Tools of the Mind
Goal: Use teaching and classroom strategies to develop children's self-regulation/executive function skills to promote effective function skills to promote effective learning and achievement.
Questions for Reflection:
1. In what way(s) is the room 140 at the Red Bank Primary School in New Jersey alike or different from most pre-schools?
2. What are your initial thoughts regarding this approach that focuses on helping children to control their impulses, staying focused on the task at hand, avoiding distractions and mental traps, managing their emotions, and organizing their thoughts (non-cognitive skills) as opposed to developing pre-academic (cognitive) skills?
3. Do you know your IQ? (If not, this link takes you to a quiz with 30 well-chosen questions designed to test your IQ.) What are your thoughts on the "Cognitive Hypothesis?" Do you agree or disagree with this quote: "The one quality that matters most in a child's success is his or her IQ." What are your thoughts on Tough's research on IQ as he has worked with scientists and educators over the years: "Educators and scientists have identified a very different set of skills that they say matter at least as much as IQ and arguably more so. These are the skills developing grit, self-control, zest, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and curiosity."
4. When the Carnegie Corporation published its report Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children (1994), a key focus of the study indicated that "children were no longer receiving enough cognitive stimulation in their first three years of life, in part because of the increasing number of single-parent families and working mothers--and so they were arriving in kindergarten unready to learn." In what ways did reports like this, lead to a misguided way of thinking about learning that has caused us to "focus on the wrong skills and abilities in our kids and use the wrong strategies to help nurture and teach these skills?"
2. What are your initial thoughts regarding this approach that focuses on helping children to control their impulses, staying focused on the task at hand, avoiding distractions and mental traps, managing their emotions, and organizing their thoughts (non-cognitive skills) as opposed to developing pre-academic (cognitive) skills?
3. Do you know your IQ? (If not, this link takes you to a quiz with 30 well-chosen questions designed to test your IQ.) What are your thoughts on the "Cognitive Hypothesis?" Do you agree or disagree with this quote: "The one quality that matters most in a child's success is his or her IQ." What are your thoughts on Tough's research on IQ as he has worked with scientists and educators over the years: "Educators and scientists have identified a very different set of skills that they say matter at least as much as IQ and arguably more so. These are the skills developing grit, self-control, zest, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and curiosity."
4. When the Carnegie Corporation published its report Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children (1994), a key focus of the study indicated that "children were no longer receiving enough cognitive stimulation in their first three years of life, in part because of the increasing number of single-parent families and working mothers--and so they were arriving in kindergarten unready to learn." In what ways did reports like this, lead to a misguided way of thinking about learning that has caused us to "focus on the wrong skills and abilities in our kids and use the wrong strategies to help nurture and teach these skills?"