The Six Thinking Hats

Today I went to the Indiana Association for the Gifted Conference. While all the sessions were interesting, my favorite was the one entitled "Six Hats". Basically, these are six different ways that people think. Usually, you have a favorite "hat" that you wear (i.e. a certain way that you are inclined to think), but it is important to try on the other hats once in a while. The point is that you teach students to use each hat in class, so they can learn to see things from different perspectives and understand books and issues at a deeper level. Here are the hats and their meanings: Yellow Hat: This is the optimist. They think about things as half full, and even when things go wrong, they think about the positive outcomes of the situation. Red Hat: This is the emotional thinker. They consider how others feel, and are able to empathize. They also have more emotional reactions to situations. Green Hat: This is the person who is always thinking of ways to improve situations or create better ways to do things. Black Hat: This is the logical thinker. They usually find fault with rules or situations, and can find loopholes in rules. White Hat: This person is a rational thinker. They want the facts to help them determine their next move. Blue Hat: This is the boss. This thinker likes to manage projects and can make plans and carry them out. As I was listening to this, I realized that I had used every single hat today! This morning, my car wouldn't start. Immediately, I put on my BLUE hat. The plan was to call my parents to see if someone could pick me up and take me to work. After this was worked out, I started thinking that the two teachers who I was to go to the conference with would be late to the conference as well. (enter RED hat). I started feeling so bad, that between the car not starting, the non-functioning car alarm now going off with no way of turning it off, and the idea of making my coworkers late to the conference, I started crying. Out of frustration, I slammed my hands down on the hood of the car, which ended up being a good thing, because the alarm turned off. Now, I had about 20 minutes to waste while I waited for my dad. What better way to use my time, than to grade some papers??? I grabbed my grading pens, papers, and my GREEN hat, and went to town! My dad arrived, and I threw my things and myself into his car, as I called the other teachers to let them know about this scenario. Now that I was on my way to work, I was OK, right??? WRONG! We had just hit some good old morning rush hour traffic. This did not help the mood. With my BLACK hat on, I ranted to my dad about why the way we had chosen to go was the worst way possible, and how the other way would have been better, since it had less lights. I then explained how if Kevin's job didn't involve travel, and he could just be at home, I never would have been late. Clearly, this was his fault. A minute later, with my rational side kicking in, I donned my WHITE hat. I realized how ridiculous that sounded, and immediately took it back. The fact was, my car not starting was in no way Kevin's fault. It didn't start because it didn't start. Cold, hard, fact. After a moment of silence, I looked at my dad with my YELLOW hat gleaming and said, "You know, at least my car didn't start in my own garage. I know that it's safe there. It could have happened last night in the Target parking lot, where it was dark and cold. I'm really lucky it happened this morning!" Now, me NOT being the optimist, was clearly not comfortable with this line of thinking. Also, it had started to snow, slowing down traffic, and making me regret thinking in this manner. I immediately switched back to my BLUE hat so I could create my plan of action. EPILOGUE: We ended up getting to the conference late, and missing the first session. I did get to attend 3 other sessions, though, with this one about the thinking hats being my favorite. My mom took me home, the tow truck driver jumped my battery (causing my car to come back to life), and my mom even left me her car for tomorrow, in case mine doesn't start. The car saga will continue into tomorrow, since I am going to need to take it in to get checked out, so I'll have to keep my hats and wits about me!