Lindsey Hancock Warden
Habits & Mindsets
Students reference their teacher’s guidance in organization, study habits, character traits and values (like persistence, striving for accuracy, etc.). They have internalized these traits beyond just talking about them which has led to personal growth on the part of the student.
Introduction
I was first introduced to the habits of mind through Johns Hopkins School of Education coursework and the book Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum: Practical and Creative Strategies for Teachers by Costa & Kallick (2009). As I began learning about the sixteen habits I could introduce to my students in order to improve my classroom, as well as encourage self-improvement and growth in all of us, I realized how important it is to develop my students not just academically and behaviorally, but also emotionally. While I have taught and reinforced each habit in some way, the two habits I feel that my students have focused on most of all are persisting and managing impulsivity. I find that these two habits are broad in the sense that they can be applied in many challenges that my students will face, both within and outside the classroom. From trying new ways to tackle a project after the first attempt fails to tracking their classroom behaviors, my students have internalized persisting and managing impulsivity in order to check and correct their trajectories towards their goals and set new lifelong goals that they are working towards.
Persisting
Managing Impulsivity
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have explicitly taught and reinforced the habits of persisting and managing impulsivity to my students. After learning about these habits through introductory lessons, my students and I continued to reinforce our new skills through classroom readings, assignments, and activities. Through goal-setting activities, tracking, and periodic reflection, my students learned to assess their success in persisting and managing impulsivity, and set new future goals. In these ways, I positively impacted student growth in all areas: academic, behavioral, social and emotional, and set my students on an excellent trajectory towards future success. My students also learned through two very involved ELA projects to engage these habits efficiently and effectively. By learning to persist through the many challenges of writing a term research paper, and by managing impulses during the planning and publication of their literary magazine, my students saw the habits working positively for them in real time. I hope that by learning and practicing these habits, my students may continue excelling academically, as well as find valuable areas of their personal growth in which to apply these habits as well.