Fires in the Mind: What Kids Can Tell Us About Motivation and Mastery

1. What Does It Take to Get Good?
Young people are developing mastery in ways we easily overlook1

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

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

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

5. Exploring Deliberate Practice
Young people look closer at what makes practice effective71

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

7. Bringing Practice into the Classroom
Students imagine the classroom as a community of practice97

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

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

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

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

Appendix B: Resources That Help Light Fires in the Mind
Inspiration, tools, organizations, and other resources165

The Student Contributors 173

Acknowledgments 177

About the Author 181

About What Kids Can Do 182

Index 183