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When the Habits of Mind are seen as something that can be "covered" then they inevitably are "covered". And once covered they are left behind. To push on with the Habits of Mind in the face of people (students or teachers) seeing them as a topic, is a sure way to build resistance and it will ultimately lead to the Habits being another program that comes through the school. We must approach the Habits of Mind in a similar way as a subject that needs continual development if we are to sustain the work in the classroom.

It may seem counter intuitive, but the word “think” is something that should only rarely be used in a classroom. The reason: students don’t know how to think, and you can’t teach them to do it!

My suggestion: Don’t say think, say what you mean!

So next time someone asks you if students think in your class you can respond with, “Of course not! They are too busy questioning, describing, analysing, judging, hypothesising, predicting, generating, using their 6 Hats, performing PMI’s, drawing mindmaps and so much more!

A while back I wrote a blog titled "Don't Say Think!" In it I talk about how the word "Think" is a vague term, one that lacks clarity and precision and how students are likely to engage in many different forms of "Thinking" when directed to simply "think"  It's a term that encompasses many other, more specific, terms. And it's these terms I believe we should be using when we ask students to "Think, Pair Share"