english 105 reading and composition€¦ · web viewif you do the readings, then you should have...

Mon/Wed 4:00-4:50Fall 2015

English 105 Reading and Composition

Professor Johnston

Class Code 6831

Table of ContentsImportant Documents

Quick Comma Rules Reference ____

Homework Calendar ____

Personal Attendance Record ____

Planner ____

Progress Reports ____

Class Vocabulary ____

Getting Started Class Contacts ____

Things We Have in Common ____

Creating our Classroom Environment ____

Big Assignments Explained Progress Reports ____

Reading Quizzes ____

Midterm Exam ____

Blog Posts ____

Introduction Essay ____

Synthesis Essays 1,2, and 3 ____

Classroom Reading Practices

Practices ____

Rubric ____

Metacognitive Reading Log ____

Reading Analysis Chart ____

Metacognitive Reading Strategies List ____

Classroom Writing Practices

Writing Practices ____

Personal Error Pattern Log ____

Unit 1: Overcoming Barriers to Success

Unit Reading List ____

Tough Pre-reading Activity ____

Who Gets to Graduate? ____

~ 1 ~

Reading Together Activity ____

Brainology ____

Learning and Leading with Habits of the Mind ____

Unit 2: Motivation and Perseverance


Academic Speed Dating ____

Alphabet Soup: My Life as a Reader ____

Unit 3: Planning a Path to Success


Quick References

Coordination and Subordination Options ____

Clauses: Independent and Dependent ____

Sentence-level Transitions ____

Citing Sources with Signal Phrases ____

Apostrophes ____

Run on Sentences ____

Appendix

Metacognitive Reading logs ____

Quick Comma Rules Reference ____

~ 2 ~

Important Documents Quick Comma Rules Reference

Adapted from The Successful Writer’s Handbook, by Kathleen T. McWhorter and Jane E. Aaron.

1. Separate independent clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction (AKA “FANBOYS”).

, {for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so}

I like ice cream, but I try not to eat it every night.

2. Set off most introductory elements.

,

Unfortunately, there is always ice cream in my freezer.

Although most ice cream is high in fat, it also has many nutritious qualities.

3. Set off nonessential elements

,

The ice cream in my freezer is chocolate, which is my absolute favorite.

Ice cream, although yummy and delicious, is not the best thing to eat for dinner.

4. Separate items in a series

A healthy dinner contains protein, fruit, vegetables, and grains.

5. Separate adjectives that equally modify the same word.

The smooth , creamy ice cream was difficult to resist.

Other uses for the comma: Separate parts of dates, addresses, long numbers Separate quotations and signal phrases

~ 3 ~

end of main clause.

Main Clause

Main Clause.

Main Clause.

Main Clause

Introductory Element

Nonessential Element.

Beginning of main clause

Nonessential Element

, ,

item 2 and item 4 . . .

. . .item 1

item 3, , ,

. . . first adjective

second adjective

word modified . . .

,

Homework Calendar—Fall 2015

Date HomeworkMon. 8/17

Wed. 8/19

Mon. 8/24

Wed. 8/26

Mon. 8/31

~ 5 ~

Wed. 9/02

Note: Instructors: (1) Friday, 09/04 drop No shows for Census Roster Clearance(2) Tuesday, 09/08 – Census Date – Submit active roster of studentsStudent: Friday, 09/04 – last day to drop class(es) without a “W” grade(s) on permanent record

Mon. 9/07NO CLASS LABOR DAY – NO CLASS

Census Date for full-time classes – Submit active roster of students

Wed. 9/09

Mon. 9/14

Progress Report # 1 due

Wed. 9/16

~ 6 ~

Mon. 9/21

Wed. 9/23

Mon. 9/28

Wed. 9/30

Mon. 10/05

Wed. 10/07

~ 7 ~

Mon. 10/12


Wed. 10/14

Mon. 10/19

Wed. 10/21

Mon. 10/26

Wed. 10/28

Sunday, November 1 – Daylight Savings Time ends – Move clocks ahead an hour

~ 8 ~

Mon. 11/02

Wed. 11/04

Mon. 11/09


Wed. 11/11NO CLASS Veteran’s Day Observance – Academic/Administrative Holiday – NO

CLASS

Freedom isn’t free….it comes with a cost, often buried in the ground

Note: Friday, November 13, - Last day to drop class(es) with a “W” grade on permanent record

Mon. 11/16

Wed. 11/18

~ 9 ~

Mon. 11/23

Wed. 11/25

(Thanksgiving Holiday - Thursday, Friday, 11/26-27)I am thankful for……….

Mon. 11/30

Wed. 12/02

Mon. 12/07


Wed. 12/09FINAL EXAM

~ 10 ~

Name________________________________________ Total Units______________________

School/Study/Work/Meeting Schedule—Plan your study time!

Mark each study hour with the words “Study.” Mark class time, work schedule and any other regular activities--you need at least 2 hours of study time for each unit.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

6-7

7-8

8-9

9-10

10-11

11-12

12-1

1-2

2-3

3-4

~ 11 ~

4-5

5-6

6-7

7-8

8-9

9-10

10-11

PERSONAL ATTENDANCE RECORD

Place an X under a date that you miss class.

Mon 8/17 Wed 8/19 Mon 8/24 Wed 8/26 Mon 8/31 Wed 9/2


HOLIDAY




HOLIDAY

Mon 11/30 Wed 12/2 Mon 12/7 Wed 12/9

~ 12 ~

~ 13 ~

PROGRESS REPORT # 1 – Due Monday, September 14 th

Name: _________________________ Student ID # ___________________

1. Place an X under the days you missed class.


Mon 9/7 Wed 9/9HOLIDAY

2. What do you think about your attendance/participation? Circle one Excellent Good Poor Very Bad

3. How many of the course assignments have you done? Circle oneAll of them Most of them Some of them None of them

4. What is your current course grade? _____% (You can find this in Canvas.) 5. If you continue as you have been, do you think you will pass this course?

(Remember, you need at least 70% to pass the course).Yes Maybe No

ACTION PLAN Do you think you need to modify your behavior/participation to receive a passing grade in this course and get the most out of it you can? If so, how? What is your action plan? Use a separate piece of paper if needed. Staple it to this one.

~ 14 ~

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

What do you need help with? _________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

~ 15 ~

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Teacher’s Notes:

PROGRESS REPORT # 2 – Due Monday, October 12th

Name: _________________________ Student ID # ___________________


Mon 9/14 Wed 9/16 Mon 9/21 Wed 9/23HOLIDAYMon 9/28 Wed 9/30 Mon 10/5 Wed 10/7

How many classes have you missed this semester so far? _____




(Remember, you need at least 70% to pass the course). Yes Maybe No

REFLECTION AND ACTION PLAN What have you done differently since the first progress report? Has it helped? Do you think you still need to modify your behavior/participation to receive a passing grade in this course and get the most out of it you can? If so, how? What is your action plan? Use a separate piece of paper if needed. Staple it to this one.

~ 16 ~

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________


__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

~ 17 ~

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Teacher’s Notes:

PROGRESS REPORT # 3 – Due Monday, November 9th

Name: _________________________ Student ID # ___________________


Mon 10/12 Wed 10/14


How many classes have you missed this semester so far? _____




(Remember, you need at least 70% to pass the course). Yes Maybe No

REFLECTION AND ACTION PLAN What have you done differently since the first progress report? Has it helped? Do you think you still need to modify your behavior/participation to receive a passing grade in this course and get the most out of it you can? If so, how? What is your action plan? Use a separate piece of paper if needed. Staple it to this one.

~ 18 ~

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________


__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

~ 19 ~

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Teacher’s Notes:

PROGRESS REPORT # 4 – Due Monday, December 7 th

Name: _________________________ Student ID # ___________________


Mon 11/9 Wed 11/11 Mon 11/16 Wed 11/18 Mon 11/23 Wed 11/25HOLIDAY

Mon 11/30 Wed 12/2

2. How many classes did you miss this semester _____

3. What do you think about your attendance/participation this semester?

Excellent Good Poor Very Bad

4. What is your current course grade? _____% (You can find this in Canvas.)

5. Write a paragraph responding to the following questions. Staple it to this

paper.

~ 20 ~

How many of the course assignments did you do? Were you dedicated

or not? What difficulties did you overcome? Do you feel ready for the

final exam?

6. What grade do you think you deserve in this course? A B C D or F

______

Teacher’s Notes:

~ 21 ~

Classroom Vocabulary

Metacognition: a conscious examination of what you are understanding and what you are not understanding while you are reading or thinking

Schema: What you already know before you try to read or learn something new

Engagement: a connection to something

Fluency: The ability to do something so quickly and easily that you hardly have to think about it

Competence: Skill in something

Text: anything that communicates using language (written or oral)

Chunking: breaking up sentences into pieces small enough for you to understand

Strategy: a plan of action~ 22 ~

Summarizing: deciding what is most important in a text and putting it in your own words

Paraphrasing: putting ideas in a text into your own words

Critical Voice: Entering a discussion. When you use your own voice to give your opinion about a text (agree/disagree/or somewhere in-between).

Getting Started Class Contacts: get contact information from several of your classmates. You can contact them if you miss class and need to find out the homework.

Name: _______________________ Contact Information: _______________________________





Class Roster: I expect that you refer to your classmates by their names when you talk to them. On this page you will keep a list of everyone’s name just in case you forget.

1. ___________________________ 16. ___________________________

2. ___________________________ 17. ___________________________

3. ___________________________ 18. ___________________________

~ 23 ~

4. ___________________________ 19. ___________________________

5. ___________________________ 20. ___________________________

6. ___________________________ 21. ___________________________

7. ___________________________ 22. ___________________________

8. ___________________________ 23. ___________________________

9. ___________________________ 24. ___________________________

10. ___________________________ 25. ___________________________

11. ___________________________ 26. ___________________________

12. ___________________________ 27. ___________________________

13. ___________________________ 28. ___________________________

Things we have in common: in small groups, have a discussion and find five things all of you have in common. The things you find can’t relate to school or work. Find things about your personalities, hobbies, or lives.

Name: _______________________

Name: _______________________

Name: _______________________

Name: _______________________

Name: _______________________

Things in common: (Example: We all like to listen to classical music).

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________________

~ 24 ~

4. _____________________________________________________________

5. _____________________________________________________________

Creating Our Classroom Learning Environment

It’s important that we create classroom policies that will develop a comfortable learning environment. With your group, discuss the questions below:

What makes you feel comfortable in a classroom? What makes you feel uncomfortable in a classroom? What are some things the teacher can do to support your learning? What are some things teachers do that are harmful to learning? What are some things that classmates can do to support each other’s learning? What are some things classmates can do that are harmful to learning?

Keeping in mind what you talked about for the previous questions, work with your group to create a list of classroom policies that our class will abide by. These are the policies that we will follow in our class. Create a list of…

Thinks we should do:

~ 25 ~

Things we shouldn’t do:

Big Assignments Explained It is possible that these assignments may be modified throughout the semester if needed. If I modify any of the assignments, I will pass out an updated version.

Progress Reports Reading Quizzes Midterm Exam Blog Posts Introduction Essay Synthesis Essay 1 Synthesis Essay 2 Synthesis Essay 3

Progress ReportsYou will be required to turn in four separate progress reports throughout the semester. These are located in this packet. The purpose of these is to keep you on track so that you pass this course and learn as much as you can. If you notice near the beginning the semester that you aren’t putting in enough effort, it’s not too late to change.

Progress Report Grading Rubric

50 points 30 points 10 points Completed on time. All sections are

completed in detail. Information provided

is accurate and honest.

Completed on time. All sections are

completed but only with a brief description.

Information is mostly accurate.

Turned in late. Missing many sections

and was obviously rushed and not thought through.

Much information is inaccurate.

~ 26 ~

Reading Quizzes The success of this class depends on you. It’s important that everyone keeps up on the readings, so we can have interesting and productive discussions. If half of the people who come to class didn’t do the reading, then the class won’t be as engaging or useful. Furthermore, if you don’t do the readings, you will not be able to write good essays because the essays require you to use the readings. The reading quizzes are a way to reward those who did do the reading, and encourage everyone to stay caught up. If you do the readings, then you should have no trouble acing the quizzes.

Midterm Exam The midterm exam is just like the final exam, and will therefore serve a check in point to see how you are doing. The midterm will be an in-class essay that you write in response to a short article you will read the day of the midterm. During the midterm you can use a print dictionary (no electronic devices).

Blog Posts Throughout the semester, I will give you different questions or topics for discussion based on the readings and ideas we are discussing in class. You will write a response to the question/topic and post it to our blog for your classmates to read and comment on. Although these are not formal essays, I do expect you to put some thought and time into them.

Blog Grading Rubric

Excellent (10/10) Adequate (8/10) Poor (6/10)

Post directly answers/responds to the question or topic in detail. It isn’t too brief, and shows that thought was taken into writing. May use personal examples and/or connect other readings. The author proofread for errors.

Post mostly answers/responds to the question/topic though it may trail off in some unrelated directions. Doesn’t use any examples or connect to other readings. Post could be longer, and there are a few errors.

Post does not relate at all to the question or topic. Post is very short without detail. Post contains many errors.

Introduction Essay

~ 27 ~

Write an introduction to me and your classmates about yourself. Who are you? What do you like to do? What are some of your hobbies? Also, why are you taking this class? What is your ultimate goal in school? What are you doing to reach that goal?

Argument Synthesis Essay #1:

Essay Question: What barriers do college students encounter? How do we keep capable college students from failing or quitting?

In this thesis-driven essay, you will use ideas from our class readings and your own experience and logic to think about possible causes and solutions to the questions above. Audience: Students who are at risk of failing or quitting and teachers who are trying to helpPurpose: Persuade students and teachers to adopt specific ways of thinking and take specific actionsGenre: Academic argument essay that follows the conventions of the Modern Language Association (MLA)

Use at least 3 (or more) of the following readings to help you make your case, but make sure that your essay is dominated by your own opinion and voice (personality):

“Who gets to Graduate?” by Paul Tough (in your class packet) “The Gap between Ability and Sustainability” a website by Katie Hern “Brainology” (in your class packet) by Carol Dweck (or Ch 1 of Mindsets) “Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind” Edited by Costa and Kallick (in your class

packet)

Your essay should have an introduction, body, conclusion, and Works Cited page. It should also be in MLA format, including in-text citation. It will be a minimum of 3 typed pages and a maximum of 6, not including the Works Cited page. Your introduction should:

1. Grab the reader’s attention and introduce the topic

~ 28 ~

2. Give a clear thesis statement: this gives your clear, strong opinion about what things cause capable students to fail and what can be done about it. This statement will control the body of your paper. It is good to draft a “working thesis statement” and then adjust it as necessary after you have written the body.

The body of your paper should: Consist of several paragraphs that clearly prove your thesis Contain body paragraphs that lead with your voice. Give several main claims/reasons (expressed in clear topic sentences dominated by your

voice). These topic sentences clearly state the claim/reason and connect to (prove) the thesis

Contain specific (not just general) examples, reasoning, and evidence that clearly support your main claims and thesis. This evidence can be drawn from our class readings, personal experience, the experience of others, other things you have read, things you have researched outside of our class readings (use credible sources), and/or things you have heard from reputable sources. When quoting or paraphrasing, be sure to use proper MLA in-text citation.

The conclusion of your paper should:Sum up your argument and give your final thoughts. There are many interesting ways to conclude a paper. A few ideas are listed below. May answer a question that you posed in your introduction May comment on a story that you used in your introduction May restate your thesis using different words (hint: unless done with pizzazz, this is often

boring for readers) May include a quote that illustrates your thesis May include a call to action that asks your audience to do something differently

Grading Rubric for Essay #1Name:____________________________Final score_____________________________

Assignment requirements for introduction, body and conclusion Not Done

Needs Work

FairWell Done

Introduction grabs the reader’s attention, introduces the topic, and is dominated by the writer’s voice (personality)Introduction contains a clear thesis statement about what causes capable students to fail and what can be done about it. This statement controls the body of the essayThe body consists of several paragraphs that lead with the writer’s voice and clearly prove the thesisThe body gives several main claims/reasons (expressed in clear topic sentences dominated by the writer’s voice). These topic sentences clearly state a claim/reason and connect to (prove) the thesisBody paragraphs contain specific (not just general) examples, reasoning, and evidence that clearly support main claims/reasons and thesis. This evidence can be drawn from our class readings,

~ 29 ~

personal experience, the experience of others, things you have researched outside of our class readings (use credible sources) and/or things you have heard from reputable sources.The essay uses at least three sources from our class readings to help support the argumentIdeas and information are explained fully enough for readers not in our class to followPresent ideas in an order that makes sense to readersUse strong attribution (signal) verbs for introducing summaries, paraphrases, and quotationsClearly explain quotes and show how they support your argumentIncludes a memorable conclusionIs a minimum of 3, maximum of 6 typed pages, not including the Works Cited page

Mechanics—As a writer, you should…Proofread carefully so that sentences are clear, concise, and free of errors—pay special attention to your personal error patternsParaphrase skillfully so that the author’s meaning remains true but sentences and words are significantly different (not just a few words changed)Use “quotation marks” when including an author’s exact wordsInclude MLA style in-text citation when you use ideas from others—this includes paraphrasing as well as quotingFollow MLA format: standard 12-point, Times New Roman font; proper heading; proper, unique title; page numbers; double spaced; 1-inch margins; and no extra spaces between paragraphs (after spacing of “0” under “paragraphs” in Word)

~ 30 ~

~ 31 ~

Argument Synthesis Essay #2

Essay Question: What are the ingredients to making motivation a reality? How does someone stay motivated despite challenges and setbacks? How can a student maintain this motivation in school?

In this thesis-driven essay, you will use ideas from our class readings and your own experience and logic to think about possible causes and solutions to the questions above. Audience: Students lacking motivation and teacher who are trying to develop motivation in their studentsPurpose: Persuade students and teachers to adopt specific ways of thinking and take specific actionsGenre: Academic argument essay that follows the conventions of the Modern Language Association (MLA)

Use at least 3 (or more) of the following readings to help you make your case, but make sure that your essay is dominated by your own opinion and voice (personality):

Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink The Power of Habit , Ch 4: Keystone Habits “The 10,000-Hour Rule” and or “The Matthew Effect” from Outliers by Malcom

Gladwell “Brainology” (in your class packet) by Carol Dweck (or Ch 1 of Mindsets) “Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind” Edited by Costa and Kallick (in your class

packet)Your essay should have an introduction, body, conclusion, and Works Cited page. It should also be in MLA format, including in-text citation. It will be a minimum of 3 typed pages and a maximum of 6, not including the Works Cited page.

~ 32 ~

Your introduction should:3. Grab the reader’s attention and introduce the topic 4. Give a clear thesis statement: this gives your clear, strong opinion about what things

cause capable students to fail and what can be done about it. This statement will control the body of your paper. It is good to draft a “working thesis statement” and then adjust it as necessary after you have written the body.





boring for readers) May end with a quote that illustrates your thesis May include a call to action that asks your audience to do something differently

Grading Rubric for Essay # 2Name:____________________________Final score_____________________________Assignment requirements for introduction, body and

conclusionNot

DoneNeeds Work

FairWell Done

Introduction grabs the reader’s attention, introduces the topic, and is dominated by the writer’s voice (personality)Introduction contains a clear thesis statement about what causes capable students to fail and what can be done about it. This statement controls the body of the essayThe body consists of several paragraphs that lead with the

~ 33 ~

writer’s voice and clearly prove the thesisThe body gives several main claims/reasons (expressed in clear topic sentences dominated by the writer’s voice). These topic sentences clearly state a claim/reason and connect to (prove) the thesisBody paragraphs contain specific (not just general) examples, reasoning, and evidence that clearly support main claims/reasons and thesis. This evidence can be drawn from our class readings, personal experience, the experience of others, things you have researched outside of our class readings (use credible sources), and/or things you have heard from reputable sources. When quoting or paraphrasing be sure to use proper MLA in-text citation.The essay uses at least two sources from our class readings to help support the argumentIdeas and information are explained fully enough for readers not in our class to followPresent ideas in an order that makes sense to readersUse strong attribution (signal) verbs for introducing summaries, paraphrases, and quotationsClearly explain how quotes connect to the paperIncludes a memorable conclusionIs a minimum of 3, maximum of 6 typed pages, not including the Works Cited page


~ 34 ~

~ 35 ~

Argument Synthesis Essay #3:

How will you get to where you want to be in your career or profession? What barriers will you need to overcome? How will you find and maintain motivation?

orHow will you get to where you want to be in health, athletics, relationships, or some other important aspect of your life? If you choose a non-career option, please make sure to speak with me first.

In this thesis-driven essay, you will use ideas from our class readings, primary and secondary research, and your own experience and logic to think about your path to success.

Audience: Figure it out for yourselfPurpose: Figure it out for yourselfGenre: Academic argument essay that follows the conventions of the Modern Language Association (MLA)

Use at least 5 (or more) sources, one of which must be primary research (interview or survey) of the following readings to help you make your case, but make sure that your essay is dominated by your own opinion and voice (personality):

Philip Gerard “How to conduct an interview” Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink The Power of Habit , Ch 4: Keystone Habits “The 10,000-Hour Rule” and or “The Matthew Effect” from Outliers by Malcom

Gladwell “Brainology” (in your class packet) by Carol Dweck (or Ch 1 of Mindsets) “Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind” Edited by Costa and Kallick (in your class

packet)

Your essay should have an introduction, body, conclusion, and Works Cited page. It should also be in MLA format, including in-text citation. It will be a minimum of 3 typed pages and a maximum of 6, not including the Works Cited page.

~ 36 ~

Your introduction should:5. Grab the reader’s attention and introduce the topic 6. Give a clear thesis statement: this gives your clear, strong opinion about what things

cause capable students to fail and what can be done about it. This statement will control the body of your paper. It is good to draft a “working thesis statement” and then adjust it as necessary after you have written the body.





boring for readers) May end with a quote that illustrates your thesis May include a call to action that asks your audience to do something differently

Grading Rubric for Essay #1Name:____________________________Final score_____________________________Assignment requirements for introduction, body and

conclusionNot

DoneNeeds Work

FairWell Done

Introduction grabs the reader’s attention, introduces the topic, and is dominated by the writer’s voice (personality)Introduction contains a clear thesis statement about what causes capable students to fail and what can be done about it. This statement controls the body of the essayThe body consists of several paragraphs that lead with the writer’s voice and clearly prove the thesis

~ 37 ~

The body gives several main claims/reasons (expressed in clear topic sentences dominated by the writer’s voice). These topic sentences clearly state a claim/reason and connect to (prove) the thesisBody paragraphs contain specific (not just general) examples, reasoning, and evidence that clearly support main claims/reasons and thesis. This evidence can be drawn from our class readings, personal experience, the experience of others, things you have researched outside of our class readings (use credible sources), and/or things you have heard from reputable sources. When quoting or paraphrasing be sure to use proper MLA in-text citation.The essay uses at least two sources from our class readings to help support the argumentIdeas and information are explained fully enough for readers not in our class to followPresent ideas in an order that makes sense to readersUse strong attribution (signal) verbs for introducing summaries, paraphrases, and quotationsClearly explain how quotes connect to the paperIncludes a memorable conclusionIs a minimum of 3, maximum of 6 typed pages, not including the Works Cited page


~ 38 ~

~ 39 ~

Classroom Reading PracticesReading your English texts effectively is a sophisticated process; however, all students can acquire reading expertise through practice and engagement with metacognitive processes, including deliberate classroom conversations about how people read challenging texts.

For all of the readings we do in this course, we will apply metacognitive strategies to help us understand the readings, as well as understand the reading strategies that we utilized so that we can work to develop them more. Below the two reading tools we will be using are described. You will turn these in as homework for the readings.

Metacognitive Reading Logs and Reading Analysis Charts These metacognitive reading tools will be assigned as homework, and they will be graded according to the rubric provided. These tools are designed to help you learn to pay special attention to the authors’ rhetorical strategies and key ideas; in addition, they ask you to question the text and relate essential information to your own experiences, prior knowledge, and personal learning processes. Note: extra reading logs for your homework can be found at the end of this packet in the appendix.

Reading Logs: Write key ideas from the reading in the left hand column (be sure to record page #’s), and personal connections and reflections in the right column.

Analysis Charts: Write the author’s main ideas/claims in the left-hand column, and write how the authors support those ideas/claims the middle column (be sure to record page #’s). Record your personal connections and reflections (in response to the information in the other two columns) in the right-hand column.

~ 40 ~

Reflective reading is a personal activity. We all have unique experiences and thinking processes and this will make our reflections different from one another.

In class you will have opportunities to share your thoughts and ask questions recorded in your reading logs. Your questions and comments help me plan lessons that meet your learning needs. I grade heavily for best effort—please see the rubric to get an idea of what I expect

Reading Log and Reading Analysis Chart Grading Rubric

Accomplished20

Proficient18

Basic15

Novice10

Completed on time Completed on time Completed on time Turned in Late

The left and center columns contain plentiful essential information from each section of the text.

The left and center columns contain most essential information from each section of the text.

The left and center columns contain some essential information from each section of the text.

The left and center columns contain little essential information from each section of the text.

Correct in-text citation with each entry.

Correct in-text citation with most entries.

Correct in-text citation with some entries.

Correct in-text citation with few or no entries

The right column contains reflections for each entry that clearly show thoughtful reading.

The right column contains reflections for most entries that show thoughtful reading.

The right column contains reflections for some entries that show thoughtful reading.

The right column contains reflections for few entries that show thoughtful reading.

Upgrades: Students earning Novice on a reading log or analysis chart are invited to redo the reading log to meet Proficient criteria for an upgrade to Basic score.

~ 41 ~

No Credit: there are three ways to receive no credit

Do not do a reading log/analysis chart Do not turn in your log/chart Copy another student’s log/chart and turn it in as your own.

~ 42 ~

Metacognitive Reading Log

Name___________________________________Chapter :Key ideas and information--include page # in

parentheses (#)My thoughts, feelings and questions:

(see metacognative reading strategies list for further information)

~ 43 ~

~ 44 ~

Reading Analysis Chart3. Summary sentence that includes: author’s full name, title of chapter (in quotation marks), title of book (in italics), and the author’s over-arching thesis (hint—do this after completing 1 and 2 below):

1. What are the author’s main ideas? Break the text into sections according to main ideas/claims. Use your own words to write his/her big ideas here. Be sure to give page #’s—abbreviations are OK

2. How does the author support her /his main ideas/claims? What evidence (quotes, specific examples, reasoning, statistics etc.) does the author give to back up claims? Be sure to give page #’s—abbreviations are OK

4. What I think about the author’s ideas: connections, reflections, questions, difficulties with the reading, and opinions about the reading.

~ 45 ~

~ 46 ~

Metacognitive Reading Strategies List

Strategies Your notes about this reading strategyPredictingI predict…In the next part…I think this is…

PicturingI picture…I see…

Making ConnectionsThis is like…This reminds me of….

QuestioningI wonder what this means…?Why…?How..?Where…?When…?What…?Who…?Identifying a ProblemI got confused when…I’m not sure of…I didn’t expect…

Using fix-upsI think I’ll have to…

~ 47 ~

(reread or take some other action)Maybe I’ll need to (read on or persevere in some other way).SummarizingSo the author is saying…What he/she means is…In other words…

As our class discussion of reading continues and we learn about the different reading strategies everyone in our class uses to help them understand a text, we will compile a list of these strategies. This will give you even more tools to use when you’re reading. As we discuss them in class, write them down in the chart below and take some notes about them.

Strategy Notes about it

~ 48 ~

~ 49 ~

~ 50 ~

Classroom Writing Practices In this class, we’ll consider writing as a recursive process that requires dedication and practice. Good writers aren’t somehow writing geniuses; they are people who have put in time and effort to practice this skill. Remember, good writers make mistakes and must revise and improve their writing. This class is a place where you can practice your writing skills to become a better writer. Remember, struggling with a writing task and making mistakes is okay. It’s how we are going to learn. So, don’t get discouraged if you find this class difficult. Stick to it, and I’m sure you’ll be rewarded.

On the next few pages is a personal error chart where you can track errors that you tend to make in your writing.

Personal Error Pattern LogProofread your papers for the following errors.

Error Notes for Study

~ 51 ~

Error Notes for Study

~ 52 ~

~ 53 ~

~ 54 ~

What is academic writing?

~ 55 ~

Unit 1: Overcoming Barriers to Success Reading List

“Who gets to Graduate?” by Paul Tough

“Brainology” by Carol Dweck

“Learning and Leading with Habits of the Mind” Edited by Costa and

Kallick

“The Gap between Ability and Sustainability” A website by Katie Hern

~ 56 ~

Who Gets to Graduate?

Skim through the reading. What do you think it is going to be about? Work with a partner to make some predictions about the reading and to come up with some questions you hope the reading will answer.

Predictions:

Question:

~ 57 ~

Research Terminology

Nouns

A study _________________________________________________________________

Results _________________________________________________________________

Findings ________________________________________________________________

Control group ____________________________________________________________

Research group ___________________________________________________________

Participants ______________________________________________________________

Placebo _________________________________________________________________

Hypothesis ______________________________________________________________

Correlation ______________________________________________________________

A sample _______________________________________________________________

Verbs

To study ________________________________________________________________

To investigate ____________________________________________________________

To discover ______________________________________________________________

To hypothesize __________________________________________________________

~ 58 ~

Who Gets to Graduate?

By PAUL TOUGH MAY 15, 2014Vanessa Brewer Credit Bill McCullough for The New York TimesThis story is included with an NYT Now subscription.

For as long as she could remember, Vanessa

Brewer had her mind set on going to college. The image

of herself as a college student appealed to her —

independent, intelligent, a young woman full of potential

— but it was more than that; it was a chance to rewrite

the ending to a family story that went off track 18 years

earlier, when Vanessa’s mother, then a high-achieving

high-school senior in a small town in Arkansas, became

pregnant with Vanessa.

Vanessa’s mom did better than most teenage

mothers. She married her high-school boyfriend, and

when Vanessa was 9, they moved to Mesquite, a working-

class suburb of Dallas, where she worked for a mortgage

company. Vanessa’s parents divorced when she was 12, and money was always tight, but they

raised her and her younger brother to believe they could accomplish anything. Like her mother,

Vanessa shone in school, and as she grew up, her parents and her grandparents would often tell

her that she would be the one to reach the prize that had slipped away from her mother: a four-

year college degree.

There were plenty of decent colleges in and around Dallas that Vanessa could have

chosen, but she made up her mind back in middle school that she wanted to attend the University

of Texas at Austin, the most prestigious public university in the state. By the time she was in

high school, she had it all planned out: She would make her way through the nursing program at

U.T., then get a master’s in anesthesiology, then move back to Dallas, get a good job at a

hospital, then help out her parents and start her own family. In her head, she saw it like a

checklist, and in March 2013, when she received her acceptance letter from U.T., it felt as if she

were checking off the first item.

~ 59 ~

Vanessa Brewer Credit Bill McCullough for The New York Times

Five months later, Vanessa’s parents dropped her off at her dorm in Austin. She was

nervous, a little intimidated by the size of the place, but she was also confident that she was

finally where she was meant to be. People had warned her that U.T. was hard. “But I thought:

Oh, I got this far,” Vanessa told me. “I’m smart. I’ll be fine.”

And then, a month into the school year, Vanessa stumbled. She failed her first test in

statistics, a prerequisite for admission to the nursing program. She was surprised at how bad it

felt. Failure was not an experience she was used to. At Mesquite High, she never had to study for

math tests; she aced them all without really trying. (Her senior-year G.P.A. was 3.50, placing her

39th out of 559 students in her graduating class. She got a 22 on the ACT, the equivalent of

about a 1,030 on the SAT — not stellar, but above average.)

Vanessa called home, looking for reassurance. Her mother had always been so

supportive, but now she sounded doubtful about whether Vanessa was really qualified to succeed

at an elite school like the University of Texas. “Maybe you just weren’t meant to be there,” she

said. “Maybe we should have sent you to a junior college first.”

“I died inside when she said that,” Vanessa told me. “I didn’t want to leave. But it felt

like that was maybe the reality of the situation. You know, moms are usually right. I just started

questioning everything: Am I supposed to be here? Am I good enough?”

There are thousands of students like Vanessa at the University of Texas, and millions like

her throughout the country — high-achieving students from low-income families who want

desperately to earn a four-year degree but who run into trouble along the way. Many are derailed

before they ever set foot on a campus, tripped up by complicated financial-aid forms or held

back by the powerful tug of family obligations. Some don’t know how to choose the right

college, so they drift into a mediocre school that produces more dropouts than graduates. Many

are overwhelmed by expenses or take on too many loans. And some do what Vanessa was on the

verge of doing: They get to a good college and encounter what should be a minor obstacle, and

they freak out. They don’t want to ask for help, or they don’t know how. Things spiral, and

before they know it, they’re back at home, resentful, demoralized and in debt.

When you look at the national statistics on college graduation rates, there are two big

trends that stand out right away. The first is that there are a whole lot of students who make it to

college — who show up on campus and enroll in classes — but never get their degrees. More

than 40 percent of American students who start at four-year colleges haven’t earned a degree

~ 60 ~

after six years. If you include community-college students in the tabulation, the dropout rate is

more than half, worse than any other country except Hungary.

The second trend is that whether a student graduates or not seems to depend today almost

entirely on just one factor — how much money his or her parents make. To put it in blunt terms:

Rich kids graduate; poor and working-class kids don’t. Or to put it more statistically: About a

quarter of college freshmen born into the bottom half of the income distribution will manage to

collect a bachelor’s degree by age 24, while almost 90 percent of freshmen born into families in

the top income quartile will go on to finish their degree.

When you read about those gaps, you might assume that they mostly have to do with

ability. Rich kids do better on the SAT, so of course they do better in college. But ability turns

out to be a relatively minor factor behind this divide. If you compare college students with the

same standardized-test scores who come from different family backgrounds, you find that their

educational outcomes reflect their parents’ income, not their test scores. Take students like

Vanessa, who do moderately well on standardized tests — scoring between 1,000 and 1,200 out

of 1,600 on the SAT. If those students

come from families in the top-income

quartile, they have a 2 in 3 chance of

graduating with a four-year degree. If

they come from families in the bottom

quartile, they have just a 1 in 6 chance

of making it to graduation.

The good news for Vanessa is

that she had improved her odds by

enrolling in a highly selective college.

Many low-income students

“undermatch,” meaning that they don’t

attend — or even apply to — the most

selective college that would accept

them. It may seem counterintuitive, but

the more selective the college you

choose, the higher your likelihood of

~ 61 ~

graduating. But even among the highly educated students of U.T., parental income and education

play a huge role in determining who will graduate on time. An internal U.T. report published in

2012 showed that only 39 percent of first-generation students (meaning students whose parents

weren’t college graduates) graduated in four years, compared with 60 percent whose parents both

graduated from college. So Vanessa was caught in something of a paradox. According to her

academic record, she had all the ability she needed to succeed at an elite college; according to the

demographic statistics, she was at serious risk of failing.

But why? What was standing in her way? This year, for the first time, the University of

Texas is trying in a serious way to answer that question. The school’s administrators are

addressing head-on the problems faced by students like Vanessa. U.T.’s efforts are based on a

novel and controversial premise: If you want to help low-income students succeed, it’s not

enough to deal with their academic and financial obstacles. You also need to address their doubts

and misconceptions and fears. To solve the problem of college completion, you first need to get

inside the mind of a college student.

The person at the University of Texas who has been given the responsibility for helping

these students succeed is a 56-year-old chemistry professor named David Laude. He is, by all

accounts, a very good college professor — he illustrates the Second Law of Thermodynamics

with quotations from Trent Reznor and Leonard Cohen and occasionally calls students to the

front of the class to ignite balloons filled with hydrogen into giant fireballs. But he was a lousy

college student. As a freshman at the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn., Laude felt

bewildered and out of place, the son of a working-class, Italian-American family from Modesto,

Calif., trying to find his way at a college steeped in Southern tradition, where students joined

secret societies and wore academic gowns to class. “It was a massive culture shock,” Laude told

me. “I was completely at a loss on how to fit in socially. And I was tremendously bad at

studying. Everything was just overwhelming.” He spent most of his freshman year on the brink

of dropping out.

But he didn’t drop out. He figured out college, then he figured out chemistry, then he got

really good at both, until he wound up, 20 years later, a tenured professor at U.T. teaching

Chemistry 301, the same introductory course in which he got a C as a freshman in Sewanee.

Perhaps because of his own precarious college experience, Laude paid special attention as a

professor to how students were doing in his class. And year after year, he noticed something

~ 62 ~

curious: The distribution of grades in his Chemistry 301 section didn’t follow the nice sweeping

bell curve you might expect. Instead, they fell into what he calls a “bimodal distribution.” In

each class of 500 students, there would be 400 or so who did quite well, clustered around the A

and high-B range. They got it. Then there would be a second cluster of perhaps 100 students

whose grades were way down at the bottom — D’s and F’s. They didn’t get it.

To many professors, this pattern simply represents the natural winnowing process that

takes place in higher education. That attitude is especially common in the sciences, where

demanding introductory classes have traditionally been seen as a way to weed out weak students.

But Laude felt differently. He acknowledged that some of his failing students just weren’t cut out

for chemistry, but he suspected that many of them were — that they were smart but confused and

a little scared, much as he had been.

To get a better sense of who these struggling students were, Laude started pulling records

from the provost’s office. It wasn’t hard to discern a pattern. The students who were failing were

mostly from low-income families. Many of them fit into certain ethnic, racial and geographic

profiles: They were white kids from rural West Texas, say, or Latinos from the Rio Grande

Valley or African-Americans from Dallas or Houston. And almost all of them had low SAT

scores — low for U.T., at least — often below 1,000 on a 1,600-point scale.

The default strategy at U.T. for dealing with failing students was to funnel them into

remedial programs — precalculus instead of calculus; chemistry for English majors instead of

chemistry for science majors. “This, to me, was just the worst thing you could possibly imagine

doing,” Laude said. “It was saying, ‘Hey, you don’t even belong.’ And when you looked at the

data to see what happened to the kids who were put into precalculus or into nonmajors

chemistry, they never stayed in the college. And no wonder. They were outsiders from the

beginning.”

In 1999, at the beginning of the fall semester, Laude combed through the records of every

student in his freshman chemistry class and identified about 50 who possessed at least two of the

“adversity indicators” common among students who failed the course in the past: low SATs, low

family income, less-educated parents. He invited them all to apply to a new program, which he

would later give the august-sounding name the Texas Interdisciplinary Plan, or TIP. Students in

TIP were placed in their own, smaller section of Chemistry 301, taught by Laude. But rather than

dumb down the curriculum for them, Laude insisted that they master exactly the same

~ 63 ~

challenging material as the students in his larger section. In fact, he scheduled his two sections

back to back. “I taught my 500-student chemistry class, and then I walked upstairs and I taught

this 50-student chemistry class,” Laude explained. “Identical material, identical lectures,

identical tests — but a 200-point difference in average SAT scores between the two sections.”

Laude was hopeful that the small classes would make a difference, but he recognized that

small classes alone wouldn’t overcome that 200-point SAT gap. “We weren’t naïve enough to

think they were just going to show up and start getting A’s, unless we overwhelmed them with

the kind of support that would make it possible for them to be successful,” he said. So he

supplemented his lectures with a variety of strategies: He offered TIP students two hours each

week of extra instruction; he assigned them advisers who kept in close contact with them and

intervened if the students ran into trouble or fell behind; he found upperclassmen to work with

the TIP students one on one, as peer mentors. And he did everything he could, both in his

lectures and outside the classroom, to convey to the TIP students a new sense of identity: They

weren’t subpar students who needed help; they were part of a community of high-achieving

scholars.

Even Laude was surprised by how effectively TIP worked. “When I started giving them

the tests, they got the same grades as the larger section,” he said. “And when the course was

over, this group of students who were 200 points lower on the SAT had exactly the same grades

as the students in the larger section.” The impact went beyond Chemistry 301. This cohort of

students who, statistically, were on track to fail returned for their sophomore year at rates above

average for the university as a whole, and three years later they had graduation rates that were

also above the U.T. average.

Two years ago, Laude was promoted to his current position — senior vice provost for

enrollment and graduation management. His official mission now is to improve U.T.’s four-year

graduation rate, which is currently languishing at around 52 percent, to 70 percent — closer to

the rates at U.T.’s state-university peers in Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill and Charlottesville, Va. —

and to achieve this leap by 2017. The best way to do that, Laude decided, was to take the

principles and practices that he introduced 15 years earlier with TIP and bring them to the whole

Austin campus.

One complicating factor for administrators at the University of Texas — and, indeed, one

reason the school makes for such an interesting case study — is that U.T. has a unique

~ 64 ~

admissions policy, one that is the legacy of many years of legal and legislative battles over

affirmative action. After U.T.’s use of race in admissions was ruled unconstitutional by the Fifth

Circuit in 1996, the Texas Legislature came up with an alternative strategy to maintain a diverse

campus: the Top 10 percent law, which stipulated that students who ranked in the top tenth of

their graduating classes in any high school in Texas would be automatically admitted to the

campus of their choice in the U.T. system. (As U.T. Austin has grown more popular over the last

decade, the criterion for automatic admission has tightened; Texas high-school seniors now have

to be in the top 7 percent of their class to earn admission. Automatic admits — Vanessa Brewer

among them — make up about three-quarters of each freshman class.)

At high schools in the wealthier suburbs of Dallas, the top 7 percent of students look a lot

like the students anywhere who go on to attend elite colleges. They are mostly well off and

mostly white, and most of them rack up high SAT scores. What sets U.T. apart from other

selective colleges is that the school also admits the top 7 percent of students from high schools in

Brownsville and the Third Ward of Houston, who fit a very different demographic and have, on

average, much lower SAT scores.

The good news about these kids, from U.T.’s point of view, is that they are very good

students regardless of their test scores. Even if their high schools weren’t as well funded or as

academically demanding as schools in other parts of the state, they managed to figure out how to

learn, how to study and how to overcome adversity. Laude’s experience teaching Chemistry 301

convinced him that they could succeed and even excel at the University of Texas. But when he

looked at the campuswide data, it was clear that these were the students who weren’t succeeding.

“There are always going to be both affluent kids and kids who have need who come into

this college,” Laude said. “And it will always be the case that the kids who have need are going

to have been denied a lot of the academic preparation and opportunities for identity formation

that the affluent kids have been given. The question is, can we do something for those students in

their first year in college that can accelerate them and get them up to the place where they can be

competitive with the affluent, advantaged students?”

Before he could figure out how to help those disadvantaged students, though, Laude first

had to find out exactly who they were. This was relatively simple to determine in a single

chemistry class, but with more than 7,000 students arriving on campus each year, finding the

most vulnerable would be a challenge. Laude turned to a newly formed data team in the

~ 65 ~

provost’s office called Institutional Research. Like every big university, U.T. had long had an in-

house group of researchers who compiled statistics and issued government-mandated reports, but

with Institutional Research, the school had created a data unit for the Nate Silver era, young

statisticians and programmers who focused on predictive analytics, sifting through decades’

worth of student data and looking for patterns that could guide the administration’s decision-

making on everything from faculty career paths to financial aid.

Laude wanted something that would help him predict, for any given incoming freshman,

how likely he or she would be to graduate in four years. The Institutional Research team

analyzed the performance of tens of thousands of recent U.T. students, and from that analysis

they produced a tool they called the Dashboard — an algorithm, in spreadsheet form, that would

consider 14 variables, from an incoming student’s family income to his SAT score to his class

rank to his parents’ educational background, and then immediately spit out a probability, to the

second decimal place, of how likely he was to graduate in four years.

In the spring of 2013, Laude and his staff sat down with the Dashboard to analyze the

7,200 high-school seniors who had just been admitted to the class of 2017. When they ran the

students’ data, the Dashboard indicated that 1,200 of them — including Vanessa Brewer — had

less than a 40 percent chance of graduation on time. Those were the kids Laude decided to target.

He assigned them each to one or more newly created or expanded interventions. The heart of the

project is a portfolio of “student success programs,” each one tailored, to a certain extent, for a

different college at U.T. — natural sciences, liberal arts, engineering — but all of them following

the basic TIP model Laude dreamed up 15 years ago: small classes, peer mentoring, extra

tutoring help, engaged faculty advisers and community-building exercises.

Laude’s most intensive and innovative intervention, though, is the University Leadership

Network, a new scholarship program that aims to develop not academic skills but leadership

skills. In order to be selected for U.L.N., incoming freshmen must not only fall below the 40-

percent cutoff on the Dashboard; they must also have what the financial-aid office calls unmet

financial need. In practice, this means that students in U.L.N. are almost all from families with

incomes below the national median. (When you enter a family income at that level into the

Dashboard, the predicted on-time graduation rate falls even further; for U.L.N. students, Laude

estimates, it is more like 20 percent than 40 percent.) The 500 freshmen in U.L.N. perform

community service, take part in discussion groups and attend weekly lectures on topics like time

~ 66 ~

management and team building. The lectures have a grown-up, formal feel; students are required

to wear business attire. In later years, U.L.N. students will serve in internships on campus and

move into leadership positions as mentors or residence-hall advisers or student government

officials. In exchange for all this, they receive a $5,000 scholarship every year, paid in monthly

increments.

Perhaps the most striking fact about the success programs is that the selection criteria are

never disclosed to students. “From a numbers perspective, the students in these programs are all

in the bottom quartile,” Laude explained. “But here’s the key — none of them know that they’re

in the bottom quartile.” The first rule of the Dashboard, in other words, is that you never talk

about the Dashboard. Laude says he assumes that most U.L.N. students understand on some level

that they were chosen in part because of their financial need, but he says it is important for the

university to play down that fact when dealing directly with students. It is an extension of the

basic psychological strategy that he has used ever since that first TIP program: Select the

students who are least likely to do well, but in all your communications with them, convey the

idea that you have selected them for this special program not because you fear they will fail, but

because you are confident they can succeed.

Which, from Laude’s perspective, has the virtue of being true. I sat with him in his office

one morning in late January, not long after students had arrived back on campus for the spring

semester. The university was closed for the day because of a freak ice storm, and he and I were

more or less alone in the administration building, a huge clock tower in the center of campus. We

were talking about his experience in Sewanee, specifically a low moment almost exactly 38

years earlier when he arrived back on campus for spring semester of his freshman year, plagued

with doubt, longing to give up and go home. “Everybody has moments like that,” Laude said.

“There are probably 50 or 60 kids in the U.L.N. who are on academic probation right now.

They’re coming back, and we’ve got all these great support networks set up for them. But still,

there’s got to be a part of them that is afraid, a part of them that wonders if they can make it. My

bet is that the vast majority of them will make it. And they will, because nobody will give them

the chance to simply give up.”

Though Laude is a chemist by training, he spends much of his time thinking like a

psychologist, pondering what kind of messages or environmental cues might affect the decisions

that the students in his programs make. He’s the first to admit that he is an amateur psychologist

~ 67 ~

at best. But he has found an ally and a kindred spirit in a psychological researcher at U.T. named

David Yeager, a 32-year-old assistant professor who is emerging as one of the world’s leading

experts on the psychology of education. In his research, Yeager is trying to answer the question

that Laude wrestles with every day: How, precisely, do you motivate students to take the steps

they need to take in order to succeed?

Before he arrived at U.T. in the winter of 2012, Yeager worked as a graduate student in

the psychology department at Stanford, during an era when that department had become a hotbed

of new thinking on the psychology of education. Leading researchers like Carol Dweck, Claude

Steele and Hazel Markus were using experimental methods to delve into the experience of

students from early childhood all the way through college. To the extent that the Stanford

researchers shared a unifying vision, it was the belief that students were often blocked from

living up to their potential by the presence of certain fears and anxieties and doubts about their

ability. These feelings were especially virulent at moments of educational transition — like the

freshman year of high school or the freshman year of college. And they seemed to be particularly

debilitating among members of groups that felt themselves to be under some special threat or

scrutiny: women in engineering programs, first-generation college students, African-Americans

in the Ivy League.

The negative thoughts took different forms in each individual, of course, but they mostly

gathered around two ideas. One set of thoughts was aboutbelonging. Students in transition often

experienced profound doubts about whether they really belonged — or could ever belong — in

their new institution. The other was connected to ability. Many students believed in what Carol

Dweck had named an entity theory of intelligence — that intelligence was a fixed quality that

was impossible to improve through practice or study. And so when they experienced cues that

might suggest that they weren’t smart or academically able — a bad grade on a test, for instance

— they would often interpret those as a sign that they could never succeed. Doubts about

belonging and doubts about ability often fed on each other, and together they created a sense of

helplessness. That helplessness dissuaded students from taking any steps to change things. Why

study if I can’t get smarter? Why go out and meet new friends if no one will want to talk to me

anyway? Before long, the nagging doubts became self-fulfilling prophecies.

When Yeager arrived at Stanford in 2006, many of the researchers there had begun to move

beyond trying to understand this phenomenon to trying to counteract it. In a series of

~ 68 ~

experiments, they found that certain targeted messages, delivered to students in the right way at

the right time, seemed to overcome the doubts about belonging and ability that were

undermining the students’ academic potential.

Yeager began working with a professor of social psychology named Greg Walton, who

had identified principles that seemed to govern which messages, and which methods of

delivering those messages, were most persuasive to students. For instance, messages worked

better if they appealed to social norms; when college students are informed that most students

don’t take part in binge drinking, they’re less likely to binge-drink themselves. Messages were

also more effective if they were delivered in a way that allowed the recipients a sense of

autonomy. If you march all the high-school juniors into the auditorium and force them to watch a

play about tolerance and inclusion, they’re less likely to take the message to heart than if they

feel as if they are independently seeking it out. And positive messages are more effectively

absorbed when they are experienced through what Walton called “self-persuasion”: if students

watch a video or read an essay with a particular message and then write their own essay or make

their own video to persuade future students, they internalize the message more deeply.

In one experiment after another, Yeager and Walton’s methods produced remarkable

results. At an elite Northeastern college, Walton, along with another Stanford researcher named

Geoffrey Cohen, conducted an experiment in which first-year students read brief essays by

upperclassmen recalling their own experiences as freshmen. The upperclassmen conveyed in

their own words a simple message about belonging: “When I got here, I thought I was the only

one who felt left out. But then I found out that everyone feels that way at first, and everyone gets

over it. I got over it, too.” After reading the essays, the students in the experiment then wrote

their own essays and made videos for future students, echoing the same message. The whole

intervention took no more than an hour. It had no apparent effect on the white students who took

part in the experiment. But it had a transformative effect on the college careers of the African-

American students in the study: Compared with a control group, the experiment tripled the

percentage of black students who earned G.P.A.s in the top quarter of their class, and it cut in

half the black-white achievement gap in G.P.A. It even had an impact on the students’ health —

the black students who received the belonging message had significantly fewer doctor visits

three years after the intervention.

~ 69 ~

Next, Yeager did an

experiment with 600 students

just entering ninth grade at

three high schools in Northern

California. The intervention

was 25 minutes long; students

sat at a terminal in the school

computer lab and read scientific

articles and testimonials from

older students with another

simple message: People change.

If someone is being mean to

you or excluding you, the

essays explained, it was most

likely a temporary thing; it

wasn’t because of any

permanent trait in him or you. Yeager chose ninth grade because it is well known as a

particularly bad time for the onset of depression — generally, depression rates double over the

transition to high school. Indeed, among the control group in Yeager’s experiment, symptoms of

depression rose by 39 percent during that school year. Among the group who had received the

message that people change, though, there was no significant increase in depressive symptoms.

The intervention didn’t cure anyone’s depression, in other words, but it did stop the appearance

of depressive symptoms during a traditionally depressive period. And it did so in just 25 minutes

of treatment.

After the depression study, Yeager, Walton and two other researchers did an experiment

with community-college students who were enrolled in remedial or “developmental” math

classes. Education advocates have identified remedial math in community college as a

particularly devastating obstacle to the college hopes of many students, especially low-income

students, who disproportionately attend community college. The statistics are daunting: About

two-thirds of all community-college students are placed into one or more remedial math classes,

~ 70 ~

and unless they pass those classes, they can’t graduate. More than two-thirds of them don’t pass;

instead, they often drop out of college altogether.

Clearly, part of the developmental-math crisis has to do with the fact that many students

aren’t receiving a good-enough math education in middle or high school and are graduating from

high school underprepared for college math. But Yeager and Walton and a growing number of

other researchers believe that another significant part of the problem is psychological. They echo

David Laude’s intuition from the early days of TIP: When you send college students the message

that they’re not smart enough to be in college — and it’s hard not to get that message when

you’re placed into a remedial math class as soon as you arrive on campus — those students

internalize that idea about themselves.

In the experiment, 288 community-college students enrolled in developmental math were

randomly assigned, at the beginning of the semester, to read one of two articles. The control

group read a generic article about the brain. The treatment group read an article that laid out the

scientific evidence against the entity theory of intelligence. “When people learn and practice new

ways of doing algebra or statistics,” the article explained, “it can grow their brains — even if

they haven’t done well in math in the past.” After reading the article, the students wrote a

mentoring letter to future students explaining its key points. The whole exercise took 30 minutes,

and there was no follow-up of any kind. But at the end of the semester, 20 percent of the students

in the control group had dropped out of developmental math, compared with just 9 percent of the

treatment group. In other words, a half-hour online intervention, done at almost no cost, had

apparently cut the community-college math dropout rate by more than half.

Soon after Yeager arrived at the University of Texas, in the winter of 2012, he got an

email from a vice provost at the university named Gretchen Ritter, who had heard about his work

and wanted to learn more. At Ritter’s invitation, Yeager gave a series of presentations to various

groups of administrators at the university; each time, he mentioned that he and Walton were

beginning to test whether interventions that addressed students’ anxieties about ability and

belonging could improve the transition to college, especially for first-generation students. Ritter

asked Yeager if the approach might work in Austin. Could he create an intervention not for just a

few hundred students, but for every incoming U.T. freshman? In theory, yes, Yeager told her.

But at that scale, it would need to be done online. And if he did it, he said, he would want to do it

as a randomized controlled experiment, so he and Walton could collect valuable new data on

~ 71 ~

what worked. In April 2012, Ritter asked Yeager to test his intervention on the more than 8,000

teenagers who made up the newly admitted U.T. class of 2016. It would be one of the largest

randomized experiments ever undertaken by social or developmental psychologists. And it

would need to be ready to go in three weeks.

Yeager was already feeling overwhelmed. He and his wife had just moved to Austin.

Three weeks earlier, they had their second child. He was swamped with lingering commitments

from Stanford and scrambling to stay on top of the classes he was teaching for the first time. But

he was painfully aware of the statistics on the graduation gaps at U.T., and he had enough faith

in the interventions that he and Walton were developing to think that a well-orchestrated large-

scale version could make a difference. “I went home to Margot, my wife,” he told me, “and I

said: ‘O.K., I know I’m already overworked. I know I’m already never at home. But bear with

me for three more weeks. Because this has the potential to be one of the most important things I

ever do.’ ”

Yeager immediately began holding focus groups and one-on-one discussions with current

U.T. students, trying to get a clearer understanding of which messages would work best at U.T.

It’s an important point to remember about these interventions, and one Yeager often emphasizes:

Even though the basic messages about belonging and ability recur from one intervention to the

next, he and Walton believe that the language of the message needs to be targeted to the

particular audience for each intervention. The anxieties that a high-achieving African-American

freshman at an Ivy League college might experience are distinct from the anxieties experienced

by a community-college student who was just placed into remedial math.

Yeager and Ritter decided that the best way to deliver the chosen messages to the

incoming students was to make them a part of the online pre-orientation that every freshman was

required to complete before arriving on campus. That May, rising freshmen began receiving the

usual welcome-to-U.T. emails from the registrar’s office, inviting them to log on to U.T.’s

website and complete a series of forms and tasks. Wedged in between the information about the

meningococcal vaccine requirements and the video about the U.T. honor code was a link to

Yeager’s interactive presentation about the “U.T. Mindset.”

Students were randomly sorted into four categories. A “belonging” treatment group read

messages from current students explaining that they felt alone and excluded when they arrived

on campus, but then realized that everyone felt that way and eventually began to feel at home. A

~ 72 ~

“mind-set” treatment group read an article about the malleability of the brain and how practice

makes it grow new connections, and then read messages from current students stating that when

they arrived at U.T., they worried about not being smart enough, but then learned that when they

studied they grew smarter. A combination treatment group received a hybrid of the belonging

and mind-set presentations. And finally, a control group read fairly banal reflections from current

students stating that they were surprised by Austin’s culture and weather when they first arrived,

but eventually they got used to them. Students in each group were asked, after clicking through a

series of a dozen or so web pages, to write their own reflections on what they’d read in order to

help future students. The whole intervention took between 25 and 45 minutes for students to

complete, and more than 90 percent of the incoming class completed it.

Going in, Yeager thought of the 2012 experiment as a pilot — simply a way to test out

the mechanics of a large-scale intervention. He didn’t have much confidence that it would

produce significant results, so he was surprised when, at the end of the fall semester, he looked at

the data regarding which students had successfully completed at least 12 credits. First-semester

credit-completion has always been an early indicator of the gaps that appear later for U.T.

students. Every year, only 81 or 82 percent of “disadvantaged” freshmen — meaning, in this

study, those who are black, Latino or first-generation — complete those 12 credits by Christmas,

compared with about 90 percent of more advantaged students.

In January 2013, when Yeager analyzed the first-semester data, he saw the advantaged

students’ results were exactly the same as they were every year. No matter which message they

saw in the pre-orientation presentation, 90 percent of that group was on track. Similarly, the

disadvantaged students in the control group, who saw the bland message about adjusting to

Austin’s culture and weather, did the same as disadvantaged students usually did: 82 percent

were on track. But the disadvantaged students who had experienced the belonging and mind-set

messages did significantly better: 86 percent of them had completed 12 credits or more by

Christmas. They had cut the gap between themselves and the advantaged students in half.

A rise of four percentage points might not seem like much of a revolution. And Yeager

and Walton are certainly not declaring victory yet. But if the effect of the intervention persists

over the next three years (as it did in the elite-college study), it could mean hundreds of first-

generation students graduating from U.T. in 2016 who otherwise wouldn’t have graduated on

time, if ever. It would go a long way toward helping David Laude meet his goals. And all from a

~ 73 ~

one-time intervention that took 45 minutes to complete. The U.T. administration was

encouraged; beginning this month, the “U.T. Mindset” intervention will be part of the pre-

orientation for all 7,200 members of the incoming class of 2018.

When Yeager and Walton present their work to fellow researchers, the first reaction they

often hear is that their results can’t possibly be true. Early on, they each had a scientific paper or

grants rejected not because there were flaws in their data or their methodology, but simply

because people didn’t believe that such powerful effects could come from such minimal

interventions. Yeager admits that their data can seem unbelievable — they contradict many of

our essential assumptions about how the human mind works. But he can articulate an entirely

plausible explanation for what’s happening when students hear or read these messages, whether

they’re at U.T. or in community college or in ninth grade.

Our first instinct, when we read about these experiments, is that what the interventions

must be doing is changing students’ minds — replacing one deeply held belief with another. And

it is hard to imagine that reading words on a computer screen for 25 minutes could possibly do

that. People just aren’t that easy to persuade. But Yeager believes that the interventions are not in

fact changing students’ minds — they are simply keeping them from overinterpreting

discouraging events that might happen in the future. “We don’t prevent you from experiencing

those bad things,” Yeager explains. “Instead, we try to change the meaning of them, so that they

don’t mean to you that things are never going to get better.”

Every college freshman — rich or poor, white or minority, first-generation or legacy —

experiences academic setbacks and awkward moments when they feel they don’t belong. But

white students and wealthy students and students with college-graduate parents tend not to take

those moments too seriously or too personally. Sure, they still feel bad when they fail a test or

get in a fight with a roommate or are turned down for a date. But in general, they don’t interpret

those setbacks as a sign that they don’t belong in college or that they’re not going to succeed

there.

It is only students facing the particular fears and anxieties and experiences of exclusion

that come with being a minority — whether by race or by class — who are susceptible to this

problem. Those students often misinterpret temporary setbacks as a permanent indication that

they can’t succeed or don’t belong at U.T. For those students, the intervention can work as a kind

of inoculation. And when, six months or two years later, the germs of self-doubt try to infect

~ 74 ~

them, the lingering effect of the intervention allows them to shrug off those doubts exactly the

way the advantaged students do.

When I spoke with Vanessa Brewer in January, she was deep in the grip of those doubts.

She had made it through the fall with a perfectly decent 3.0 G.P.A., and she even pulled out a B-

plus in statistics, but she looked back on it as a very difficult stretch. “I felt like no one really

believed in me,” she said. Her mother was the only person she really confided in, but even those

conversations sometimes made her feel more aware of the lack of a support system around her.

“She told me I sounded different,” Vanessa said. “She was like: ‘Are you O.K.? Are you taking

care of yourself?’ I’m normally a pretty happy person, but I guess when I called her, it was more

monotone, uninterested.”

When Vanessa thought about the semester ahead of her, she felt stressed out, and she told

me that her anxiety about whether she belonged at U.T. was with her every time she stepped into

a classroom. “Everybody else seems like they have it in the bag,” she said. “They look

intimidating, even when they’re just sitting in class — even the way they’re taking notes. They

seem so confident. I sometimes feel like I am the only one who is lost, you know?”

But as the spring semester progressed, things started to look up for Vanessa. She was

taking the dreaded Chemistry 301, and while she found it a real challenge, she was also

determined not to fall behind. She was enrolled in U.L.N. and in Discovery Scholars, another of

the programs David Laude oversaw, and her advisers arranged for her to get free help at the

campus tutoring center. She spent six or more hours there each week, going over chemistry

problems, and by March she was getting A’s and B’s on every test.

Gradually, Vanessa started to feel a greater sense of belonging. She told me about a day

in February when she was hanging out in the Discovery Scholars office and suddenly had an

impulse to “do a little networking.” She went up to the young woman working at the front desk,

an African-American undergrad like Vanessa, and asked her on a whim if she knew any students

in the nursing program. As it happened, the woman’s two best friends were in nursing, and they

had just helped start an African-American nursing association at U.T.

Vanessa got their numbers and started texting with them, and they invited her to one of

their meetings. They were juniors, a couple of years older than Vanessa, and they took her under

their wing. “I like having someone to look up to,” Vanessa told me. “I felt like I was alone, but

then I found people who said, you know, ‘I cried just like you.’ And it helped.”

~ 75 ~

The messages about belonging and ability that Vanessa was hearing from her mentors

and tutors weren’t the only things getting her through Chemistry 301, of course. But they were

important in lots of subtle but meaningful ways, helping to steer her toward some seemingly

small decisions that made a big difference in her prospects at U.T. Like walking into the tutoring

center and asking for help. Or working up the nerve to ask a stranger if she knew any friendly

nursing students.

I spoke to dozens of freshmen during the months I spent reporting in Austin, most of

them, like Vanessa, enrolled in U.L.N. or another of Laude’s programs. And while each student’s

story was different, it was remarkable how often the narratives of their freshman years followed

the same arc: arriving on campus feeling confident because of their success in high school, then

being laid low by an early failure. One student told me he fell into a depression and couldn’t

sleep. Another said she lost weight and broke out in a rash. But then, sometimes after weeks or

months of feeling lost and unhappy, most of them found their way back to a deeper kind of

confidence. Often the support necessary for that recovery came from a U.L.N. adviser or a TIP

mentor; sometimes it came from a family member or a church community or a roommate. But

one way or another, almost all of the students I spoke to were able to turn things around, often

pulling themselves back from some very low places.

“What I like about these interventions is that the kids themselves make all the tough

choices,” Yeager told me. “They deserve all the credit. We as interveners don’t. And that’s the

best way to intervene. Ultimately a person has within themselves some kind of capital, some

kind of asset, like knowledge or confidence. And if we can help bring that out, they then carry

that asset with them to the next difficulty in life.”

My conversations with the U.L.N. students left me feeling optimistic about their chances.

But they also served as a reminder of how easy it is for things to tip the other way — for those

early doubts to metastasize into crippling anxieties. What Laude and Yeager are helping to

demonstrate is that with the right support, both academic and psychological, these students can

actually graduate at high rates from an elite university like the University of Texas. Which is

exactly why the giant educational experiment now taking place there has meaning well beyond

the Austin campus.

It matters, in all sorts of ways, whether students like Vanessa and her fellow U.L.N.

members are able to graduate from a four-year college. The data show that today, more than

~ 76 ~

ever, the most powerful instrument of economic mobility for low-income Americans is a four-

year college degree. If a child is born into a family in the lowest economic quintile (meaning a

family that earns $28,000 or less), and she doesn’t get a college degree, she has only a 14 percent

chance of winding up in one of the top two quintiles, and she has a 45 percent chance of never

making it out of that bottom bracket. But if she does earn a four-year degree, her prospects

change completely. Suddenly, there is a 40 percent chance that she’ll make it into one of the top

two quintiles — and just a 16 percent chance that she’ll remain stuck at the bottom.

Beyond the economic opportunities for the students themselves, there is the broader cost

of letting so many promising students drop out, of losing so much valuable human capital. For

almost all of the 20th century, the United States did a better job of producing college graduates

than any other country. But over the past 20 years, we have fallen from the top of those

international lists; the United States now ranks 12th in the world in the percentage of young

people who have earned a college degree. During the same period, a second trend emerged:

American higher education became more stratified; most well-off students now do very well in

college, and most middle- and low-income students struggle to complete a degree. These two

trends are clearly intertwined. And it is hard to imagine that the nation can regain its global

competitiveness, or improve its level of economic mobility, without reversing them.

To do so will take some sustained work, on a national level, on a number of fronts. But a

big part of the solution lies at colleges like the University of Texas at Austin, selective but not

superelite, that are able to perform, on a large scale, what used to be a central mission —

arguably the central mission — of American universities: to take large numbers of highly

motivated working-class teenagers and give them the tools they need to become successful

professionals. The U.T. experiment reminds us that that process isn’t easy; it never has been. But

it also reminds us that it is possible.

Paul Tough is a contributing writer and the author of “How Children Succeed.” He last wrote about

the rescue of John Aldridge, a Montauk lobsterman.

Editor: Joel Lovell

A version of this article appears in print on May 18, 2014, on page MM26 of the Sunday Magazine

with the headline: Who Gets to Graduate?. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe

~ 77 ~

~ 78 ~

Post Reading Quick Write: it’s a good idea to write down a few of your initial thoughts and

ideas about a reading that are in your mind right when you finish. What did you think of the

reading? What were some of your questions and thoughts? Don’t worry about spelling or

grammar. Just get some ideas on paper before the reading fades.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

~ 79 ~

~ 80 ~

Activity: Work in groups to answer these questions about the reading. Discussion your opinions

and ideas and then have someone write down your group’s responses to help you during the

class discussion time.

1. What was the first setback Vanessa experienced?

2. What two trends does the author talk about at the end of page 33?

3. What does the author say about student ability in paragraph two of page 34?

4. Why was Vanessa at risk of failing according to her demographic statistics? (page 35)

5. What did Laude notice in his classes? (starting on page 35)

6. What did Laude mean by the term “bimodal distribution”? (page 35/36)

7. On page 37, when referring to Laude’s TIP program, the author states “And he did

everything he could, both in his lectures and outside the classroom, to convey to the TIP

students a new sense of identity: They weren’t subpar students who needed help; they

were part of a community of high-achieving scholars.” Why do you think identity

formation was so important for these students? What does identity have to do with

success?

8. What is the Dashboard? (page 39)

9. How do you think leadership skills/opportunities helped student in U.L.N be more

successful? (page 39)

10. Read the second paragraph on page 40 that starts “Perhaps the most…” Why was it so

important to not let students know why they were selected for the special programs?

11. How does a sense of belonging or lack thereof affect student success?

~ 81 ~

Focused Reading: research Research Terms:

experiment researcher research (study) methods results control group: treatment group

Directions: Work with your group to look carefully at the experiment from the reading your group was given. Together as a group, read the section carefully and then answer the following questions about it. Your group will present about the experiment to the rest of the class.

Who conducted (did) the study?

Who were the participants of the study?

What information (data) did the researchers collect?

What were the results of the study?

What do the results show about the nature of student success or failure? How can student failure be prevented?

~ 82 ~

Read each sentence below and then circle the one number that shows how much you agree or disagree with it. There is no right or wrong answer.

1. You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you really can’t do much to change it.

1 2 3 4 5 6Strongly Agree Mostly Mostly Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Disagree

2. Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much.


3. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence.


4. No matter who you are, you can change your intelligence a lot.


5. You can always greatly change how intelligent you are.


6. No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.


7. It is important to tell children how intelligent they are. 1 2 3 4 5 6Strongly Agree Mostly Mostly Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Disagree

~ 83 ~

Reading Together—“Brainology” by Carol Dweck

As your group reads a section of the text, you will clarify, question, summarize, and predict as

outlined in the instructions below. You will read individually first, and then the group leader will

facilitate a discussion after each section:

1) Read individually: Each group member will read a specific section of text (see sections

below). While you read, do the following:

Clarify: Note places in the text that need clarification: Mark places that seem a bit

muddy at first. These are places where you notice that you run into some difficulty with

understanding. Note which reading strategies you use as you work to understand the

text (for example, look up the definition of a word). It’s OK if you don’t solve the

difficulty on the first time through—just put a question mark in the margin so you can

come back to it in your group discussion.

Question: As you read, ask and write down questions in the margins or on a separate

piece of paper (for example, what does Dweck mean when she writes “Does this have

implications for students’ motivation and learning?” (Dweck 113).

If you finish before your group members are done, do the following:

Summarize: When you are finished reading the section, summarize the author’s big

ideas. Write your summary on a piece of paper.

Predict: Try to make a prediction about what Dweck will write next. Write your

prediction down on a separate piece of paper.

2) Group discussion: The group leader will lead the group in a discussion, and each group will

complete a collaborative sheet that outlines the following for each section read. If your group

has a laptop, you will post your work on the blog. The group leader is in charge of keeping the

group on task and making sure each member has a chance to participate. Take turns being the

person to write down the notes on the following tasks (this will be turned in at the end of class).

Clarify: discuss which places in the text were a bit muddy and share which reading

strategies were used to help clarify the difficulty. Note the page and paragraph numbers

~ 84 ~

on your answer sheet. If there are still muddy places, work together as a group to

make the meaning clear.

Question: Write down several questions group members asked as they read. Were the

questions answered? If not, see if you can find answers to the questions.

Summarize: Once your group has clarified the difficult places in the text, create a

collaborative summary of the text—use your own words. Write it down.

Predict: After you summarize the big ideas, write down your predictions about what

Dweck will write about in the next section.

~ 85 ~

Group Member Names:

Group Reading Strategies Documentation Sheet

* Write down your group notes under the headings below. For sections 2-8 use a separate sheet of paper with, the headings as shown below. Staple all group work to this sheet and turn in at the end of class.

Why Clarify? Effective readers look for the parts of a text that are confusing them and use fix-up strategies to help clarify confusions

Why Question? Effective readers ask and answer questions as they read to help build interest and stay engaged. They also ask questions to help remember what they read.

Why summarize? Effective readers paraphrase, visualize, and summarize while reading to check for understanding, to help themselves remember and to get the big ideas.

Why Predict? Effective readers make predictions about what is coming next in the text by using text information as well as their own knowledge. Predicting is a way to surface relevant schema, focus the reading, and check understanding.

Sections: 1) par 1-3; 2) par 4-7; 3) par 8-12; 4) par 13-15; 5) par 16-22; 6) par 23-25; 7) par 26-29; 8) par 30-32

Section #_______:

Clarifications:

Questions:

Summary:

Predictions:

Brainology~ 86 ~

Transforming Students’ Motivation to LearnCarol S. Dweck Winter 2008

(1) This is an exciting time for our brains. More and more

research is showing that our brains change constantly with

learning and experience and that this takes place throughout our

lives.

(2) Does this have implications for students' motivation and learning? It certainly does. In my

research in collaboration with my graduate students, we have shown that what students believe

about their brains — whether they see their intelligence as something that's fixed or something

that can grow and change — has profound effects on their motivation, learning, and school

achievement (Dweck, 2006). These different beliefs, or mindsets, create different psychological

worlds: one in which students are afraid of challenges and devastated by setbacks, and one in

which students relish challenges and are resilient in the face of setbacks.

(3) How do these mindsets work? How are the mindsets communicated to students? And, most

important, can they be changed? As we answer these questions, you will understand why so

many students do not achieve to their potential, why so many bright students stop working when

school becomes challenging, and why stereotypes have such profound effects on students'

achievement. You will also learn how praise can have a negative effect on students' mindsets,

harming their motivation to learn.

Mindsets and Achievement

(4) Many students believe that intelligence is fixed, that each person has a certain amount and

that's that. We call this a fixed mindset, and, as you will see, students with this mindset worry

about how much of this fixed intelligence they possess. A fixed mindset makes challenges

threatening for students (because they believe that their fixed ability may not be up to the task)

and it makes mistakes and failures demoralizing (because they believe that such setbacks reflect

badly on their level of fixed intelligence).

~ 87 ~

Photoillustration: Michael Northrup

(5) Other students believe that intelligence is something that can be cultivated through effort and

education. They don't necessarily believe that everyone has the same abilities or that anyone can

be as smart as Einstein, but they do believe that everyone can improve their abilities. And they

understand that even Einstein wasn't Einstein until he put in years of focused hard work. In short,

students with this growth mindset believe that intelligence is a potential that can be realized

through learning. As a result, confronting challenges, profiting from mistakes, and persevering in

the face of setbacks become ways of getting smarter.

(6) To understand the different worlds these mindsets create, we followed several hundred

students across a difficult school transition — the transition to seventh grade. This is when the

academic work often gets much harder, the grading gets stricter, and the school environment gets

less personalized with students moving from class to class. As the students entered seventh

grade, we measured their mindsets (along with a number of other things) and then we monitored

their grades over the next two years.

(7) The first thing we found was that students with different mindsets cared about different

things in school. Those with a growth mindset were much more interested in learning than in just

looking smart in school. This was not the case for students with a fixed mindset. In fact, in many

of our studies with students from preschool age to college age, we find that students with a fixed

mindset care so much about how smart they will appear that they often reject learning

opportunities — even ones that are critical to their success (Cimpian, et al., 2007; Hong, et al.,

1999; Nussbaum and Dweck, 2008; Mangels, et al., 2006).

(8) Next, we found that students with the two mindsets had radically different beliefs about

effort. Those with a growth mindset had a very straightforward (and correct) idea of effort — the

idea that the harder you work, the more your ability will grow and that even geniuses have had to

work hard for their accomplishments. In contrast, the students with the fixed mindset believed

that if you worked hard it meant that you didn't have ability, and that things would just come

naturally to you if you did. This means that every time something is hard for them and requires

effort, it's both a threat and a bind. If they work hard at it that means that they aren't good at it,

but if they don't work hard they won't do well. Clearly, since just about every worthwhile pursuit

~ 88 ~

involves effort over a long period of time, this is a potentially crippling belief, not only in school

but also in life.

(9) Students with different mindsets also had very different reactions to setbacks. Those with

growth mindsets reported that, after a setback in school, they would simply study more or study

differently the next time. But those with fixed mindsets were more likely to say that they would

feel dumb, study less the next time, and seriously consider cheating. If you feel dumb —

permanently dumb — in an academic area, there is no good way to bounce back and be

successful in the future. In a growth mindset, however, you can make a plan of positive action

that can remedy a deficiency. (Hong. et al., 1999; Nussbaum and Dweck, 2008; Heyman, et al.,

1992)

(10) Finally, when we looked at the math grades they went on to earn, we found that the students

with a growth mindset had pulled ahead. Although both groups had started seventh grade with

equivalent achievement test scores, a growth mindset quickly propelled students ahead of their

fixed-mindset peers, and this gap only increased over the two years of the study.

(11) In short, the belief that intelligence is fixed dampened students' motivation to learn, made

them afraid of effort, and made them want to quit after a setback. This is why so many bright

students stop working when school becomes hard. Many bright students find grade school easy

and coast to success early on. But later on, when they are challenged, they struggle. They don't

want to make mistakes and feel dumb — and, most of all, they don't want to work hard and feel

dumb. So they simply retire.

(12) It is the belief that intelligence can be developed that opens students to a love of learning, a

belief in the power of effort and constructive, determined reactions to setbacks.

How Do Students Learn These Mindsets?

(13) In the 1990s, parents and schools decided that the most important thing for kids to have was

self-esteem. If children felt good about themselves, people believed, they would be set for life. In

some quarters, self-esteem in math seemed to become more important than knowing math, and

self-esteem in English seemed to become more important than reading and writing. But the

biggest mistake was the belief that you could simply hand children self-esteem by telling them

~ 89 ~

how smart and talented they are. Even though this is such an intuitively appealing idea, and even

though it was exceedingly well-intentioned, I believe it has had disastrous effects.

(14) In the 1990s, we took a poll among parents and found that almost 85 percent endorsed the

notion that it was necessary to praise their children's abilities to give them confidence and help

them achieve. Their children are now in the workforce and we are told that young workers

cannot last through the day without being propped up by praise, rewards, and recognition.

Coaches are asking me where all the coachable athletes have gone. Parents ask me why their

children won't work hard in school.

(15) Could all of this come from well-meant praise? Well, we were suspicious of the praise

movement at the time. We had already seen in our research that it was the most vulnerable

children who were already obsessed with their intelligence and chronically worried about how

smart they were. What if praising intelligence made all children concerned about their

intelligence? This kind of praise might tell them that having high intelligence and talent is the

most important thing and is what makes you valuable. It might tell them that intelligence is just

something you have and not something you develop. It might deny the role of effort and

dedication in achievement. In short, it might promote a fixed mindset with all of its

vulnerabilities.

(16) The wonderful thing about research is that you can put questions like this to the test — and

we did (Kamins and Dweck, 1999; Mueller and Dweck, 1998). We gave two groups of children

problems from an IQ test, and we praised them. We praised the children in one group for their

intelligence, telling them, "Wow, that's a really good score. You must be smart at this." We

praised the children in another group for their effort: "Wow, that's a really good score. You must

have worked really hard." That's all we did, but the results were dramatic. We did studies like

this with children of different ages and ethnicities from around the country, and the results were

the same.

(17) Here is what happened with fifth graders. The children praised for their intelligence did not

want to learn. When we offered them a challenging task that they could learn from, the majority

~ 90 ~

opted for an easier one, one on which they could avoid making mistakes. The children praised

for their effort wanted the task they could learn from.

(18) The children praised for their intelligence lost their confidence as soon as the problems got

more difficult. Now, as a group, they thought they weren't smart. They also lost their enjoyment,

and, as a result, their performance plummeted. On the other hand, those praised for effort

maintained their confidence, their motivation, and their performance. Actually, their performance

improved over time such that, by the end, they were performing substantially better than the

intelligence-praised children on this IQ test.

(19) Finally, the children who were praised for their intelligence lied about their scores more

often than the children who were praised for their effort. We asked children to write something

(anonymously) about their experience to a child in another school and we left a little space for

them to report their scores. Almost 40 percent of the intelligence-praised children elevated their

scores, whereas only 12 or 13 percent of children in the other group did so. To me this suggests

that, after students are praised for their intelligence, it's too humiliating for them to admit

mistakes.

(20) The results were so striking that we repeated the study five times just to be sure, and each

time roughly the same things happened. Intelligence praise, compared to effort (or "process")

praise, put children into a fixed mindset. Instead of giving them confidence, it made them fragile,

so much so that a brush with difficulty erased their confidence, their enjoyment, and their good

performance, and made them ashamed of their work. This can hardly be the self-esteem that

parents and educators have been aiming for.

(21) Often, when children stop working in school, parents deal with this by reassuring their

children how smart they are. We can now see that this simply fans the flames. It confirms the

fixed mindset and makes kids all the more certain that they don't want to try something difficult

— something that could lose them their parents' high regard.

(22) How should we praise our students? How should we reassure them? By focusing them on

the process they engaged in — their effort, their strategies, their concentration, their

perseverance, or their improvement.

~ 91 ~

"You really stuck to that until you got it. That's wonderful!"

"It was a hard project, but you did it one step at a time and it turned out great!"

"I like how you chose the tough problems to solve. You're really going to stretch yourself and

learn new things."

"I know that school used to be a snap for you. What a waste that was. Now you really have an

opportunity to develop your abilities."

Brainology

(23) Can a growth mindset be taught directly to kids? If it can be taught, will it enhance their

motivation and grades? We set out to answer this question by creating a growth mindset

workshop (Blackwell, et al., 2007). We took seventh graders and divided them into two groups.

Both groups got an eight-session workshop full of great study skills, but the "growth mindset

group" also got lessons in the growth mindset — what it was and how to apply it to their

schoolwork. Those lessons began with an article called "You Can Grow Your Intelligence: New

Research Shows the Brain Can Be Developed Like a Muscle." Students were mesmerized by this

article and its message. They loved the idea that the growth of their brains was in their hands.

(24) This article and the lessons that followed changed the terms of engagement for students.

Many students had seen school as a place where they performed and were judged, but now they

understood that they had an active role to play in the development of their minds. They got to

work, and by the end of the semester the growth-mindset group showed a significant increase in

their math grades. The control group — the group that had gotten eight sessions of study skills

— showed no improvement and continued to decline. Even though they had learned many useful

study skills, they did not have the motivation to put them into practice.

(25) The teachers, who didn't even know there were two different groups, singled out students in

the growth-mindset group as showing clear changes in their motivation. They reported that these

students were now far more engaged with their schoolwork and were putting considerably more

effort into their classroom learning, homework, and studying.

~ 92 ~

(26) Joshua Aronson, Catherine Good, and their colleagues had similar findings (Aronson, Fried,

and Good, 2002; Good, Aronson, and Inzlicht, 2003). Their studies and ours also found that

negatively stereotyped students (such as girls in math, or African-American and Hispanic

students in math and verbal areas) showed substantial benefits from being in a growth-mindset

workshop. Stereotypes are typically fixed-mindset labels. They imply that the trait or ability in

question is fixed and that some groups have it and others don't. Much of the harm that

stereotypes do comes from the fixed-mindset message they send. The growth mindset, while not

denying that performance differences might exist, portrays abilities as acquirable and sends a

particularly encouraging message to students who have been negatively stereotyped — one that

they respond to with renewed motivation and engagement.

(27) Inspired by these positive findings, we started to think about how we could make a growth

mindset workshop more widely available. To do this, we have begun to develop a computer-

based program called "Brainology." In six computer modules, students learn about the brain and

how to make it work better. They follow two hip teens through their school day, learn how to

confront and solve schoolwork problems, and create study plans. They visit a state-of-the-art

virtual brain lab, do brain experiments, and find out such things as how the brain changes with

learning — how it grows new connections every time students learn something new. They also

learn how to use this idea in their schoolwork by putting their study skills to work to make

themselves smarter.

(28) We pilot-tested Brainology in 20 New York City schools. Virtually all of the students loved

it and reported (anonymously) the ways in which they changed their ideas about learning and

changed their learning and study habits. Here are some things they said in response to the

question, "Did you change your mind about anything?"

I did change my mind about how the brain works…I will try harder because I know that the more

you try, the more your brain works.

Yes... I imagine neurons making connections in my brain and I feel like I am learning something.

My favorite thing from Brainology is the neurons part where when u learn something, there are

connections and they keep growing. I always picture them when I'm in school.

~ 93 ~

(29) Teachers also reported changes in their students, saying that they had become more active

and eager learners: "They offer to practice, study, take notes, or pay attention to ensure that

connections will be made."

What Do We Value?

(30) In our society, we seem to worship talent — and we often portray it as a gift. Now we can

see that this is not motivating to our students. Those who think they have this gift expect to sit

there with it and be successful. When they aren't successful, they get defensive and demoralized,

and often opt out. Those who don't think they have the gift also become defensive and

demoralized, and often opt out as well.

(31) We need to correct the harmful idea that people simply have gifts that transport them to

success, and to teach our students that no matter how smart or talented someone is — be it

Einstein, Mozart, or Michael Jordan — no one succeeds in a big way without enormous amounts

of dedication and effort. It is through effort that people build their abilities and realize their

potential. More and more research is showing there is one thing that sets the great successes

apart from their equally talented peers — how hard they've worked (Ericsson, et al., 2006).

(32) Next time you're tempted to praise your students' intelligence or talent, restrain yourself.

Instead, teach them how much fun a challenging task is, how interesting and informative errors

are, and how great it is to struggle with something and make progress. Most of all, teach them

that by taking on challenges, making mistakes, and putting forth effort, they are making

themselves smarter.

Carol S. Dweck is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University

and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Random House, 2006).

http://www.nais.org/ismagazinearticlePrint.cfm?print=Y&ItemNumber=150509

References

~ 94 ~

Aronson, J., Fried, C., & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African

American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social

Psychology, 38, 113–125.

Binet, A. (1909/1973). Les idées modernes sur les enfants [Modern ideas on children]. Paris:

Flamarion.

Blackwell, L., Trzesniewski, K., & Dweck, C.S. (2007). Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict

Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. Child

Development, 78, 246–263.

Cimpian, A., Arce, H., Markman, E.M., & Dweck, C.S. (2007). Subtle linguistic cues impact

children's motivation. Psychological Science, 18, 314-316.

Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset. New York: Random House.

Ericsson, K.A., Charness, N., Feltovich, P.J., & Hoffman, R.R. (Eds.) (2006). The Cambridge

Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Good, C. Aronson, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2003). Improving adolescents' standardized test

performance: An Intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Journal of Applied

Developmental Psychology, 24, 645-662.

Hong, Y.Y., Chiu, C., Dweck, C.S., Lin, D., & Wan, W. (1999) Implicit theories, attributions,

and coping: A meaning system approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77,

588–599.

Kamins, M., & Dweck, C.S. (1999). Person vs. process praise and criticism: Implications for

contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental Psychology, 35, 835–847.

Mangels, J. A., Butterfield, B., Lamb, J., Good, C.D., & Dweck, C.S. (2006). Why do beliefs

about intelligence influence learning success? A social-cognitive-neuroscience model. Social,

Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, 1, 75–86.

~ 95 ~

Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Intelligence praise can undermine motivation and

performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33–52.

Nussbaum, A.D., & Dweck, C.S. (2007, in press). Defensiveness vs. Remediation: Self-Theories

and Modes of Self-Esteem Maintenance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

National Association of

Independent Schools

1620 L Street NW Suite

1100

Washington DC, 20036-

5695

© 1997-2011 ALL RIGHTS

RESERVED

NAIS is the national voice of

independent education. We offer

standards, targeted resources, and

networking opportunities for our 1,300

member schools.

Tel (202) 973-9700

Email Customer Support

Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind

Edited by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick

Chapter 2. Describing the Habits of Mind

by Arthur L. Costa

~ 96 ~

When we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.

—Wendell Berry

This chapter contains descriptions for 16 of the attributes that human beings display when

they behave intelligently. In this book, we refer to them as Habits of Mind. They are the

characteristics of what intelligent people do when they are confronted with problems, the

resolutions to which are not immediately apparent.

These Habits of Mind seldom are performed in isolation; rather, clusters of behaviors are

drawn forth and used in various situations. For example, when listening intently, we use the

habits of thinking flexibly, thinking about our thinking (metacognition), thinking and

communicating with clarity and precision, and perhaps even questioning and posing problems.

Do not conclude, based on this list, that humans display intelligent behavior in only 16

ways. The list of the Habits of Mind is not complete. We want this list to initiate a collection of

additional attributes. In fact, 12 attributes of "Intelligent Behavior" were first described in 1991

(Costa, 1991). Since then, through collaboration and interaction with many others, the list has

been expanded. You, your colleagues, and your students will want to continue the search for

additional Habits of Mind to add to this list of 16.

Habits of Mind as Learning Outcomes

Educational outcomes in traditional settings focus on how many answers a student

knows. When we teach for the Habits of Mind, we are interested also in how students behave

when they don't know an answer. The Habits of Mind are performed in response to questions and

problems, the answers to which are not immediately known. We are interested in enhancing the

ways students produce knowledge rather than how they merely reproduce it. We want students

to learn how to develop a critical stance with their work: inquiring, editing, thinking flexibly, and

~ 97 ~

learning from another person's perspective. The critical attribute of intelligent human beings is

not only having information but also knowing how to act on it.

What behaviors indicate an efficient, effective thinker? What do human beings do when

they behave intelligently? Vast research on effective thinking, successful people, and intelligent

behavior by Ames (1997), Carnegie and Stynes (2006), Ennis (1991), Feuerstein, Rand,

Hoffman, and Miller (1980), Freeley (as reported in Strugatch, 2004), Glatthorn and Baron

(1991), Goleman (1995), Perkins (1991), Sternberg (1984), and Waugh (2005) suggests that

effective thinkers and peak performers have identifiable characteristics. These characteristics

have been identified in successful people in all walks of life: lawyers, mechanics, teachers,

entrepreneurs, salespeople, physicians, athletes, entertainers, leaders, parents, scientists, artists,

teachers, and mathematicians.

Horace Mann, a U.S. educator (1796–1859), once observed that "habit is a cable; we

weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it." In Learning and Leading with

Habits of Mind, we focus on 16 Habits of Mind that teachers and parents can teach, cultivate,

observe, and assess. The intent is to help students get into the habit of behaving intelligently. A

Habit of Mind is a pattern of intellectual behaviors that leads to productive actions. When we

experience dichotomies, are confused by dilemmas, or come face-to-face with uncertainties, our

most effective response requires drawing forth certain patterns of intellectual behavior. When we

draw upon these intellectual resources, the results are more powerful, of higher quality, and of

greater significance than if we fail to employ such patterns of intellectual behavior.

A Habit of Mind is a composite of many skills, attitudes, cues, past experiences, and

proclivities. It means that we value one pattern of intellectual behaviors over another; therefore,

it implies making choices about which patterns we should use at a certain time. It includes

sensitivity to the contextual cues that signal that a particular circumstance is a time when

applying a certain pattern would be useful and appropriate. It requires a level of skillfulness to

use, carry out, and sustain the behaviors effectively. It suggests that after each experience in

which these behaviors are used, the effects of their use are reflected upon, evaluated, modified,

and carried forth to future applications. Figure 2.1 summarizes some of these dimensions of the

Habits of Mind, which are elaborated in Chapter 3. The following sections describe each of the

16 Habits of Mind.

~ 98 ~

Figure 2.1. Dimensions of the Habits of Mind

The Habits of Mind incorporate the following dimensions:

Value: Choosing to employ a pattern of intellectual behaviors rather than other, less productive

patterns.

Inclination: Feeling the tendency to employ a pattern of intellectual behaviors.

Sensitivity: Perceiving opportunities for, and appropriateness of, employing the pattern of

behaviors.

Capability: Possessing the basic skills and capacities to carry through with the behaviors.

Commitment: Constantly striving to reflect on and improve performance of the pattern of

intellectual behaviors.

Policy: Making it a policy to promote and incorporate the patterns of intellectual behaviors into

actions, decisions, and resolutions of problematic situations.

Persisting

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they never quit.

—Conrad Hilton

Efficacious people stick to a task until it is completed. They don't give up easily. They

are able to analyze a problem, and they develop a system, structure, or strategy to attack it. They

have a repertoire of alternative strategies for problem solving, and they employ a whole range of

these strategies. They collect evidence to indicate their problem-solving strategy is working, and

if one strategy doesn't work, they know how to back up and try another. They recognize when a

theory or an idea must be rejected and another employed. They have systematic methods for

analyzing a problem, which include knowing how to begin, what steps must be performed, what

data must be generated or collected, and what resources are available to assist. Because they are

able to sustain a problem-solving process over time, they are comfortable with ambiguous

situations.

~ 99 ~

Students often give up when they don't immediately know the answer to a problem. They

sometimes crumple their papers and throw them away, exclaiming "I can't do this!" or "It's too

hard!" Sometimes they write down any answer to get the task over with as quickly as possible.

Some of these students have attention deficits. They have difficulty staying focused for any

length of time; they are easily distracted, or they lack the ability to analyze a problem and

develop a system, structure, or strategy of attack. They may give up because they have a limited

repertoire of problem-solving strategies, and thus they have few alternatives if their first strategy

doesn't work.

Managing Impulsivity

Goal-directed, self-imposed delay of gratification is perhaps the essence of emotional self-regulation: the ability to deny impulse in the service of a goal, whether it be building a business, solving an algebraic equation, or pursuing the Stanley Cup.

—Daniel Goleman

Effective problem solvers are deliberate: they think before they act. They intentionally

establish a vision of a product, an action plan, a goal, or a destination before they begin. They

strive to clarify and understand directions, they develop a strategy for approaching a problem,

and they withhold immediate value judgments about an idea before they fully understand it.

Reflective individuals consider alternatives and consequences of several possible directions

before they take action. They decrease their need for trial and error by gathering information,

taking time to reflect on an answer before giving it, making sure they understand directions, and

listening to alternative points of view.

Often, students blurt out the first answer that comes to mind. Sometimes they shout an

answer, start to work without fully understanding the directions, lack an organized plan or

strategy for approaching a problem, or make immediate value judgments about an idea

(criticizing or praising it) before they fully understand it. They may take the first suggestion

given or operate on the first idea that comes to mind rather than consider alternatives and the

consequences of several possible directions. Research demonstrates, however, that less

~ 100 ~

impulsive, self-disciplined students are more successful. For example, Duckworth and Seligman

(2005) found

Highly self-disciplined adolescents outperformed their more impulsive peers on every

academic performance variable, including report-card grades, standardized achievement test

scores, admission to a competitive high school and attendance. Self-discipline measured in the

fall predicted more variance in each of these outcomes than did IQ, and unlike IQ, self-discipline

predicted gains in academic performance over the school year. (p. 940)

Listening with Understanding and Empathy

Listening is the beginning of understanding. … Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening. Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.

—Proverbs 1:5

Highly effective people spend an inordinate amount of time and energy listening (Covey,

1989). Some psychologists believe that the ability to listen to another person—to empathize with

and to understand that person's point of view—is one of the highest forms of intelligent behavior.

The ability to paraphrase another person's ideas; detect indicators (cues) of feelings or emotional

states in oral and body language (empathy); and accurately express another person's concepts,

emotions, and problems—all are indicators of listening behavior. (Piaget called it "overcoming

egocentrism.")

People who demonstrate this Habit of Mind are able to see through the diverse

perspectives of others. They gently attend to another person, demonstrating their understanding

of and empathy for an idea or a feeling by paraphrasing it accurately, building upon it, clarifying

it, or giving an example of it.

Senge, Roberts, Ross, Smith, and Kleiner (1994) suggest that to listen fully means to pay

close attention to what is being said beneath the words—listening not only to the "music" but

also to the essence of the person speaking; not only for what someone knows but also for what

that person is trying to represent. Ears operate at the speed of sound, which is far slower than the

speed of light the eyes take in. Generative listening is the art of developing deeper silences in

oneself, slowing the mind's hearing to the ears' natural speed and hearing beneath the words to

their meaning.

~ 101 ~

We spend 55 percent of our lives listening, but it is one of the least taught skills in

schools. We often say we are listening, but actually we are rehearsing in our head what we are

going to say when our partner is finished. Some students ridicule, laugh at, or put down other

students' ideas. They interrupt, are unable to build upon, can't consider the merits of, or don't

operate on another person's ideas.

We want students to learn to devote their mental energies to another person and to invest

themselves in their partner's ideas. We want students to learn to hold in abeyance their own

values, judgments, opinions, and prejudices so they can listen to and entertain another person's

thoughts. This is a complex skill requiring the ability to monitor one's own thoughts while at the

same time attending to a partner's words. Listening in this way does not mean we can't disagree

with someone. Good listeners try to understand what other people are saying. In the end, they

may disagree sharply, but because they have truly listened, they know exactly the nature of the

disagreement.

Thinking Flexibly

Of all forms of mental activity, the most difficult to induce even in the minds of the young, who may be presumed not to have lost their flexibility, is the art of handling the same bundle of data as before, but placing them in a new system of relations with one another by giving them a different framework, all of which virtually means putting on a different kind of thinking-cap for the moment. It is easy to teach anybody a new fact. … but it needs light from heaven above to enable a teacher to break the old framework in which the student is accustomed to seeing.

—Arthur Koestler

An amazing discovery about the human brain is its plasticity—its ability to "rewire,"

change, and even repair itself to become smarter. Flexible people have the most control. They

have the capacity to change their minds as they receive additional data. They engage in multiple

and simultaneous outcomes and activities, and they draw upon a repertoire of problem-solving

strategies. They also practice style flexibility, knowing when thinking broadly and globally is

appropriate and when a situation requires detailed precision. They create and seek novel

approaches, and they have a well-developed sense of humor. They envision a range of

consequences.

~ 102 ~

Flexible people can address a problem from a new angle using a novel approach, which

de Bono (1991) refers to as "lateral thinking." They consider alternative points of view or deal

with several sources of information simultaneously. Their minds are open to change based on

additional information, new data, or even reasoning that contradicts their beliefs. Flexible people

know that they have and can develop options and alternatives. They understand means-ends

relationships. They can work within rules, criteria, and regulations, and they can predict the

consequences of flouting them. They understand immediate reactions, but they also are able to

perceive the bigger purposes that such constraints serve. Thus, flexibility of mind is essential for

working with social diversity, enabling an individual to recognize the wholeness and distinctness

of other people's ways of experiencing and making meaning.

Flexible thinkers are able to shift through multiple perceptual positions at will. One

perceptual orientation is what Jean Piaget called egocentrism, or perceiving from our own point

of view. By contrast, allocentrismis the position in which we perceive through another person's

orientation. We operate from this second position when we empathize with another's feelings,

predict how others are thinking, and anticipate potential misunderstandings.

Another perceptual position is macrocentric. It is similar to looking down from a balcony

to observe ourselves and our interactions with others. This bird's-eye view is useful for

discerning themes and patterns from assortments of information. It is intuitive, holistic, and

conceptual. Because we often need to solve problems with incomplete information, we need the

capacity to perceive general patterns and jump across gaps of incomplete knowledge.

Yet another perceptual orientation is microcentric, examining the individual and

sometimes minute parts that make up the whole. This worm's eye view involves logical,

analytical computation, searching for causality in methodical steps. It requires attention to detail,

precision, and orderly progressions.

Flexible thinkers display confidence in their intuition. They tolerate confusion and

ambiguity up to a point, and they are willing to let go of a problem, trusting their subconscious to

continue creative and productive work on it. Flexibility is the cradle of humor, creativity, and

repertoire. Although many perceptual positions are possible—past, present, future, egocentric,

allocentric, macrocentric, microcentric, visual, auditory, kinesthetic—the flexible mind knows

when to shift between and among these positions.

~ 103 ~

Some students have difficulty considering alternative points of view or dealing with more

than one classification system simultaneously. Their way to solve a problem seems to be

the only way. They perceive situations from an egocentric point of view: "My way or the

highway!" Their minds are made up: "Don't confuse me with facts. That's it!"

Thinking About Thinking (Metacognition)

When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself.

—Plato

The human species is known as Homo sapiens sapiens, which basically means "a being

that knows their knowing" (or maybe it's "knows they're knowing"). What distinguishes humans

from other forms of life is our capacity for metacognition—the ability to stand off and examine

our own thoughts while we engage in them.

Occurring in the neocortex, metacognition, or thinking about thinking, is our ability to

know what we know and what we don't know. It is our ability to plan a strategy for producing

the information that is needed, to be conscious of our own steps and strategies during the act of

problem solving, and to reflect on and evaluate the productiveness of our own thinking.

Although inner language, thought to be a prerequisite for metacognition, begins in most children

around age 5, metacognition is a key attribute of formal thought flowering at about age 11.

The major components of metacognition are, when confronted with a problem to solve,

developing a plan of action, maintaining that plan in mind over a period of time, and then

reflecting on and evaluating the plan upon its completion. Planning a strategy before embarking

on a course of action helps us keep track of the steps in the sequence of planned behavior at the

conscious awareness level for the duration of the activity. It facilitates making temporal and

comparative judgments; assessing the readiness for more or different activities; and monitoring

our interpretations, perceptions, decisions, and behaviors. An example would be what superior

teachers do daily: developing a teaching strategy for a lesson, keeping that strategy in mind

throughout the instruction, and then reflecting upon the strategy to evaluate its effectiveness in

producing the desired student outcomes.

~ 104 ~

Intelligent people plan for, reflect on, and evaluate the quality of their own thinking skills

and strategies. Metacognition means becoming increasingly aware of one's actions and the effect

of those actions on others and on the environment; forming internal questions in the search for

information and meaning; developing mental maps or plans of action; mentally rehearsing before

a performance; monitoring plans as they are employed (being conscious of the need for

midcourse correction if the plan is not meeting expectations); reflecting on the completed plan

for self-evaluation; and editing mental pictures for improved performance.

Interestingly, not all humans achieve the level of formal operations. As Russian

psychologist Alexander Luria found, not all adults metacogitate. Although the human brain is

capable of generating this reflective consciousness, generally we are not all that aware of how we

are thinking, and not everyone uses the capacity for consciousness equally (Chiabetta, 1976;

Csikszentmihalyi, 1993; Whimbey, Whimbey, & Shaw, 1975; Whimbey, 1980). The most likely

reason is that all of us do not take the time to reflect on our experiences. Students often do not

take the time to wonder why they are doing what they are doing. They seldom question

themselves about their own learning strategies or evaluate the efficiency of their own

performance. Some children virtually have no idea of what they should do when they confront a

problem, and often they are unable to explain their decision-making strategies (Sternberg &

Wagner, 1982). When teachers ask, "How did you solve that problem? What strategies did you

have in mind?" or "Tell us what went on in your head to come up with that conclusion," students

often respond, "I don't know. I just did it."

We want students to perform well on complex cognitive tasks. A simple example might

be drawn from a reading task. While reading a passage, we sometimes find that our minds

wander from the pages. We see the words, but no meaning is being produced. Suddenly, we

realize that we are not concentrating and that we've lost contact with the meaning of the text. We

recover by returning to the passage to find our place, matching it with the last thought we can

remember, and once having found it, reading on with connectedness. This inner awareness and

the strategy of recovery are components of metacognition.

Striving for Accuracy

~ 105 ~

A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake.

—Confucius

Whether we are looking at the stamina, grace, and elegance of a ballerina or a carpenter,

we see a desire for craftsmanship, mastery, flawlessness, and economy of energy to produce

exceptional results. People who value truthfulness, accuracy, precision, and craftsmanship take

time to check over their products. They review the rules by which they are to abide, they review

the models and visions they are to follow, and they review the criteria they are to use to confirm

that their finished product matches the criteria exactly. To be craftsmanlike means knowing that

one can continually perfect one's craft by working to attain the highest possible standards and by

pursuing ongoing learning to bring a laserlike focus of energies to accomplishing a task.

These people take pride in their work, and they desire accuracy as they take time to check

over their work. Craftsmanship includes exactness, precision, accuracy, correctness, faithfulness,

and fidelity. For some people, craftsmanship requires continuous reworking. Mario Cuomo, a

great speechwriter and politician, once said that his speeches were never done; it was only a

deadline that made him stop working on them.

Some students may turn in sloppy, incomplete, or uncorrected work. They are more eager

to get rid of the assignment than to check it over for accuracy and precision. They are willing to

settle for minimum effort rather than invest their maximum. They may be more interested in

expedience rather than excellence.

Questioning and Posing Problems

The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. … To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances.

—Albert Einstein

One of the distinguishing characteristics of humans is our inclination and ability

to find problems to solve. Effective problem solvers know how to ask questions to fill in the gaps

between what they know and what they don't know.

Effective questioners are inclined to ask a range of questions:

~ 106 ~

What evidence do you have?

How do you know that's true?

How reliable is this data source?

They also pose questions about alternative points of view:

From whose viewpoint are we seeing, reading, or hearing?

From what angle, what perspective, are we viewing this situation?

Effective questioners pose questions that make causal connections and relationships:

How are these (people, events, or situations) related to each other?

What produced this connection?

Sometimes they pose hypothetical problems characterized by "if" questions:

What do you think would happen if … ?

If that is true, then what might happen if … ?

Inquirers recognize discrepancies and phenomena in their environment, and they probe

into their causes:

Why do cats purr?

How high can birds fly?

Why does the hair on my head grow so fast, while the hair on my arms and legs grows so

slowly?

What would happen if we put the saltwater fish in a freshwater aquarium?

What are some alternative solutions to international conflicts, other than wars?

Some students may be unaware of the functions, classes, syntax, or intentions in questions.

They may not realize that questions vary in complexity, structure, and purpose. They may pose

simple questions intending to derive maximal results. When confronted with a discrepancy, they

may lack an overall strategy to search for and find a solution.

~ 107 ~

Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations

I've never made a mistake. I've only learned from experience.

—Thomas A. Edison

Intelligent humans learn from experience. When confronted with a new and perplexing

problem, they will draw forth experiences from their past. They often can be heard to say, "This

reminds me of …" or "This is just like the time when I …" They explain what they are doing

now with analogies about or references to their experiences. They call upon their store of

knowledge and experience as sources of data to support, theories to explain, or processes to solve

each new challenge. They are able to abstract meaning from one experience, carry it forth, and

apply it in a novel situation.

Too often, students begin each new task as if it were being approached for the first time.

Teachers are dismayed when they invite students to recall how they solved a similar problem

previously—and students don't remember. It's as if they had never heard of it before, even

though they recently worked with the same type of problem! It seems each experience is

encapsulated and has no relationship to what has come before or what comes after. Their

thinking is what psychologists refer to as an "episodic grasp of reality" (Feuerstein et al., 1980);

that is, each event in life is separate and discrete, with no connections to what may have come

before or no relation to what follows. Their learning is so encapsulated that they seem unable to

draw it forth from one event and apply it in another context.

Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision

I do not so easily think in words. … After being hard at work having arrived at results that are perfectly clear … I have to translate my thoughts in a language that does not run evenly with them. —Francis Galton, geneticist

Language refinement plays a critical role in enhancing a person's cognitive maps and

ability to think critically, which is the knowledge base for efficacious action. Enriching the

complexity and specificity of language simultaneously produces effective thinking.

Language and thinking are closely entwined; like either side of a coin, they are

inseparable. Fuzzy, vague language is a reflection of fuzzy, vague thinking. Intelligent people

~ 108 ~

strive to communicate accurately in both written and oral form, taking care to use precise

language; defining terms; and using correct names, labels, and analogies. They strive to avoid

overgeneralizations, deletions, and distortions. Instead, they support their statements with

explanations, comparisons, quantification, and evidence.

We sometimes hear students and adults using vague and imprecise language. They

describe objects or events with words like weird, nice, or OK. They name specific objects using

such nondescriptive words asstuff, junk, things, and whatever. They punctuate sentences with

meaningless interjections like ya know, er, and uh. They use vague or general nouns and

pronouns: "They told me to do it," "Everybody has one," or "Teachers don't understand me."

They use nonspecific verbs: "Let's do it." At other times, they use unqualified comparatives:

"This soda is better; I like it more" (Shachtman, 1995).

Gathering Data Through All Senses

Observe perpetually.

—Henry James

The brain is the ultimate reductionist. It reduces the world to its elementary parts:

photons of light, molecules of fragrance, sound waves, vibrations of touch—all of which send

electrochemical signals to individual brain cells that store information about lines, movements,

colors, smells, and other sensory inputs.

Intelligent people know that all information gets into the brain through sensory pathways:

gustatory, olfactory, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Most linguistic, cultural, and

physical learning is derived from the environment by observing or taking it in through the senses.

To know a wine it must be drunk; to know a role it must be acted; to know a game it must be

played; to know a dance it must be performed; to know a goal it must be envisioned. Those

whose sensory pathways are open, alert, and acute absorb more information from the

environment than those whose pathways are withered, immune, and oblivious to sensory stimuli.

The more regions of the brain that store data about a subject, the more interconnection

there is. This redundancy means students will have more opportunities to pull up all those related

bits of data from their multiple storage areas in response to a single cue. This cross-referencing

~ 109 ~

of data strengthens the data into something that's learned rather than just memorized (Willis,

2007).

We are learning more and more about the impact of the arts and music on improved

mental functioning. Forming mental images is important in mathematics and engineering;

listening to classical music seems to improve spatial reasoning. Social scientists use scenarios

and role playing; scientists build models; engineers use CAD-CAM; mechanics learn through

hands-on experimentation; artists explore colors and textures; and musicians combine

instrumental and vocal music.

Some students, however, go through school and life oblivious to the textures, rhythms,

patterns, sounds, and colors around them. Sometimes children are afraid to touch things or get

their hands dirty. Some don't want to feel an object that might be slimy or icky. They operate

within a narrow range of sensory problem-solving strategies, wanting only to describe it but not

illustrate or act it, or to listen but not participate.

Creating, Imagining, Innovating

The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.

—John Schaar, political scientist

All human beings have the capacity to generate novel, clever, or ingenious products,

solutions, and techniques—if that capacity is developed (Sternberg, 2006). Creative human

beings try to conceive solutions to problems differently, examining alternative possibilities from

many angles. They tend to project themselves into different roles using analogies, starting with a

vision and working backward, and imagining they are the object being considered. Creative

people take risks and frequently push the boundaries of their perceived limits (Perkins, 1991).

They are intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated, working on the task because of the

aesthetic challenge rather than the material rewards.

Creative people are open to criticism. They hold up their products for others to judge, and

they seek feedback in an ever-increasing effort to refine their technique. They are uneasy with

~ 110 ~

the status quo. They constantly strive for greater fluency, elaboration, novelty, parsimony,

simplicity, craftsmanship, perfection, beauty, harmony, and balance.

Students, however, often are heard saying "I can't draw," "I was never very good at art,"

"I can't sing a note," or "I'm not creative." Some people believe creative humans are just born

that way and that genes and chromosomes are the determinants of creativity.

Responding with Wonderment and Awe

The most beautiful experience in the world is the experience of the mysterious.

—Albert Einstein

Describing the 200 best and brightest of USA Today's All USA College Academic Team,

Tracey Wong Briggs (1999) states, "They are creative thinkers who have a passion for what they

do." Efficacious people have not only an "I can" attitude but also an "I enjoy" feeling. They seek

intriguing phenomena. They search for problems to solve for themselves and to submit to others.

They delight in making up problems to solve on their own, and they so enjoy the challenge of

problem solving that they seek perplexities and puzzles from others. They enjoy figuring things

out by themselves, and they continue to learn throughout their lifetimes. One efficacious person

is chemist Ahmed H. Zewail, a Nobel Prize winner, who said that he had a passion to understand

fundamental processes: "I love molecules. I want to understand why do they do what they do"

(Cole, 1999).

Some children and adults avoid problems and are turned off to learning. They make such

comments as "I was never good at these brain teasers," "Go ask your father; he's the brain in this

family," "It's boring," "When am I ever going to use this stuff," "Who cares," "Lighten up,

teacher; thinking is hard work," or "I don't do thinking!" Many people never enrolled in another

math class or other "hard" academic subject after they weren't required to in high school or

college. Many people perceive thinking as hard work, and they recoil from situations that

demand too much of it.

We want students to be curious, to commune with the world around them, to reflect on

the changing formations of a cloud, to feel charmed by the opening of a bud, to sense the logical

simplicity of mathematical order. Intelligent people find beauty in a sunset, intrigue in the

geometric shapes of a spider web, and exhilaration in the iridescence of a hummingbird's wings.

~ 111 ~

They marvel at the congruity and intricacies in the derivation of a mathematical formula,

recognize the orderliness and adroitness of a chemical change, and commune with the serenity of

a distant constellation. We want students to feel compelled, enthusiastic, and passionate about

learning, inquiring, and mastering (Costa, 2007).

Taking Responsible Risks

There has been a calculated risk in every stage of American development—the pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, businessmen who were not afraid of failure, dreamers who were not afraid of action.

—Brooks Atkinson

Risk takers seem to have an almost uncontrollable urge to go beyond established limits.

They are uneasy about comfort; they live on the edge of their competence. They seem compelled

to place themselves in situations in which they do not know what the outcome will be. They

accept confusion, uncertainty, and the higher risks of failure as part of the normal process, and

they learn to view setbacks as interesting, challenging, and growth producing. However,

responsible risk takers do not behave impulsively. Their risks are educated. They draw on past

knowledge, are thoughtful about consequences, and have a well-trained sense of what is

appropriate. They know that all risks are not worth taking.

Risk takers can be considered in two categories: those who see the risk as a venture and

those who see it as adventure. The venture part of risk taking might be described in terms of

what a venture capitalist does. When a person is approached to take the risk of investing in a new

business, she will look at the markets, see how well organized the ideas are, and study the

economic projections. If she finally decides to take the risk, it is a well-considered one.

The adventure part of risk taking might be described by the experiences from Project

Adventure. In this situation, there is a spontaneity, a willingness to take a chance in the moment.

Once again, a person will take the chance only if experiences suggest that the action will not be

life threatening or if he believes that group support will protect him from harm (e.g., checking

out the dimensions of weight, distance, and strength of a bungee cord before agreeing to the

exhilaration of a drop). Ultimately, people learn from such high-risk experiences that they are far

more able to take actions than they previously believed. Risk taking becomes educated only

~ 112 ~

through repeated experiences. It often is a cross between intuition, drawing on past knowledge,

striving for precision and accuracy, and a sense of meeting new challenges.

Bobby Jindal, then executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the

Future of Medicare, stated, "The only way to succeed is to be brave enough to risk failure"

(Briggs, 1999, p. 2A). When people hold back from taking risks, they miss opportunities. Some

students seem reluctant to take risks. They hold back from games, new learning, and new

friendships because their fear of failure is far greater than their desire for venture or adventure.

They are reinforced by the mental voice that says, "If you don't try it, you won't be wrong," or "If

you try it and you are wrong, you will look stupid." The other voice that might say, "If you don't

try it, you will never know," is trapped by fear and mistrust. These students are more interested

in knowing whether their answer is correct or not than in being challenged by the process of

finding the answer. They are unable to sustain a process of problem solving and finding the

answer over time, and therefore they avoid ambiguous situations. They have a need for certainty

rather than an inclination for doubt.

We hope that students will learn how to take intellectual as well as physical risks.

Students who are capable of being different, going against the grain of common thinking, and

thinking of new ideas (testing them with peers and teachers) are more likely to be successful in

an age of innovation and uncertainty.

Finding Humor

You can increase your brain power three to fivefold simply by laughing and having fun before working on a problem.

—Doug Hall

Why we laugh, no one really knows. Laughing is an instinct that can be traced to chimps,

and it may reinforce our social status (Hubert, 2007). Humor is a human form of mutual

playfulness. Beyond the fact that laughing is enjoyable, it may have medicinal value as well.

Laughing, scientists have discovered, has positive effects on physiological functions: blood

vessels relax, stress hormones disperse, and the immune system gets a boost, including a drop in

the pulse rate. Laughter produces secretion of endorphins and increased oxygen in the blood.

Humor has been found to have psychological benefits as well. It liberates creativity and provokes

~ 113 ~

such higher-level thinking skills as anticipating, finding novel relationships, visual imaging, and

making analogies. People who engage in the mystery of humor have the ability to perceive

situations from an original and often interesting vantage point. They tend to initiate humor more

often, to place greater value on having a sense of humor, to appreciate and understand others'

humor, and to be verbally playful when interacting with others. Having a whimsical frame of

mind, they thrive on finding incongruity; perceiving absurdities, ironies, and satire; finding

discontinuities; and being able to laugh at situations and themselves.

Some students find humor in all the wrong places—human differences, ineptitude,

injurious behavior, vulgarity, violence, and profanity. They employ laughter to humiliate others.

They laugh at others yet are unable to laugh at themselves. We want students to acquire the habit

of finding humor in a positive sense so they can distinguish between those situations of human

frailty and fallibility that require compassion and those that truly are funny (Dyer, 1997).

Thinking Interdependently

Take care of each other. Share your energies with the group. No one must feel alone, cut off, for that is when you do not make it.

—Willie Unsoeld, mountain climber

Humans are social beings. We congregate in groups, find it therapeutic to be listened to,

draw energy from one another, and seek reciprocity. In groups we contribute our time and energy

to tasks that we would quickly tire of when working alone. In fact, solitary confinement is one of

the cruelest forms of punishment that can be inflicted on an individual.

Collaborative humans realize that all of us together are more powerful, intellectually or

physically, than any one individual. Probably the foremost disposition in our global society is the

heightened ability to think in concert with others, to find ourselves increasingly more

interdependent and sensitive to the needs of others. Problem solving has become so complex that

no one person can go it alone. No one has access to all the data needed to make critical decisions;

no one person can consider as many alternatives as several people.

Some students may not have learned to work in groups; they have underdeveloped social

skills. They feel isolated, and they prefer solitude. They say things like "Leave me alone—I'll do

it by myself," "They just don't like me," or "I want to be alone." Some students seem unable to

~ 114 ~

contribute to group work and are job hogs; conversely, other students let all the others in a group

do all the work.

Working in groups requires the ability to justify ideas and to test the feasibility of

solution strategies on others. It also requires developing a willingness and an openness to accept

feedback from a critical friend. Through this interaction, the group and the individual continue to

grow. Listening, consensus seeking, giving up an idea to work with someone else's, empathy,

compassion, group leadership, knowing how to support group efforts, altruism—all are behaviors

indicative of cooperative human beings.

Remaining Open to Continuous Learning

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds.

—John F. Kennedy

In a world that moves at warp speed, there is more to know today than ever before, and

the challenge of knowing more and more in every succeeding day, week, month, and year ahead

will only continue to expand exponentially. The quest for meaningful knowledge is critical and

never ending.

Intelligent people are in a continuous learning mode. They are invigorated by the quest of

lifelong learning. Their confidence, in combination with their inquisitiveness, allows them to

constantly search for new and better ways. People with this Habit of Mind are always striving for

improvement, growing, learning, and modifying and improving themselves. They seize

problems, situations, tensions, conflicts, and circumstances as valuable opportunities to learn

(Bateson, 2004).

A great mystery about humans is that many times we confront learning opportunities with

fear rather than mystery and wonder. We seem to feel better when we know rather than when we

learn. We defend our biases, beliefs, and storehouses of knowledge rather than invite the

unknown, the creative, and the inspirational. Being certain and closed gives us comfort, whereas

being doubtful and open gives us fear. As G. K. Chesterton so aptly expressed, "There is no such

thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; there are only uninterested people."

Because of a curriculum employing fragmentation, competition, and reactiveness,

students from an early age are trained to believe that deep learning means figuring out the truth

~ 115 ~

rather than developing capabilities for effective and thoughtful action. They have been taught to

value certainty rather than doubt, to give answers rather than to inquire, to know which choice is

correct rather than to explore alternatives. Unfortunately, some adults are content with what they

already believe and know. Their childlike curiosity has died. They exhibit little humility because

they believe they are all knowing. They do not seek out or discover the wisdom of others. They

do not know how or when to leverage a love of and lust for learning. As a result, they follow a

path of little value and minimal opportunity.

Our wish is for creative students and people who are eager to learn. This Habit of Mind

includes the humility of knowing that we don't know, which is the highest form of thinking we

will ever learn. Paradoxically, unless we start off with humility, we will never get anywhere. As

the first step, we must already have what eventually will be the crowning glory of all learning: to

know—and to admit—that we don't know and to not be afraid to find out.

The Right Stuff

The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.

—B. B. King

The 16 Habits of Mind just described were drawn from research on human effectiveness,

descriptions of remarkable performers, and analyses of the characteristics of efficacious people.

These Habits of Mind can serve as mental disciplines. Students, parents, and teachers, when

confronted with problematic situations, might habitually use one or more of these Habits of Mind

by asking themselves, "What is the most intelligent thing I can do right now?" They also might

consider these questions:

How can I learn from this? What are my resources? How can I draw on my past successes with

problems like this? What do I already know about the problem? What resources do I have

available or need to generate?

How can I approach this problem flexibly? How might I look at the situation in another way?

How can I draw upon my repertoire of problem-solving strategies? How can I look at this

problem from a fresh perspective (lateral thinking)?

~ 116 ~

How can I illuminate this problem to make it clearer, more precise? Do I need to check out my

data sources? How might I break this problem down into its component parts and develop a

strategy for understanding and accomplishing each step?

What do I know or not know? What questions do I need to ask? What strategies are in my mind

now? What am I aware of in terms of my own beliefs, values, and goals with this problem?

What feelings or emotions am I aware of that might be blocking or enhancing my progress?

How does this problem affect others? How can we solve it together? What can I learn from

others that would help me become a better problem solver?

Community organizer Saul Alinsky coined a very useful slogan: "Don't just do something

… stand there!" Taking a reflective stance in the midst of active problem solving is often

difficult. For that reason, each of these Habits of Mind is situational and transitory. There is no

such thing as perfect realization of any of them. They are utopian states toward which we

constantly aspire. Csikszentmihalyi (1993) states, "Although every human brain is able to

generate self-reflective consciousness, not everyone seems to use it equally" (p. 23). Few people,

notes Kegan (1994), ever fully reach the stage of cognitive complexity, and rarely before middle

age.

These Habits of Mind transcend all subject matters commonly taught in school. They are

characteristic of peak performers in all places: homes, schools, athletic fields, organizations, the

military, governments, churches, or corporations. They are what make marriages successful,

learning continual, workplaces productive, and democracies enduring. The goal of education,

therefore, should be to support others and ourselves in liberating, developing, and habituating

these Habits of Mind more fully. Taken together, they are a force directing us toward

increasingly authentic, congruent, and ethical behavior. They are the touchstones of integrity and

the tools of disciplined choice making. They are the primary vehicles in the lifelong journey

toward integration. They are the "right stuff" that make human beings efficacious.

Ames, J. E. (1997). Mastery: Interviews with 30 remarkable people. Portland, OR: Rudra

Press.

Bateson, M. (2004). Willing to learn: Passages of personal discovery. Hanover, NH:

Steerforth Press.

~ 117 ~

Briggs, T. W. (1999, February 25). Passion for what they do keeps alumni on first

team. USA Today, pp. 1A–2A.

Carnegie, J., & Stynes, J. (2006). Finding heroes: Be inspired by the stories of amazing

journeys. East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Chiabetta, E. L. A. (1976). Review of Piagetian studies relevant to science instruction at

the secondary and college levels. Science Education 60, 253–261.

Cole, K. C. (1999, October 13). Nobel prizes go to Caltech chemist, Dutch physicists. Los

Angeles Times, pp. 1, 15.

Costa, A. (1991). The search for intelligent life. In A. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds: A

resource book for teaching thinking (Rev. ed., Vol. 1, pp. 100–106). Alexandria, VA:

ASCD.

Costa, A. (2007). Aesthetics: Where thinking begins. In A. Costa (Ed.), The school as a

home for the mind (Ch. 2). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Covey, S. (1989). The seven habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal

change. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1993). The evolving self: A psychology for the third millennium.

New York: HarperCollins.

de Bono, E. (1991). The CoRT thinking program. In A. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds:

Programs for teaching thinking (Rev. ed., Vol. 2, pp. 27–32). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting

academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, pp. 939–944.

Dyer, J. (1997). Humor as process. In A. Costa & R. Liebmann (Eds.), Envisioning process

as content: Toward a renaissance curriculum (pp. 211–229). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

~ 118 ~

Ennis, R. (1991). Goals for a critical thinking curriculum. In A. Costa (Ed.), Developing

minds: A resource book for teaching thinking (Rev. ed., Vol. 1, pp. 68–71). Alexandria,

VA: ASCD.

Feuerstein, R., Rand, Y., Hoffman, M. B., & Miller, R. (1980). Instrumental enrichment:

An intervention program for cognitive modifiability. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.

Glatthorn, A., & Baron, J. (1991). The good thinker. In A. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds:

A resource book for teaching thinking (Rev. ed., Vol. 1, pp. 63–67). Alexandria, VA:

ASCD.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York:

Bantam Books.

Hubert, C. (2007, August 12). Why we laugh. Sacramento Bee, p. L3.

Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads: The mental complexity of modern life. Cambridge,

MA: Harvard University Press.

Perkins, D. (1991). What creative thinking is. In A. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds: A

resource book for teaching thinking (Rev. ed., Vol. 1, pp. 85–88). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Senge, P. M., Roberts, C., Ross, R. B., Smith, B. J., & Kleiner, A. (1994). The fifth

discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York:

Doubleday/Currency.

Shachtman, T. (1995). The inarticulate society: Eloquence and culture in America. New

York: Simon & Schuster.

Sternberg, R. J. (1984). Beyond I.Q.: A triarchic theory of human intelligence. New York:

Cambridge University Press.

Sternberg, R. J. (2006, February 22). Creativity is a habit. Education Week, pp. 47, 64.

Sternberg, R., & Wagner, R. (1982). "Understanding intelligence: What's in it for

education?" Paper submitted to the National Commission on Excellence in Education.

~ 119 ~

Strugatch, W. (2004, December 5). Entrepreneurs tell their success stories. New York

Times.

Waugh, S. (2005). Chase your dreams. An interactive DVD/video program. Canberra:

Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training, and Team Duet.

Whimbey, A. (1980, April). Students can learn to be better problem solvers. Educational

Leadership, 37(7).

Whimbey, A., Whimbey, L. S., & Shaw, L. (1975). Intelligence can be taught. New York:

Lawrence Erlbaum.

Willis, J. (2007). Research-based strategies to ignite student learning: Insights from a

neurologist and classroom teacher. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Copyright © 2008 by Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Post Reading Quick Write:

~ 120 ~

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

~ 121 ~

~ 122 ~

Unit 2: Motivation and Perseverance

Reading List

Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink “True Grit” Duckworth “Alphabet Soup: My Life as a Reader” by John Almy “The Matthew Effect” from Outliers by Malcom Gladwell “The 10,000-Hour Rule” by Malcom Gladwell The Power of Habit, Ch 4: Keystone Habits

~ 123 ~

Academic Speed Dating

Academic Speed Dating Questions for Teachers (Sample student questions on the next page)

Answer the questions by carefully following the directions below. Partners are encouraged to collaborate.

Odd # questions: A’s verbally answer the question using evidence in the text, and B’s

write down the answer following the specifics of the instructions.

Academic Speed Dating Questions—Drive introduction

~ 124 ~

BB

A

B

A

B

B

B

B

B

A

A

B

AA

A

AA

B

A

B

B

A

A

Students face each other in pairs to answer reading comprehension questions while

practicing summary, paraphrase, quotation, attribution (signal) phrases and in-text citation.

The entire class works on one question at the same time.

Students switch partners after each question.

When the instructor determines that most students are finished, he/she says “switch.”

All students move to the right which causes the concentric circles to move in opposite

directions.

For odd # questions, A’s verbally answer using evidence in the text, and B’s write down the

answer following the specifics of the instructions.

For even # questions, B’s verbally answer using evidence from the text, and A’s write down

the answer following the specifics of the instructions.

Even # questions: B’s verbally answer the question using evidence from the text, and A’s write

down the answer following the specifics of the instructions.

Academic Speed Dating Questions—Drive introductionBe sure to use in-text citation!

For odd # questions, A’s verbally answer using evidence in the text, and B’s write down the answer following the specifics of the instructions.

For even # questions, B’s verbally answer using evidence from the text, and A’s write down the answer following the specifics of the instructions.

________________________________________________________________________1 Explain the “two main drives” that scientist in Harlow’s time thought

“powered behavior” (2-3).

2 In your own words, summarize “the third drive” that Harlow discusses (3).

3 In your own words, summarize the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation. Give specific examples of each.

4 Use your own words to explain the meaning of the first full paragraph on page

4.

5 Why do you think Harlow “dropped the whole idea”?

6 In your own words summarize and explain the outcome of Deci’s experiment

with the soma puzzles (6-8).

7 Explain what Deci found out about human motivation and money.

8 Thinking about the They Say, I Say introduction, what academic

“conversation” is Pink engaging with in his book? Explain in your own words.

9 Use your own words and a template (you may need to change the template a

bit) on page 9 in They Say, I Say to summarize the “conversation” Pink is

engaging with. Pink sums it up on pages 8&9 of Drive.

~ 125 ~

Alphabet Soup: My Life as a Reader

by John Almy

One of the first things I learned in school was that I

was stupid. Really stupid. Talk about lifelong learning! That’s

one lesson that has stayed with me my entire life. Today, from

where I sit in my office writing this paper, I can’t help but

ponder over a school system that is capable of doing so much

good, or so much harm. I felt humiliated in classrooms for ten

years. I was consistently moved from one level to the next,

and in the end I was blamed for not learning how to read. I’m

old now (and when I say old I mean gasoline-was-35 cents-a-

gallon old), but I don’t care how old you are: When you first

go to school, and you can’t learn to read and write like all the other kids do, it has a way of

taking some of the shine off.

When I first started going to school it was fun. Really fun. We crawled around, pushing

toys like those big yellow plastic bulldozers, climbed all over the jungle gyms, “parachuted” out

of swings, rolled in the dirt and wrestled over stray marbles, and (at least if you were a guy)

chased girls around and pulled their hair (which really meant that we liked them but we hadn’t

figured out how to kiss yet). Anyway, school was great, until we got to the alphabet, and that’s

when everything went south for me.

In our third or maybe fourth week of class, the teacher wrote a lower case b on the

chalkboard and then asked us what letter that was. And we were all wiggling and waggling and

waving our arms and finally she said, “Yes, John, what letter is that? And I ever-so-

enthusiastically yelled out, “BEEEEE!” And oh my God, when she flashed those pearly whites at

me and said, “Yes, that is absolutely correct!” I thought I would pee my pants.

I made it all the way through the letters a, b, and c, and then my days of glory as a reader

came to a screeching halt with the letter d. (That must be some kind of a world record, don’tcha

think?) I was on such a hot streak with that b, and loving every second of it, that when the

teacher wrote a neat little d on the board, I didn’t even wait for her question; I just screamed out

“BEEEEE!”

~ 126 ~

Think about this: certain letters, b, d, p, and q for instance, are the very same symbol, but

in our alphabet we turn them in different directions to stand for different letters, like a b turned

around is a d, right? I’d never seen anything like that before; I mean turn a dog around and what

have you got? A cat? No way. So from my point of view, when I was five years old, a b was a b

was a b. I didn’t care what direction you turned it in or how many times you flipped it around,

the damn thing was still a b. In the time it takes to say “a, b, c, d” the alphabet turned into an

indecipherable bowl of alphabet soup, a magical illusion. The magician—our teacher—would

write a letter on the board and all the kids (except me, of course) would yell out “QUUUUU!” or

“PEEEEE!” How in the hell did they all know that this time the b was called a q or a p? I was

flabbergasted. It was pure magic! They might as well have pulled rabbits out of their butts.

From then on, I just started guessing what the next answer might be, but instead of

yelling out “BEEEEE!” I’d whisper, “b?” And most of the time my classmates were yelling out

something else. When teachers say things like, “Now students, I want all of you to take turns

naming the letters of the alphabet as I write them on the board,” and you’re the only one who

can’t do it, weird things begin to happen. In no time at all the words “Public School” turn into

“Public Humiliation.” See how magic works? And that was it. No more pretty smiles. No more

days of educational glory.

I’m not saying that in the ten years I spent in school no one tried to help me read. That

would be pure poppycock. Several teachers gave it a good shot. But they also had twenty-nine

other students to think about, and when I just couldn’t keep up, they had to cut the loser and help

the winners. And make no mistake, I was counted among the losers because of my struggles with

reading. According to the tests I took, I didn’t learn to read past a fourth grade level the whole

time I was in school, including high school, and that was a great source of shame and

unhappiness for me, but I did learn, over time, to love reading.

When I was in the fifth grade, we all had to go to the school library once a week (or more

if we were in trouble). The librarian, Mrs. Wilson, floated around the library in an invisible

bubble like the good witch Glenda in the Wizard of Oz, and, in my case, hit me in the head with

her magic book-reading wand. When she saw that I couldn’t read (and that is a mortal sin to

most librarians), she made me come to the library five days a week to sit down at a table with her

and read aloud.

~ 127 ~

Before we got started on a book, Mrs. Wilson talked to me for awhile and asked me about

the things I liked. Once we got past pizza and cheeseburgers and chocolate malts and movies, we

came up with dogs. I would have done anything to have a dog. I used to chase down all the strays

in the neighborhood and drag ‘em home with me, but my mom, who was a waitress, said because

my dad was an “illusionist” (he disappeared and never came back) that we couldn’t afford to

feed a dog. And that was that. So when Mrs. Wilson heard how I felt about dogs, she glided over

to one of the shelves and brought back a book titled The Wolf King by a man named Joseph

Lippincott.

At first, reading out loud was embarrassing. At least we sat in an area where no one else

could hear me. After the false starts, and the blushing and stumbling and stuttering over letters

and words I didn’t recognize, I was lost in the world of a fearless black wolf, who from the time

he was a pup was the target of men and other animals who wanted to kill him. Through courage

and cunning and a fierce will to live he overcame all obstacles, even my inability to read.

While my friends were out shooting marbles and pulling girls’ hair, I was in the library

(they thought I was in detention) which had, in ways I never could have imagined, magically

transformed into rugged snow-covered forests, alive with danger, and all the while I was running

wild with my beautiful black wolf, praying that nothing bad would happen to him. In other

words, I was hooked.

The Wolf King ended in knuckle-chewing suspense. My beloved wolf had narrowly

escaped what seemed like certain death at the hands of a man I had come to hate, a tracker who

hunted my comrade relentlessly. By then, I would have beaten that man to death with a baseball

bat if I had had the power to do so.

The sequel to The Wolf King was a book titled Wilderness Champion. Mrs. Wilson

ordered the book especially for me. She no longer had to force me to come to the library. The

library was pretty much all I could think about (except chasing girls, which was getting better all

the time). I still hated school and all of my classes, and I rarely read anything in class, nor did I

seem to read much better than before I started going to the library. But, as they say, the seed had

been planted. It would just take another ten years or so to take hold.

The following spring, Mrs. Wilson left the school to become a mother. When we came

back to school after summer break, and I found out that she had gone and wasn’t coming back, I

~ 128 ~

went to the library and stole both The Wolf King and Wilderness Champion. I kept both books

for more than thirty years.

I didn’t read anymore books after Mrs. Wilson left. I went to the library with the rest of

the kids, but there were so many books that I felt overwhelmed, so I quit trying to find something

to read. What I did start to read was comic books: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, and even

Archie. Comic books were cheap, or better yet easy to steal. And once again, reading was fun. I

couldn’t wait to get my hands on the newest edition so I could sit down somewhere--anywhere--

and read for the pure pleasure of it.

I owed Mrs. Wilson big time for teaching me to love to read, but it took me a long time to

read anything boring, like so many school books I had encountered. I tried as hard as I could to

read those books. I would start at the top of the page and the next thing I knew my eyes were at

the bottom, but I had no idea of what I had just “read.”

I was finally put out of school when I turned sixteen. The principal sat behind his big fat

polished desk and smugly told my mom that I was reading and writing at less than a fourth grade

level. She sat there in her waitress uniform, the only clothes she ever wore, even on her one day

off; then she got up, walked over to me, and started slapping me in the face and head (nothing

new for me, but an obvious eye-popper for the principal). As she flailed away she kept

screaming, “I told you you were stupid! I told you you were stupid!” And I couldn’t help but

think she was right. Really right.

I went to work as a busboy, then in a factory, where every hour seemed more like two or

three. Over time I began to read more and more to escape the drudgery. I would find an

adventure book that I liked, and then read everything that that author had written. But when it

came to reading anything like school books, I still couldn’t do it.

In time, a couple of my friends decided to join the Navy, so I volunteered too. But

because I wasn’t a high school graduate, they didn’t want me. I still managed to get into the

Army. I thought the experience might improve my life. It didn’t.

When I got out of the Army, I got a job on the loading docks, a good-paying job. But

several months later, when I got a promotion, the boss did a background check on me and found

out that I had lied on my application. I had put down that I was a high school graduate. I always

lied about that, to everyone. Instead of getting the promotion, I got fired for lying. That was the

most embarrassing moment I had ever known as an adult. Because I couldn’t read well enough, I

~ 129 ~

had no high school diploma. I lied about that because I was ashamed, and that shame had just

cost me my job and my self-respect. That’s when I knew it was time to do something about my

lack of education.

I called the local adult-education program. They held classes at a nearby community

college (which seemed roughly the size of a small city). The following day, I went there to sign

up, but for me school and public humiliation were still branches on the same tree, so I was

scared. Really scared.

After I tested into the lowest classes the college offered, I started attending remedial

English five days a week. My math wasn’t any better than my English, so I started taking basic

math as well. In time, I learned that school wasn’t all about brains. In fact, school had a lot more

to do with self-discipline and perseverance than it did with brain power.

When I had to read something I thought was too difficult, I stopped giving up. I read

small portions at a time and made notes about each one. I got a dictionary and started looking up

words, sometimes the same word over and over again (something I still do until this day).

In the next three years or so, I got my high school diploma. I was twenty-five years old. I

also got an AA degree. I was proud of that. Really proud.

I tried to go to a university, one that made the community college look like a small

village. And even though I was doing well in all of my classes, I soon convinced myself that I

had no business going to a university, that I was too stupid (remember what I said about life-long

learning?). The truth was that I was too much of a coward to stick it out and do the work. I left

college and went back to the kind of jobs that made one hour seem like two: moving man,

asphalt worker, stevedore, and the list goes on.

So what good did learning how to read do me? Plenty! For one thing, I started reading to

my daughter from the day she came home from the hospital. And I taught her to read long before

she ever set foot in a public school. No one was going to mess with her the way they did with

me. In fact, when she was old enough, I unpacked The Wolf King and Wilderness Champion and

night after night, when the dishes and homework were done, out came our books and we would

take turns reading aloud to each other. Those stories meant just as much to me then as they did

when I was a kid because this time my daughter and I made that incredible journey together.

You want to teach your kids to love reading? Read with them.

~ 130 ~

Another way that being able to read helped me was a complete surprise: When I was

thirty-seven years old I lost my job. When the lay offs started, I was working in the mountains as

a line cutter for a survey crew. The entire area fell apart (sort of like the whole country is today).

I had a wife, a newborn daughter, three dogs, and two cats (in case we needed something to

barbeque—I’m kidding!). Most of the guys I worked with could barely read, but I could. So as

soon as I quit freaking out and feeling sorry for myself, I picked my butt up and--determined to

set a good example for my little girl and to change our lives forever--I returned to college.

Don’t just tell your kids education is important, show them. Right?

As a teacher, I do my level best to help others learn to read and write (and that is an

honor, indeed). I still have problems with English, both reading and writing, and I’m a lousy

speller, but I do ok. Nowadays, on my way to work, I often give thanks for being where I am in

life. I am here because of the California community college system. I am here because I can read

well. I am here because of a wonderful, caring librarian by the name of Mrs. Wilson, who took

time out of her busy day to teach an illiterate ragamuffin what it meant to run wild through the

forest with a beautiful black wolf by his side. See how magic works?

~ 131 ~

Unit 3: Planning a Path to SuccessReading List:

~ 132 ~

Writing Resources

~ 133 ~

~ 134 ~

~ 135 ~

~ 136 ~

Outline Template: I. Introduction: _________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

II. First Main Point: _____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

III. Second Main Point: ___________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

IV. Third Main Point: _____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

V. Conclusion __________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

~ 137 ~

of the Interview

~ 138 ~

C o o r d i n a t i o n & S u b o r d i n a t i o n O p t i o n s

Option 1, coordination [Independent clause]

, for

, and

, nor

, but

, or

, yet

, so

[independent clause].

Option 2, coordination [Independent clause] ; [independent clause].

Option 3, coordination [Independent clause]

;consequently,

;furthermore,

;however,

;indeed,

;in fact,

;moreover,

;nevertheless,

;then,

;therefore,

[independent clause].

Option 4, subordination [Independent clause]

afteralthoughas (as if)becauseifsinceunlessuntilwhen (whenever)while

[dependent clause].

Option 5, subordination

AfterAlthoughAs (As if)BecauseIfSinceUnlessUntilWhen (whenever)While

[dependent clause, independent clause].

~ 139 ~

C l a u s e s : I n d e p e n d e n t & D e p e n d e n t clause is a word group containing a subject and verb pair. If a clause can stand alone, it is independent. If a clause cannot stand alone, it is dependent.A

Independent clauses are strongA single independent clause is the same as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains at least one subject + verb pair, expresses a complete thought, and can be ended with a period:

Bob and Marcie love Thai food.They eat there often and bring all their friends.Bowling is fun.Bowling shoes are stinky and sweaty.

A single independent clause may have compound subjects (Bob and Marcie), compound verbs (eat and bring), compound adjectives (stinky and sweaty) or other compound elements. However, when you combine two independent clauses, you create a compound sentence. You may combine independent clauses with a semicolon or with a comma + coordinating conjunction:

Bob and Marcie love Thai food; they eat there often and bring all their friends.Bowling is fun, but bowling shoes are stinky and sweaty.

Coordinating conjunctionsfor and nor butor yet so

You may join more than two independent clauses using one of the two above methods of coordination:

Bowling is fun, but bowling shoes are stinky and sweaty, so we always bring thick socks.

You may NOT try to join independent clauses with a comma. This is an error called a comma splice.

Dependent clauses are weakA dependent clause standing alone is the same as a sentence fragment. A dependent clause does contain at least one subject + verb pair, but it does not complete the thought it has begun. It cannot be ended with a period without creating a fragment.

since we eat Thai food oftenafter we go bowlingbecause she wants organic produce

The words that make the above clauses incomplete are since, after, and because. Without these words, the above examples would be independent clauses—We love Thai food. We go bowling.

~ 140 ~

She wants organic produce. The words that make these clauses dependent are called dependent-making words. They are also called subordinating conjunctions, and the clauses they create subordinate clauses. A few common subordinating conjunctions are listed below:Common subordinating conjunctions after before so that whenalthough even though though wheneveras if if unless whetherbecause since until while

Dependent clauses must be joined to independent clauses that complete the thought. When you join at least one independent and one dependent clause, you create a complex sentence.

Since we eat Thai food often, we would like to try Mexican food tonight.We’ll take you home after we go bowling.Because she wants organic produce, Melissa is growing tomatoes and peppers.

If the dependent clause comes first, treat it like an introductory word group, following it with a comma.

Relative clauses are another type of dependent clause. They function as adjectives, describing a noun or pronoun in the independent clause.

The tomatoes that she grew from seed are old, heirloom varieties.The peppers, which she purchased as small plants, are jalapeños.Mai, who grows strawberries every year, loaned Jas her rototiller.People who love vegetables often grow their own.You need to have a spot where the plants get several hours of sun each day.

One independent clause can support more than one dependent clause:

The tomatoes that she grew from seed are old, heirloom varieties while the cucumbers are modern hybrids.

Compound sentences can be joined with complex sentences to form compound-complex sentences. In this case, all the same punctuation rules apply: the independent clauses are joined with a comma + coordinating conjunction, the introductory/dependent clause is followed by a comma, and the second dependent clause follows the independent clause without a comma. The dependent clauses are underlined:

After we cleared the weeds, Jas tilled the ground, and Pindy marked off the rows so that we could plant on Saturday.

~ 141 ~

W r i t i n g & L a n g u a g e D e v e l o p m e n t C e n t e r

S e n t e n c e - l e v e l T r a n s i t i o n sertain words and phrases signal connections between or within sentences. They make it easier for readers to follow your thought by leading them smoothly from one idea to

another. Some frequently used transitions are included in the following list.CThese words… …show this. For example…andalsobesidesfurther/furthermorein additionmoreovertoofirstnextlast

Adding one idea to another

She likes both sushi and tacos.She also likes Pepsi.She cooks well besides.Further, she draws and paints.In addition, she is a dancer.Moreover, she loves to travel.Traveling is fun but tiring, too.First, you have all the packing.Next, you don’t get much rest.Last, you have all the unpacking.

for examplefor instanceto illustratein factspecifically

Giving examples For example, they like to blog.They like to blog, for instance.To illustrate, all of them blog.They blog every day, in fact.Specifically, they blog late at night.

alsoin the same waysimilarlylikewise

Comparing similar things

Soccer also draws large crowds.In the same way, soccer draws large crowds.Similarly, soccer is very popular.Likewise, soccer is very popular.

butyethoweveron the other handin contrastneverthelessstillunfortunately although

Contrasting unlike things

They love country life, but there are few job there.They love country life, yet there are few jobs there.However, there are few jobs in the country.On the other hand, there are few jobs.In contrast, city jobs are plentiful and higher-paid.Nevertheless, they prefer living in the county.They still prefer living in the country.Unfortunately, there are few jobs.Although jobs are scarce, we still prefer living in the country.

in other words Summarizing or In other words, state drinking laws are

~ 142 ~

http://www.yccd.edu/

in shortin summaryin conclusionto sum upthereforeindeedthat is

concluding unfair.In short, California alcohol laws are unfair.In summary, state alcohol laws should be changed.In conclusion, the state laws should be changed.To sum up, the alcohol laws should be changed.Therefore, the laws must be changed.Indeed, the laws must be changed.The laws must be changed; that is, drinking age should be lowered.

afterbeforenextduringlaterfinallymeanwhilewhenwhileimmediatelythen

Showing time After the game, let’s go to Moxie’s.I turned off the lights before I left.Next time, we should eat Chinese food.He got a new car during the summer.Later in August he quit his job.He finally decided to go back to school.Meanwhile, his wife is working two jobs.She plans to quit one job when he finishes school.He will do an internship while he is still in school.Success won’t come immediately.First you work hard, and then you succeed.

abovebelowcloseto the leftnearbybeyondfarther onopposite

Showing place or direction

Above our heads towered tall pine trees.We pitched our tent below the bluffs.Close to the tent was a faint animal trail.To the left of the tent was a big pile of rocks.We could hear a small steam murmuring nearby.Beyond the stream was a small grassy meadow.Farther on we could see the far range of mountains.Opposite the mountains was a wide, sunny valley.

ifsincebecausesothereforeconsequently

Showing logical connections/cause and effect

If you read the news, you will be better informed.Since you read the news, you understand more.You understand more because of reading the news.

~ 143 ~

thusas a resultfor this reason

You read the news, so you are better informed.Therefore, you will develop better judgment.Consequently, you understand events better.Thus, you understand events better.You understand events better as a result.For this reason, people who vote should read news.

significantlyeven moremore importantmost importantworseworst of all

Showing relative importance

Significantly, adult stem cells show new promise.Even more, they inspire far less controversy.More important, they inspire far less controversy.Most important, they have produced many useful therapies.Worse, the research is not well funded.Worst of all, the research is not well funded.

Transitions act like bridges between one idea and another. The ideas that connect should be right next to each other, so usually we place transition signals at the beginning of the second idea:

First idea Transition/bridge Next ideaHis students are very computer-literate. For example, they blog everyday.The laws are clearly unfair. Therefore, the laws should be changed.Embryonic stem cell research is controversial.

Significantly, adult stem cells show new promise.

Jobs are scarce in the country. Nevertheless, they prefer to live there.

~ 144 ~

~ 145 ~

C i t i n g S o u r c e s w i t h S i g n a l P h r a s e shen you use somebody else’s ideas in your essay or research paper, you need to give that person credit. You must name, or cite, your source whether you borrow the exact words (enclosing them in quotation marks), or

paraphrase (put the ideas into your own words). You must cite any time you use any fact, assertion, or detail that is not common knowledge. This borrowed information is often introduced with a signal phrase or sentence. This lets your reader know that what follows will be someone else’s idea.

W

A signal phrase introduces a direct quote:

In the words of Alan Brooks, “Iran’s refusal to grant access to the international community will only lead to economic sanctions and further skepticism on the part of the West.”

“We don’t have enough evidence yet,” writes researcher David Evans in a New York Times editorial. “Until we get the results of the studies being conducted by the Department of Health, there’s no telling what the long-term side-effects of Substance D might be” (“The New Pollution”).

It is a good idea to establish the credentials or qualifications of your sources when you first cite them (researcher David Evans, activist Jessica Cantrell, psychologist David Jones). Pointing out that the person you’re quoting has expertise or personal experience makes them believable.

A signal phrase may also introduce a paraphrase:

Despite evidence to the contrary, activist Jessica Cantrell (1993) has suggested that the monthly cost of the Iraq War exceeds what the state of Washington spends annually on education.

As Petra Johansson has noted, sharks are less likely to attack when water temperatures reach 70 degrees (“Danger Zone” 172).

You can also combine a partial direct quote with a paraphrase using a signal phrase:

According to psychologist David Jones, children with mild cases of ADD are “more commonly over-diagnosed than under-diagnosed” if there is a history of the condition in the family (45).

In “A Manifesto for the Comedown” (1969), Bales indicates that “the radicalism of the youth culture” has run its course and can only be reinvigorated through a new set of “clearly defined” principles (12).

How you give credit to your sources depends on the citation guidelines (for example, MLA or APA) your teacher wants you to follow.

The following verbs indicate authorship and signal a direct quote or paraphrase:

Admits Claims Declares Notes Refutes ThinksAgrees Compares Denies Observes Rejects WritesArgues Confirms Emphasizes Points out RespondsBelieves Contends Insists Reasons Suggests

~ 146 ~


A p o s t r o p h e spostrophes are a stumbling block for many people. Even in professional signs and ads, apostrophes are frequently misused. There are three correct uses for the apostrophe and a

few incorrect ones you must avoid.A1. Do use an apostrophe to indicate contractions (omitted letters):

we’ve (for we have) can’t (for cannot) won’t (for will not)they’re (for they are) you’re (for you are) it’s (for it is)

Don’t confuse the contractions they’re, you’re, and it’s with the possessives their, your, and its.

2. Do use an apostrophe to indicate possessives (ownership):

▪ Singular or plural nouns not ending in –s take an apostrophe and –s.

a child’s drawingthe children’s booksthe women’s luncheon

▪ Singular nouns ending in the sounds (s) or (z) or (sh) take an apostrophe and –s.

Alice’s restaurant Marx’s writingsMr. Davis’s house the fish’s habitat

▪ However, the following exceptions to the above rule prevent awkward pronunciation:

Jesus’ teachings Socrates’ wisdomOdysseus’ wanderings Moses’ laws

▪ Plural nouns ending in the sounds (s) or (z) take only an apostrophe.

four years’ delayladies’ shoesmy parents’ anniversary

▪ For joint ownership of one item, only the last noun takes the possessive form.

Joe, Tom, and Liz’s computer

▪ For multiple separate ownership, each noun takes the possessive form.

the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms

~ 147 ~

3. Do use an apostrophe to make plurals of single letters (to prevent confusion):

▪ Last semester he earned all A’s, and she earned C’s and D’s (not As, Cs, and Ds).▪ Dot your i’s and cross your t’s (not is and ts).

Avoid the following common apostrophe errors:

1. Do not use an apostrophe with possessive personal pronouns ending in –s:

hers his ourstheirs yours its

Don’t confuse the possessives their, your, and its with the contractions they’re, you’re, and it’s.

2. Do not use an apostrophe with singular nouns which are not possessive and end in the sound (s):

▪ The Bates family lives on Oasis Lane.▪ The house paint is sold on aisle ten.

3. Do not use an apostrophe to form plurals:

▪ one shoe, two shoes▪ one puppy, two puppies▪ one leaf, two leaves

4. Do not use an apostrophe in plural numbers and abbreviations:

▪ She was dealt a king, two 8s, and two 3s.▪ My grandfather was born in the 1800s.▪ The Nobel laureate held two PhDs.

Once you’ve learned these simple rules for forming contractions, possessives, and plurals, you’ll be able to use apostrophes correctly. Remember that the spell-check feature on your computer will not always catch and correct an apostrophe error, so pay particular attention to them when you’re proofreading your papers. Avoid the embarrassment of referring to all the toy’s on sale or the dog chased it’s ball. Correct apostrophe use will help indicate your excellent command of English writing skills.

Contributed by Karen Trefzger ▪ 3/18/2009

~ 148 ~


R u n O n S e n t e n c e sRun on sentences are independent clauses that have not been either separated or joined using correct punctuation. You may always use periods to separate independent clauses. You may use a semicolon or a comma with a coordinating conjunction to join independent clauses. However, you may not use a comma alone to join independent clauses. Joining independent clauses is called coordination. Coordination creates compound sentences where the clauses are considered of equal importance. Another way to correct a run on is called subordination. Subordination creates complex sentences with an independent clause that is considered more important than the subordinate (also called dependent) clause.

This is a run on… …because…. This is correctly joined with coordination.

This is correctly joined with subordination.

This is correctly separated.

Vang was tired he decided to stay home.

It joins two independent clauses without any punctuation.

Vang was tired, so he decided to stay home.

orVang was tired; he decided to stay home.

Because Vang was tired, he decided to stay home.

orVang decided to stay home because he was tired.

Vang was tired. He decided to stay home.

Nuclear waste is hazardous, this is indisputable.

It joins two independent clauses with the wrong punctuation.

Nuclear waste is hazardous; this is indisputable.

orNuclear waste is hazardous, and this is indisputable.

(These clauses are intended to have equal importance, so subordination would not make sense.)

Nuclear waste is hazardous. Indeed, this is indisputable.

John added biology to his schedule, he was worried about the homework.

It joins two independent clauses with the wrong punctuation

John added biology to his schedule, but he was worried about the homework.

orJohn added biology to his schedule; he was worried about the homework.

John added biology to his schedule although he was worried about the homework.

orAlthough John was worried about the homework, he added biology to his schedule.

John added biology to his schedule. However, he was worried about the homework.

Shoua hopes to move to Napa, her family lives there.

It joins two independent clauses with the wrong punctuation.

Shoua hopes to move to Napa, for her family lives there.

orShoua hopes to move to Napa; her family lives there.

Shoua hopes to move to Napa, where her family lives.

orShoua hopes to move to Napa since her family lives there.

Shoua hopes to move to Napa. Her family lives there.

~ 149 ~

Appendix

~ 150 ~





~ 151 ~





~ 152 ~





~ 153 ~





~ 154 ~





~ 155 ~





~ 156 ~





~ 157 ~





~ 158 ~





~ 159 ~





~ 160 ~





~ 161 ~





~ 162 ~





~ 163 ~





~ 164 ~





~ 165 ~





~ 166 ~





~ 167 ~





~ 168 ~





~ 169 ~

~ 170 ~





~ 171 ~

~ 172 ~





~ 173 ~

~ 174 ~





~ 175 ~

~ 176 ~





~ 177 ~

~ 178 ~





~ 179 ~

~ 180 ~





~ 181 ~

~ 182 ~





~ 183 ~

~ 184 ~





~ 185 ~

~ 186 ~





~ 187 ~

~ 188 ~





~ 189 ~

~ 190 ~





~ 191 ~

~ 192 ~