Dr. Jeanne L. Paynter

Our minds tell us “Persistence Stories.”  We tell ourselves, “I’m persistent. I can focus my energy on a task and keep working when it’s difficult.”  Or, perhaps our minds tell us, “I’m not persistent. I’m scattered, hesitant, uncommitted.” Where do these stories come from? Ou...

Dr. Jeanne L. Paynter

As we saw in Tip 1, metacognition is “above and beyond” thinking. We use metacognition when we ponder: “What is the best way to solve this problem? Am I being successful with this strategy, or do I need to make modifications? What goals motivate and engage me? What are my stre...

Dr. Jeanne L. Paynter

“Stop, look, and listen before you cross the street.” This is an early example of how we teach children metacognition: literally, thinking about (our) thinking. Metacognition is that “above and beyond” analytical thinking we use to set goals, plan, select appropriate problem-s...

Dr. Jeanne L. Paynter

Recently I talked with an art teacher who lamented a student’s lack of persistence. She developed a unit on wire sculpture based on the work of a local street artist, REED bMore. He creates and hangs wire sculptures of pop characters above traffic lights “just to make people s...

Q: What capacity doesn’t diminish over our lifetime?

A: Our capacity for curiosity!

Children are naturally curious, aren’t they? Their motivation is to explore, question, and imagine. As parents and educators, we always want to nurture curiosity at every age and stage. Curiosity fuels the joy of l...