Habits of Mind
Courses that employ Pre AP strategies encourage all students willing to accept
challenge. Often, schools will create a guideline of characteristics of Pre AP students. Pre
AP is more about habits of mind than personality traits. All students develop at different
rates and in junior high the habits to be successful have not fully been established. These
habits of mind are not necessarily inherent but are developed through continued practice
and longevity.
Because problem-solving is central to the AP course, students will often confront
situations where answers are not immediate or found in a textbook. The Pre AP program
will be a successful match between the student and the course when the habits of mind
needed to address such problems are developed. Willingness to employ these behaviors
over time and question the answers is important in classes utilizing Pre AP skills and
strategies.
The Habits of mind of effective thinkers:
• Persisting
• Managing impulsivity
 Think before they act
• Listening to others
• Thinking flexibly
 Can tolerate ambiguity
• Thinking about our thinking
• Striving for accuracy and precision
 Willing to work and re-work
• Questioning and posing problems
 Look for discrepancies and are interested in the causes
• Applying past knowledge to new situations
• Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
 Willing to support with evidence and explanations
• Gathering data through all senses
 Willing to listen and participate, illustrate and role play
• Creating, imagining, and innovating
 Open to critique
 Willing to take risks
• Responding with wonderment and awe
 An "I CAN" attitude, along with "I ENJOY"
• Taking responsible risks
• Finding humor
• Thinking interdependently
 Willing to think and solve problems while working with others
• Learning continuously