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Check out the YouTube video below to find out more information about Habits of Mind! This amazing TEDTalks video was posted by educator, theatre artist, and activist, Erin Michelle Threlfall, who explains the importance of teaching children the habits of happiness.

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Happiness 101- Teaching our children the habits of happiness: Erin Michelle Threlfall at TEDxUbud

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Erin is a theatre artist, activist and educator whose passion is making the world a better place via theater, the arts, her infectious exuberance and the classroom. Originally from the US, she's taught at schools in Ghana, South Korea, Togo, and Bali.

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In chapter nine, the writer explicitly describes how important it is for educators to help students develop habits of mind in order to respond effectively in social situations and stretch their critical thinking abilities. Likewise, when students develop habits of mind they may overcome social issues and even resolve childhood traumas.
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According to Arts Costa Centre for Thinking, habits of mind refers to knowing how to behave intelligently when confronted with problems and the answers to which are not immediately known.

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The main point of chapter nine is to inspire teachers to use the arts, specifically drama and music, to develop habits of mind in their students so that they can create and participate in a positive learning environment. Additionally, when teachers begin using “out-of-the-box” thinking to create engaging lessons and activities that promote interactive learning, students will eventually become more attentive in class; open-up more about their feelings and experiences; and participate during classroom discussions.

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There are many important take away points that teachers can learn from in chapter nine.
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Firstly, teachers will learn that they can use artistic dialogue with their students when dealing with critical social issues so that students may begin the process of social healing through drama.
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Second, teachers will learn how to incorporate character-based literacy through arts integrated lessons that will be extremely beneficial to students’ development. In fact, the use of character-based literacy in the classroom can produce impacting and lasting results that may be life changing for some of the students, particularly those who have a harder time expressing themselves in social situations.
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Finally, chapter nine is organized into four principles that teachers can learn from and use in their classrooms:
(1) playful interventions;
(2) interpreting metaphors;
(3) excluding exclusivity; and
(4) challenging a climate of complacency in students’ attitudes in learning and development.

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One of the most interesting ways to incorporate art integrated lessons into the classroom that Evan Hastings, the teacher in this chapter makes is by using role playing/acting to teach students about themselves, as well as others.
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One experience presented in the text is when Hastings described how he dealt with bullying in his Oakland middle school class for students with learning disabilities. He decided to have students role-play the different characters in a bullying situation to allow bullies, bullied children, and even bystanders examine what bullying looks like, how it affects those involved, and to imagine their role in preventing it from happening. This experience created an opportunity for students’ understanding about bullying, how to appropriately respond to a similar situation, and why it is important for not only the parties involved but for anyone who sees it going on to stop/prevent bullying from happening in their school.

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One thing I am still wondering about is if Evan Hastings ever had a student that no matter what angle he tried to reach them from to get a breakthrough with, ultimately, nothing worked and the student’s “behavioral problems” never subsided. I am curious because with every experience he shared, the students eventually stopped acting out and/or changed in a positive way. Likewise, if Hastings ever did have a student that didn’t change or respond positively to his teaching methods, I would like to know how he personally felt about the situation, how he dealt with it, and how he overcame it with the rest of his class.

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One great resource for teachers is through the Dramatic Education, Inc., located in Orlando, Florida. This educational arts company specializes in cognitive, physical, and social development for all school-aged children. They offer various enrichment programs and most importantly, teacher workshops for integrating arts education in the classroom.
Click on the link below to see a list of teacher workshops that are currently available on Dramatic Education's website.

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Let us transform your Professional Development Teacher workshops with a Hands-on Approach. Dramatic Education employs Arts integration to teach students the fundamentals of Reading and Writing skills through specific theatrical art forms. Using theatre as the vehicle, Dramatic Education improves student understanding of difficult reading concepts and

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Click the link below to find 286 free role playing games, created by BusyTeacher, to incorporate drama-based learning into your classroom. The site is user-friendly and easy to use! It includes an age-group filter; a sort by filter; and even tips/articles about activities!

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Role playing games and lesson idea - Fun for the whole class! We've got tons of them for you to choose from - and everything is free. Click here to start!