George I. Pair Elementary School - Lexington Two Initiatives

Lexington Two Initiatives

Lexington Two has implemented a pilot program at R.E. Davis, George I. Pair, C. A. Taylor and SRAA to nurture and develop the thinking skills of our youngest students. Primary students at these schools will participate in Habits of Mind, which seeks to provide an atmosphere (environment) where students in grades 1 -2 will grow in their thinking and academic excellence. Our students will be offered the tools necessary to recognize problems think them through and develop positive, new solutions.

WHAT ARE THE HABITS OF MIND (HOM)?

Persisting

Persevering on a task even though the resolution is not immediately apparent

Stick to it!

Managing Impulsivity

Acting with forethought and deliberation

Take your time!

Listening to Others with Understanding and Empathy.

Devoting mental images to understanding others’ thoughts and feelings

Understand others!

Thinking

Flexibly

Changing perspectives, generating alternatives, considering options

Look at it another way!

Metacognition: Thinking about our thinking.

Being aware of your own thoughts, feeling, and actions, and their effects on others

Think about your thinking!

Striving for Accuracy and Precision

Desiring exactness, fidelity, perfection, elegance and craftsmanship

Check it again!

Questioning and Posing Problems

Having a questioning attitude

Developing strategies to produce needed data

Finding problems to solve

How do you know?

Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations

Accessing prior knowledge; transferring knowledge beyond the situation in which it was learned

Use what you learn!

Thinking and Communicating with

Clarity & Precision

Striving for accurate communication in written and oral form

Think clearly!

Gathering Data through

All Senses

Gathering data through all the sensory pathways: gustatory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic and visual

Use your natural pathways!

Creating, Imagining, and Innovating

Generating new and novel ideas; fluency and originality

Try a different way!

Responding with Wonderment and Awe

Finding the world awesome and mysterious

Being intrigued with phenomena and beauty

Have fun figuring it out!

Taking Responsible

Risks

Being adventuresome

Living on the edge of one’s competence

Venture out!

Finding Humor

Finding the whimsical, incongruous, and unexpected

Being able to laugh at oneself

Laugh a little!

Thinking

Interdependently

Being able to work and learn from others in reciprocal situations

Work together; learn together!

Learning

Continuously

Being proud of admitting we don’t know; resisting complacency

Learn from experiences!

Modeling Habits of Mind

Imitation and emulation are the most basic forms of learning. Teachers, parents and administrators realize the importance of their own display of desirable Habits of Mind in the presence of learners. In the day-to-day events and when problems arise in schools, classrooms, and homes; children must see the significant adults employing the Habits of Mind. Without this consistency, there is likely to be a credibility gap. As Ralph Waldo Emerson is often quoted as saying, “What you do speaks so loudly, they can’t hear what you say.”