.:. Habits of Minds 10 .:.

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The most beautiful experience in the world is the experience of the mysterious.
- Albert Einstein.

Describing the 200 best and brightest of the All USA College Academic Team identified by USA Today, Tracey Wong Briggs (1999) states, “They are creative thinkers who have a passion for what they do.” Efficacious people have not only an "I CAN" attitude, but also an "I ENJOY" feeling. They seek problems to solve for themselves and to submit to others. They delight in making up problems to solve on their own and request enigmas from others. They enjoy figuring things out by themselves, and continue to learn throughout their lifetimes.

Some children and adults avoid problems and are "turned off" to learning. They make such comments as, "I was never good at these brain teasers," or "Go ask your father; he's the brain in this family. Its boring." "When am I ever going to use this stuff?" "Who cares?" "Lighten up, teacher, thinking is hard work,” or "I don't do thinking!" Many people never enrolled in another math class or other "hard" academic subjects after they did not have to in high school or college. Many people perceive thinking as hard work and therefore recoil from situations, which demand "too much" of it.

We want our students, however to be curious; to commune with the world around them; to reflect on the changing formations of a cloud; feel charmed by the opening of a bud; sense the logical simplicity of mathematical order. Students can find beauty in a sunset, intrigue in the geometric of a spider web, and exhilaration at the iridescence of a hummingbird's wings. They see the congruity and intricacies in the derivation of a mathematical formula, recognize the orderliness and adroitness of a chemical change, and commune with the serenity of a distant constellation. We want them feel compelled, enthusiastic and passionate about learning, inquiring and mastering. -Arthur L. Costa, Ed. D.

Learning Activities:
* Do not let what others think of you prevent you having a sense of wonder for things and events around you.
* Share your sense of wonderment with others.