Using the Habits
of Mind to
Improve Writing
Brandi Schwertner
NSTWP – 2005
Schwertnerb@lisd.net
Goals for Today:
• Understand the habits of mind
• Understand why the habits of
mind might be considered useful
in the writing classroom
• Understand ways to incorporate
the habits of mind in the writing
classroom
Opening Activity
• Please briefly jot down some
thoughts in your writers’
notebooks about the habits of
mind. What do you know about
them already?
Habits of Mind Symbols Activity
• Please move into five groups for
the habits of mind symbols
activity.
• You will need your sheet called
“Habits of Mind Symbol Activity.”
• Your group will need a bag of
symbols.
What are the habits of mind?
• “Dispositions displayed by
intelligent people in response to
problems, dilemmas, and
enigmas, the resolutions of which
are not immediately apparent”
(Costa & Kallick, 2000).
What are the habits of mind?
• Persisting
• Managing impulsivity
• Listening with understanding and
empathy
• Thinking flexibly
• Thinking about thinking
• Striving for accuracy
• Questioning and posing problems
• Applying past knowledge to new
situation
What are the habits of mind?
• Thinking and communicating with
clarity and precision
• Gathering data through the senses
• Creating, imagining, innovating
• Responding with wonderment and awe
• Taking responsible risks
• Finding humor
• Thinking interdependently
• Remaining open to continuous learning
What does research say?
• According to Costa & Kallick, some
current trends in teaching suggest
that teaching toward state tests
creates a tendency for students to
strive to become “other-directed,
dependent, externally motivated
learners” (2004).
What does research say?
• Biemiller & Meichenbaum suggest
that “the difference between the
highest- and lowest-achieving
children is the degree to which they
become self-regulators of their own
learning” (1992).
What does research say?
• “Failure, self-doubts, learned
helplessness, and poor self-efficacy and
motivation negatively affect a student’s
ability to write well” (Harris, Graham,
Mason, & Saddler, 2002) translates into
the idea that helping students learn to
be self-managing, self-monitoring, and
self-modifying can empower students to
become more successful in their writing.
What does research say?
• In “High Stakes Assessment,”
Canter & Associates suggest
that the habits of mind—
particularly those of persistence,
managing impulsivity, striving
for accuracy, and
metacognition—can potentially
raise student test scores (2003).
Results of Action Research
• Of twenty-four essays graded, eighteen students
improved their essay scores at least one point from
the district writing sample completed during the
second week of school.
• Overall, students were able to provide a clearer
focus, and organization and word choice were
found to be better.
• Sentence fluency and conventions were noticeably
improved when students wrote under similar
conditions (approximately 60 minutes to write a
two-page essay on a given prompt).
Connections to Writing
• Aside from using the habits of mind to
improve thinking which can translate
into higher all-around TAKS scores, an
obvious outlet for the habits of mind is
the personal narrative.
• The habits of mind can be used in
critical response to literature.
• What other ways might the habits of
mind be used in writing?
An Example of Critical Response
Habit of Mind
Example from
Death Be Not
Proud
Analysis
Persisting
“Johnny’s
attitude…each
says” (72).
Johnny stayed on
top of everything
with his diet.
Managing
Impulsivity
“Johnny was
feeling…better”
(68).
Johnny was very
calm, and he didn’t
panic.
Listening with
Understanding and
Empathy
“Putnam, a great
man…calls at all”
(73).
Lester Mount
helped Johnny after
hearing about his
illness.
Thinking Flexibly
“Carefully…each
day” (72).
Johnny was openminded and
responsible.
Literary Response Activity
• Please get your copy of the Habits
of Mind Reading Log.
• Please record your ideas as you
listen to The Cello of Mr. O. by
Jane Cutler.
Relating to the Curriculum: TEKS
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1a (Write in a variety of forms…)
2a (Use prewriting strategies…)
4a (Use writing to formulate questions…)
4b (Use writing to discover, organize…)
4d (Represent information in a variety of ways…)
7a (Establish a purpose for reading…)
7b (Draw upon background…)
7f (Produce summaries of texts…)
7g (Draw inferences…)
7h (Use study strategies…)
10b (Use elements of text to defend responses…)
A Favorite Website
• The following site contains a quick
overview of the habits of mind; it is a
particular favorite of my pre-AP
English I students.
• http://www.er9.org/RES/Admin_k
elly_habitsofmind.htm
Works Cited
• Biemiller, A. & Meichenbaum, D. (1992). The nature and
nurture of the self-directed learner. Educational Leadership,
50(2), 75-80.
• Canter & Associates (Executive Producer). (2003). Designing
assessment to promote learning. Los Angeles: Author.
• Costa, A. R. & Kallick, B. (2000). Discovering and exploring
habits of mind. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
• Costa, A. R. & Kallick, B. (2004). Launching self-directed
learners. Educational Leadership, 61(1), 51-55.
• Cutler, J. (1999). The cello of Mr. O. New York: Dutton
Children’s Books.
• Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Mason, L. H., & Saddler, B. (2002).
Developing self-regulated writers. Theory Into Practice, 41(2),
110-115.
What next? A Testimonial
• After completing collaborative action research on
using the habits of mind to improve writing, I
realize that the habits of mind are necessary to
help students improve their writing. I also
understand that simply teaching the habits of
mind is not enough. Canter & Associates suggest
that students learn all of the hidden skills of
academic literacy: reading/study, thinking,
communication, and habits of mind (2003). In
continuing action research, my next step is to look
at ways to help students increase their reading
and study skills, thinking skills, and
communication skills.
Closing Activity
• Please briefly jot down your
thoughts on the habits of mind at
this point. What have you
learned that you might not have
known before? What questions
do you still have?