Clear thinking leads students to the top of the form
Simply not giving up is not enough. You must persist in looking for new ways to reach your goal when you are stuck.
The bell rings, and while my final-year International Baccalaureate students gather their belongings, I count the lab reports they have submitted.
As I identify students who have not handed in their write-ups, I see Oliver Topping approaching my desk. Oliver has consistently met deadlines, and has always been the first to submit his assignments. I decide he is coming to request an extension on behalf of the students who have not met the deadline, and explain the difficulties they have encountered.
Oliver has listened to his classmates with empathy, and has acted as their champion during the six years I have taught him. He is an extremely intelligent young man - he completed his IGCSEs with 11 A*s. But it is the intelligent behaviour that he, and students like him, demonstrate that is the foundation of his academic and social success.
Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick call these forms of behaviour "habits of mind". The four books they wrote about discovering, engaging, assessing and sustaining 16 essential characteristics for success are used by parents and educators. The authors say the habits themselves aren't new, but there may be a new context for them in the classroom.
Simply not giving up is not enough. You must persist in looking for new ways to reach your goal when you are stuck. It's necessary to remain calm and thoughtful to manage impulsivity, and you should avoid over-generalisations and distortions, so that you can think and communicate with clarity, writes Costa.
He advises students and adults to pay attention to the world by "gathering data through all senses", and maintaining the ability to respond with wonderment and awe.