Congratulations! You’ve created your first Habits of Mind Learner Profile… but this isn’t it! Your profile is on its way via email.

While we crunch the numbers and create your unique Learner Profile, there’s a few things you’re going to need to know to know, so you can interpret and use your profile. Take a moment to become familiar with the Zones of Learning.

Zones of Learning

I love this quote by Morgan Freeman: “Challenge yourself. It’s the only path that leads to growth.” It’s so true.  Without challenge, there can be no growth. But what do we really mean when we say something is challenging?

To help us understand challenge, I describe 4 Zones of Learning. These zones are represented on your Habits of Mind Learner Profile.

Comfort Zone

Your comfort zone is the level of challenge that is well within your current abilities. They are things you can do easily.  When we are in our comfort zone, we aren’t really being challenged at all.

We often hear people say “get outside your comfort zone, try something new”. The problem with this statement is that there are many things that are new, but still well within our current abilities. These are challenges I refer to as “easy things you haven’t done yet”. The world is full of “easy things you haven’t done yet”.

You can (easily) succeed at challenges that are in your comfort zone. They feel like tasks that simply need to be ticked off. These challenges don’t change you.

On your Habits of Mind Learner Profile, this zone is represented in shades of orange.

Performance Zone

Your performance zone is the level of challenge that matches your current abilities. It’s your current best. Although you need to concentrate, you still have high levels confidence that you’ll succeed.

The problem with being in your Performance Zone is you don’t get better by doing your best. You call upon your existing level of development of your Habits of Mind – you can use what you’ve already got. You don’t need to change to do your best.

On your Habits of Mind Learner Profile, this zone is represented by shades of blue.

Learning Zone

Your Learning Zone is that level of challenge that lies just beyond our current abilities. That bit of stretch that demands slightly more of you. It’s where you start to struggle. It’s where you find uncertainty. It’s where you make stretch mistakes – the kind of mistakes you can learn from.

It’s in your Learning Zone that growth can occur. It’s where you need to focus not just on what you are learning, but also on how you are learning. It’s here that you need to develop your Habits of Mind so you can succeed at a truely challenging task.

On your Habits of Mind Learner Profile this zone is represented by shades of green.

Aspirational Zone

Your Aspirational Zone is level of challenge that is too far beyond your current abilities. It’s where the stretch, becomes a strain. It’s the step too far that creates confusion, excessive struggle and almost certain failure. It’s a level of challenge that can be achieved, but not yet. To reach this level of challenge, you must first

On your Habits of Mind Learner Profile this zone is represented by shades of red.

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