Just like some people were skilled in spelling and others were definitely not, I
found that some students were skilled in problem solving and needed little coaching
from me while others were putting effort into the process and still struggling to
understand the problem or solution. This idea interested me and I wondered if, in time,
the skills would develop given more and more opportunities to solve Habits of Mind
problems and view peer work in small groups. I also knew that reading ability was
directly related to success in problem solving. Consistent with previous research,
reading skill was a unique predictor of children’s mathematical word problem
performance even when arithmetical calculation was included (Andersson, 2006,
p.1212). I could research students’ reading history and utilize this data when gaining
understanding to why some students were skilled and some students struggled mightily
with Habits of Mind problems