PHOTO:TIERO
SANDRA BRACE
Teaching and living the Habits of Mind You can learn as much as your students.
Teachers Matter
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he joy of teaching has been a part of my life for over 25 years. For the past seven, I have taught the Habits of Mind. The “Habits” have transformed the purpose and practice of my teaching, and the student achievement that I have witnessed as a result has been no less than extraordinary. Also, I have found that teaching the HOMs offers the opportunity to live the HOMs -- and this might be the most important piece of all. I wonder if far above and beyond the scope of what we teach as teachers it is who we are as teachers that impact out students most.
Teaching and living the Habits means that we value thoughtfulness, collaboration, l e a r n i n g a n d j o y. I t m e a n s t h a t t h e focus of our day, regardless of what we are doing, is also a framework to order and process the events of the day in a thoughtful way. It means that we are in agreement with the notion that there are identifiable behaviours and characteristics of successful people, and that we can cultivate these in our own selves. For me, and those around me, this has meant a lot more “happy.” As I work toward improving my practice as a teacher, I am continually impressed by how a HOM focus impacts my own day-to-day life challenges. Both living and teaching can be incredibly stressful experiences at
times, and we want to be successful in what we are doing. Teaching and living the HOMs creates a structure where we can mindfully address life’s challenges within a structure for success. No wonder it works so well in the classroom. Teachers are wonderfully diverse and we choose to teach for a variety of reasons. Whatever they may be, teachers value thinking and learning. Teachers value the art of teaching and learning, and we value each other. We value the work we are doing, and are aware of its importance. When we reflect throughout the day on what we are doing, and where it is aligning with successful behaviour, we are working the Habits. We set up a structure
