Beginnings
The first six weeks of school are filled with a lot of introductions--to procedures, to habits that we hope to grow and to each other. Since the first day of school students in the Brave cohort have done two fire drills, learned how to leave and arrive in the room, how to play Gaga, and how to start their day. They've also tried out giving "shout outs" to peers, which means sharing when someone has done something noteworthy. They've prayed for each other and others in their world. If your child has come home tired, this is a small list of what their brain and body are processing.
In your Welcome Back Night parent folder we included a one-page document that listed the 20 habits. These habits are what we are looking for, and encouraging your children to make a part of their learning, work, and community. For example when a student shares something wonderful about another they are practicing the habits of the heart:
In art class they are practicing the habits of learning:
Learning (processing, active and continuous pursuit that builds expertise)
During STEAM and IR they exhibited the habits of mind and work:
In your Welcome Back Night parent folder we included a one-page document that listed the 20 habits. These habits are what we are looking for, and encouraging your children to make a part of their learning, work, and community. For example when a student shares something wonderful about another they are practicing the habits of the heart:
Heart (being hospitable; caring for others, for ideas, and for self)
- listening with empathy and understanding, respects, forgives
- responding with wonder and awe, recognizes and appreciates beauty
- celebrating and having joy, a sense of humor, affirmation
- responding with gratitude, humility, openness
In art class they are practicing the habits of learning:
Learning (processing, active and continuous pursuit that builds expertise)
- persisting: learning and practicing with perseverance, tenacity, grit
- self-regulating: using self control, managing impulsivity
- exploring: taking risks with boldness, willing to fail and make mistakes
- striving for accuracy, clarity, excellence, elegance
- using all senses and modes to gather information, communicate, represent
Mind (constructing and reconstructing ideas and knowledge)
- connecting and synthesizing: applying prior knowledge, connecting thoughts into a whole
- creating: imagining, innovating, modeling
- thinking flexibly: adapting and changing with purpose
- questioning and pursuing inquiry with curiosity
- reflecting: metacognition
Work (self-directed, effective, productive)
- managing time - independently pacing actions in view of time
- managing materials - independently and with purpose ordering materials, media, tools
- organizing thoughts: plans, strategies, ideas, sequencing
- attending with focus and stamina
- engaging fully in tasks, participating with motivation and personal investment
We will discuss these habits more during our parent-teacher conferences in October.
