Kenai Peninsula School District encourages educators to participate in learning groups focused on cutting edge educational publications. These "book talks" can take place on or offline and support the district's mission of providing research-based best-practice education for every student.
I was fortunate to work with Amanda Adams, one of my mentor teachers, during fourth quarter on Kallick & Zmuda's Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind. You can click the image at left to the Amazon link or the one above for the ASCD.org comprehensive review.
To expand on my Amazon review, Students at the Center, written for teachers & administrators, translated the 16 Habits of Mind into a whole child, personalized approach emphasizing school & classroom culture.
This was my first introduction to the 16 Habits of Mind, a codified set of “attitudes & dispositions.” Kallick & Costa's title, Learning & Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success is a research-based guide to teaching students effective strategies when they engage with their learning and their lives. These strategies benefit everyone with an interest in success and self-improvement.
Research has shown that deliberately teaching positive "attitudes and dispositions" to students, drastically improves their learning at school and their later success in life. The Habits of Mind Institute provides a wealth of resources and materials to directly teach Habits of Mind to a diverse array of classrooms of all age levels and abilities.
My students are not ready to dive into Habits of Mind quite yet. Moving from a "traditional" classroom featuring teacher-led learning with an emphasis on memorizing and regurgitating facts, into a personalized, student-led classroom with an emphasis on exploration, discovery, and knowledge production takes time and scaffolding. This year I discovered that, while most of my high school students successfully navigated the fast transition, I was unable to give many of my middle school students the confidence to take the reins.
Regardless of the difficulty and departure from "traditional" (i.e. institutionalized, public education dating to the 1800's), research has shown that successful, self-motivated lifelong learners have been explicitly taught and have successfully internalized a positive relationship to learning and see themselves as successful, empowered learners.
In 2018/19 we will focus on the fat crayon version; Grit, Gratitude, & Growth Mindset. In addition to being a snappy alliteration (The Three G's), these educational buzzwords are backed by sound research and a wealth of enrichment materials. I look forward to exploring them with my students and empowering our educational success.
Students at the Center gave me much to think about on the problems associated with implementing Personalized Learning and practical approaches to overcome them. To further explore this title, check out this website.