Fires in the Mind

Teens talk to adults about how they develop motivation and mastery

Through the voices of students themselves, Fires in the Mind brings a game-changing question to teachers of adolescents: What does it take to get really good at something? Starting with what they already know and do well, teenagers from widely diverse backgrounds join a cutting-edge dialogue with adults about the development of mastery in and out of school. Their insights frame motivation, practice, and academic challenge in a new light that galvanizes more powerful learning for all. To put these students' ideas into practice, the book also includes practical tips for educators.

• Breaks new ground by bringing youth voices to a timely topic-motivation and mastery
• Includes worksheets, tips, and discussion guides that help put the book's ideas into practice
• Author has 18 previous books on adolescent learning and has written for the New York Times Magazine, Educational Leadership, and American Educator

From the acclaimed author of Fires in the Bathroom, this is the next-step book that pushes the conversation to next level, as teenagers tackle the pressing challenges of motivation and mastery.

Foreword by Dennis White ix

1. What Does It Take to Get Good? 1
Young people are developing mastery in ways we easily overlook

2. Catching the Spark 11
Kids tell what draws them in and gives them confidence in learning

3. Keeping at It 31
When do young people stick with something and make it their own?

4. Asking the Experts 55
Looking at how experts work, students make sense of their own process

5. Exploring Deliberate Practice 71
Young people look closer at what makes practice effective

6. Practice and Performance 87
Demonstrating mastery also helps students improve

7. Bringing Practice into the Classroom 97
Students imagine the classroom as a community of practice

8. Is Homework Deliberate Practice? 117
Whether, when, and how to give kids practice after class

9. School Projects That Build Expert Habits 135
Students talk about their most compelling curricula

10. Making School a Community of Practice 153
Kids suggest ways that schools can foster expert habits

Appendix A: The Practice Project: A Five-Day Curriculum Outline for Secondary Teachers or Advisers 159
How to help students investigate the expert process

Appendix B: Resources That Help Light Fires in the Mind 165
Inspiration, tools, organizations, and other resources

The Student Contributors 173

Acknowledgments 177

About the Author 181

About What Kids Can Do 182

Index 183

Kathleen Cushman writes, speaks, and consults to a national audience of educators. A journalist and documentarian, she cofounded the nonprofit What Kids Can Do, which collaborates with diverse youth in the United States and abroad, bringing their voices to bear on the complex challenges that affect their lives and learning. She is also author of Fires in the Bathroom and coauthor, with Laura Rogers, of Fires in the Middle School Bathroom.

Praise for Fires in the Mind

"What a refreshing book! Rather than asking the timeworn question 'How can we motivate these kids?' Kathleen Cushman performs a lovely act of conceptual jujutsu and instead asks 'What can the kids tell us about motivation?' The answers are smart and thoughtful and brimming with good advice." —Mike Rose, author, Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us

"The best school reform creates schools that kids want to go to, where learning is meaningful and engaging. This wonderful book builds on the concept that education should be 'asset based,' not based on telling kids what they don't know and can't do. Read Fires in the Mind and connect to the voices of students about how they learn most eagerly." —Paul Houston, executive director emeritus, American Association of School Administrators

"'Become passionate' is easy to say, hard to do, impossible to compel. Drawing on the insights of young persons, parents, teachers, and experts, Kathleen Cushman reveals the paths to passionate pursuit of something worthwhile." —Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education; author, Five Minds for the Future, Multiple Intelligences, and The Unschooled Mind

"An immensely useful, insightful, and indispensable guide to tapping the immense potential in every child. Essential reading for teachers, coaches, and parents alike." —Daniel Coyle, author, The Talent Code

"Every educator would like for students to develop a passion, but many are unsure of how to light that fire. Kathleen Cushman had the wisdom to ask students, and they tell us with clarity what motivates them and how school might be made more inspiring. Anyone who cares about schooling or children should read this book." —Daniel T. Willingham, author, Why Don't Students Like School?