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The ABC model is a simple yet power tool in cultivating self-awareness -- a crucial element of resilient mindsets.

new habits of mind.

Persisting.

Managing impulsivity.

Responding with awe.

Questioning.

Innovating.

Thinking interdependently.

This hints at the concept not so much of student motivation, but student impetus.

the 21st century’s model is form and interdependence.

How the Habits of Mind develop is not as simple as merely naming them.

It is one thing to remind little Johnny to persist in the face of adversity. It is another to create consistent reasons and opportunities for him to do so, and nurturing it all with modeling, resources, and visible relevance.

The tone of thinking in the 21st century should not be hushed nor gushing, defiant nor assimilating, but simply interdependent, conjured to function on a relevant scale within a much larger human and intellectual ecology

The shift towards the fluid, formless nature of information—thinking of information as a kind of perpetually oozing honey that holds variable value rather than static silhouettes and typesets that is right or wrong—is a not a small one.

We also know that there are plenty of low- to no-cost learning options available to people on a daily basis, from books on nearly every academic topic at the local library and on-the-job experience, to the television programming on the National Geographic, History and Discovery channels. If learning can and does take place everywhere, there has to be a specific reason that people would be willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars and several years of their life to get it from one particular source like a college. There is, of course, and again it’s the credential, because no matter how many years I spend diligently tuned to the History Channel, I’m simply not going to get a job as a high-school history teacher with “television watching” as the core of my resume, even if I both learned and retained far more information than I ever could have in a series of college history classes.

The test designers will probably toss out an item that most students manage to answer correctly.

the evidence suggests that five disturbing consequences are likely to accompany an obsession with standards and achievement:

1. Students come to regard learning as a chore.

2. Students try to avoid challenging tasks.

3. Students tend to think less deeply.

4. Students may fall apart when they fail.

5. Students value ability more than effort

When students are made to think constantly about how well they are doing, they are apt to explain the outcome in terms of who they are rather than how hard they tried.

The upshot of all this is that beliefs about intelligence and about the causes of one’s own success and failure matter a lot. They often make more of a difference than how confident students are or what they’re truly capable of doing or how they did on last week’s exam. If, like the cheerleaders for tougher standards, we look only at the bottom line, only at the test scores and grades, we’ll end up overlooking the ways that students make sense of those results.

the problem with tests is not limited to their content.

if too big a deal is made about how students did, thus leading them (and their teachers) to think less about learning and more about test outcomes.

the findings of the Colorado experiment make perfect sense: The more teachers are thinking about test results and "raising the bar," the less well the students actually perform--to say nothing of how their enthusiasm for learning is apt to wane.

research indicates that the use of traditional letter or number grades is reliably associated with three consequences.

What Is a Theme?

differs from the plot

plot is what the characters do

a message

theme is the lesson or moral

describes an opinion about life, human nature or elements of society

Man Struggles Against Nature

Man Struggles Against Societal Pressure

Crime

Does Not Pay

Overcoming Adversity

The Importance of Family

balance

Human Beings All Have the Same Needs

Death

Sacrifices