2. “Simple, clear purpose and principles give
rise to complex and intelligent behavior.
Complex rules and regulations give rise to
simple and stupid behavior.”
Dee Hock, Teacher
Definition of Characteristics of Intelligent Behavior taken from Ebook,
Secondary School Teaching 4E, Chapter 3
3. Finding Humor
• “Humor liberates creativity and provides
high-level thinking skills such as
anticipation, finding novel relationships,
and visual imagery”
• “The acquisition of a sense of humor
follows a developmental sequence
similar to that described by Piaget (1972)
and Kohlberg (1981)”
• “Initially, young children and immature
adolescents (and some immature adults)
may find humor in all the wrong things—
human frailty, ethnic humor, sacrilegious
riddles, and ribald profanities”
• “Later, creative young people thrive on
finding incongruity and demonstrate a
whimsical frame of mind during problem
solving”
4. Finding Humor
• Example of characteristic
– During a period on politics, show a montage of funny
political bloopers—show the candidates are human!
• How to support this characteristic in your
classroom
– Ask students to bring in humorous stories about the
subject you are teaching
– Have students write limericks or puns as part of their
assignments and have them read them to the class
– Use exaggerated facial expressions and vocal
inflections to draw students into your lesson
5. Creating, Imaging and Innovating
• “All students must be encouraged
to do and discouraged from
saying “I can’t”
• “Students must be taught in such
a way as to encourage intrinsic
motivation rather than reliance
on extrinsic sources”
• “Teachers must be able to offer
criticism in a way that the student
understands the criticism is not a
criticism of self”
• “In exemplary educational
programs, students learn the
value of feedback. They also
learn the value of their own
intuition, of guessing—they learn
“I can”
6. Creating, Imaging and Innovating
• Example of characteristic
– Students come up with a new or novel way to
remember a list of Spanish verbs
• How to support this characteristic in your
classroom
– Have students brainstorm, point out there are no bad
ideas
– Lavish with praise, use mistakes as teaching tools
– Give open ended questions that force the students to
create and imagine (opposite of rote memorization)
7. Listening with Understanding and
Empathy
• “Some psychologists believe that the
ability to listen to others, to empathize
with and to understand their point of
view, is one of the highest forms of
intelligent behavior”
• “Empathic behavior, nearly the exact
opposite of egoism, is an important skill
for conflict resolution”
• “In class meetings, brainstorming
sessions, people from various walks of
life convene to share their thinking,
explore their ideas, and broaden their
perspectives by listening to the ideas
and reactions of others”
8. Listening with Understanding and
Empathy
• Example of characteristic
– Student are paired off and tell each other about their
family and where they grew up. Each student gives a
“history” lesson on the student the interviewed
• How to support this characteristic in your
classroom
– Assign written reports where students can put
themselves in others’ shoes i.e. report on slavery,
Gulag survivors, etc.
– Play the old “telephone” game. Show students how
often we don’t really listen
9. Persisting
• “Persistence is staying with a task until it is completed”
• “People with an internal locus of control tend to show
persistence”
10. Persisting
• Example of characteristic
– Student is given a touch problem and by persistence
realizes he or she can solve the problem
• How to support this characteristic in your
classroom
– Assign readings on famous people that achieved
great things through persistence
– Let students handle tough task. Don’t be to quick to
step in and “rescue” the student
– Prominently display a class motto i.e. “We can do it”
11. Remaining Open to Continuous
Learning
• “Intelligent people are in a continuous
learning mode, always eager to learn and
find new ways”
12. Remaining Open to Continuous
Learning
• Example of characteristic
– Student realizes that you as a teacher still
continue to study and learn
• How to support this characteristic in your
classroom
– Help student realize that knowledge is doubling at
greater and greater speeds
– Show new technology that wasn’t around when
they were in 1st grade—help them to imagine what
will be available in the next 10 year
13. Responding With Wonderment and
Awe
• “Young children express wonderment,
an expression that should never be
stifled”
• “Through effective teaching, students
can recapture that sense of
wonderment as an effective teacher
guides them into a sense of “I can” and
an expression of the feeling of “I
enjoy”
14. Responding With Wonderment and
Awe
• Example of characteristic
– In astronomy class students are amazed by the size of the
universe and how small we are in the grand scheme of
things
• How to support this characteristic in your classroom
– Help students use all their senses when teaching a subject
i.e. history lesson salt, feel it, taste it, look at the different
types of salt formation, smell it, understand it properties
– Read an emotional story on the subject you are teaching,
get the students to tell you how it made them feel, place
themselves in the story and tell what they would have
done if they had been there, etc.
15. Striving for Accuracy
• Growth in this behavior is demonstrated
when students take time to check their
work, review the procedures, and hesitate
to draw conclusions with only limited data.
16. Striving for Accuracy
• Example of characteristic
– Student completes a large math assignment without a
single error
• How to support this characteristic in your
classroom
– Teach the importance of accuracy with examples that
interest the students i.e. “a golf club swung one
degree off of center, will drive the ball 8 feet off of
target on a 200 yard drive.”
– Help students realize that there are consequences for
errors i.e. points off on a test but that they should use
mistakes as learning tools
