How To Challenge Your Thinking by Using Habits of Mind

Creating, imagining, and innovating are skills that push the boundaries of thinking. How can we foster an environment to further develop these skills?

• Encourage Taking Risks - helping students discern between learning opportunities vs. failures can be a key element in developing their imagination and innovation skills.

• Applaud the Unusual - highlight ways in which out-of-the-box thinking can help find new pathways to solve a problem.

• Prioritize Lightheartedness - utilize humor as a tool to detach creativity from productivity and encourage higher level thinking processes.

We recommend using the WonderGrove “Creating, Imagining, and Innovating” instructional animation to help students visualize scenarios through which they can exercise these skills.

Anu Watts, M.A. Teaching

Wonder Media Project Coordinator