships and patterns • Imagination • Predicting • evaluating

24. FLEXIBILITY OF THINKING “To raise new questions, new problems, to regard old problems form a new angle requires creative imagination and makes real advances.” - Albert Einstein

25. Learners that are flexible in their thinking: • Engage in different perspectives of a given situation • Experience an open-mindedness • Express a willingness to listen to other points of view • have the ability to change their minds and perspectives based on new knowledge

26. We can promote flexibility of thinking by: • Embracing conflicting opinions or alternate explanations from students • Encouraging students to explain their reasoning behind their response(s) • Providing a willingness to accept multiple answers (as long as they are reasonable to the content) • Listening with an open mind to unique methods of demonstrating an understanding • Asking questions that promote different problem solving strategies

27. USING ALL THE SENSES “Observe perpetually.” - Henry James

28. Using all the senses lets a learner: • Enrich the learning experience • Explore alternatives towards learning about a certain subject • Deepen an understanding of the subject • Absorb more information through multiple sensory pathways

29. We can promote the utilization of all the senses by: • Designing differentiated instruction that promotes students to use all of their sensory pathways • Finding our students learning styles and multiple intelligences

30. CHECKING FOR ACCURACY “A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.” - Confucius

31. When learners check for accuracy: • They are applying a real-world concept – most careers require a high level of accuracy • They demonstrate that the ultimate goal is not completing a task, but producing a high-quality product by spending additional time making revisions

32. We can promote checking for accuracy by: • Indicating the number of student errors on a certain assignment and requiring that they resubmit their work after the errors are corrected • Applying a “three before me” principle: Three people (peers, parents, sibling’s, etc.) check the students work before submission

33. DRAWING ON PAST KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE “I’ve never made a mistake. I’ve only learned form experience” - Thomas A. Edison

34. Learners draw on past knowledge and experience to: • Aid in one of the ultimate goals of learning : applying learning to real-life situations and to further an understanding of content above and beyond its original context • provide a base for continued lifelong learning

35. We can promote drawing on past knowledge and experiences by: • Starting a lesson or topic by asking, “Who can tell me….?, or “what are some things we know about….? • Posing questions that allow student to draw from their past: • What do you know? • What do you need to know? • How are you going to find out? • Using a bridge map • Provides a graphic framework for thinking about their past knowledge in relationship to present learning

36. LISTENING WITH UNDERSTANDING AND EMPATHY “The way of being with another person which is termed empathic means temporarily living in their life, moving about in it delicately, without making judgments. To be with another person in this way means that for the time being you lay aside the views and values you hold for yourself in order to enter the other’s world without prejudice. A complex, demanding, strong yet subtle and gentle way of being.” - Carl Rogers

37. Learners listen with understanding and empathy when they: • Display appropriate body language that represents they are engaging in listening • Head up straight facing the speaker • Eye contact is locked in • Constant nodding • Similar facial expressions to the speakers • Good posture

38. Learners listen with understanding and empathy when they: • Paraphrase the speaker’s thoughts into their own words • Assume the role of another person through empathy of their ideas, perspectives and feelings • Politely ask for clarification by asking probing questions • Do not interrupt the speaker

39. We can promote good listening skills by: • Modeling the qualities of a good listener previously described • Consistently asking a student to paraphrase what the teacher said or a peer said • Having students self evaluate their listening skills using a rubric

40. METACOGNITION “When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself.” -Plato

41. Learners demonstrate metacognition when they: • Focus on the process of finding an answer, not just having a correct answer • Check for accuracy • Are aware of their own thinking • Examine the logic behind solving a problem • Explore a variety of approaches to solving a problem – flexibility of thinking

42. We can promote discussions about metacognition by: • Asking probing questions that engage students in higher-order thinking • Refrain from giving immediate answers • Pausing and clarifying responses students give • Asking students to dissect the logic behind their idea(s)

43. Think-aloud problem solving (T.A.P.S.) • What exactly is this problem asking me to do? • What do I already know? • What do I need to know to answer the question? • When have I faced a similar problem? • What can I take from that solution that will help me solve this problem?

44. CREATIVITY “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 Schaar

45. Creativity • Originality and expressiveness are showcased • A resource everyone of us can use, as long as we know how to release it • Start with a vision, then work backwards to find a “solution” • Not a genetic quality

46. We can promote creativity by: • Brainstorming independently or interdependently • Creating assignments that welcome creativity • Thinking by analogy/metaphors

47. Interdependent Brainstorming • Brings out different strengths • Suggests that there is no “best” way to solve any creative challenge • One’s own thinking is “jump-started” • Supports metacognition • Multiple creative strategies are present

48. Encouraging Creativity In Our Instruction • Assign a task with boundaries, like a time limit or lack of materials • Organize open-ended assignments that welcome ownership • Design group projects that welcome brainstorming, creativity, and social interaction

49. WONDERMENT “All thinking begins with wonderment” - Socrates

50. When learners display wonderment: • A passion for thinking is eminent • Learning is intrinsically motivating • A sense of euphoria is felt • Fascination and authentic curiosity about the way the world works is present • A compassionate quality for all of Gods creatures and relationships is present