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." (Johns Hopkins, n.d.).
Introduction
I am a Spanish teacher, and like teachers of other contents, I have a lot of material that I have to teach and goals I want to reach. This can make deviating from strictly teaching Spanish content a difficult endeavor. Do I have time to explicitly teach other habits and skills that the students need but might not solely fall under Spanish. That being said, I have to remind myself that as an educator, I am responsible for preparing the next generation to adapt to the ever-changing world around it. This means going beyond grammar points and new vocabulary. The Habits of Mind are a clear example of an important topic that should be incorporated in all subjects. A "Habit of Mind” means having a disposition toward behaving intelligently when confronted with problems, the answers to which are not immediately known (Costa and Kallick, 2000 p. 2). In incorporating the habits into my classes, I have noticed that on top of preparing for students for life outside of high school, they actually help students grow in their Spanish abilities. Below I will expand on how the habits better-prepare my students to succeed in learning a language, as well as their daily life.
Habits of Mind Overview
As mentioned above, we as educators can feel like deviating from the curriculum is a waste of precious time, but there are many benefits to teaching our students good habits and mindsets — both in our classrooms and outside, as well. In order for students to succeed in school and in their future endeavors, they need habits, such as continuously learning, working interdependently, listening to others, among many. Students benefit from explicitly learning how to apply these habits in their daily lives, as well as having them reinforced in all their classes. As Costa and Kallick (2000) mention, "Although it might be easy to think of the habits as a set of behaviors that we want students to have so that we can get on with the curriculum that we need to cover, it becomes apparent that we need to provide specific opportunities for students to practice the habits. Habits are formed only through continuous practice. And to practice the habits, our curriculum, instruction, and assessments must provide generative, rich, and provocative opportunities for using them" (p. xi). In my classes, I spent 2 weeks explicitly teaching the Habits of Mind, and then continued to reinforce them in following classes.
Student Copy Page 1
Student Copy Page 2
In the sample above, a student began to think about the Habits of Mind, what it looks like to apply these habits, and why they are important. This activity took an entire class, as we spent time introducing the habits, independent time for students to answer the worksheet, and then time for students to discuss their responses in groups and as a whole class. This was beneficial for students, as many of them expressed that it was difficult to think about each response and that they had not really thought about these habits (nor explicitly talked about them in class). We talked about how these habits could help students do well in their classes but also how the students can gain from the habits outside of school and in the future.
Teaching as Leadership
Teaching As Leadership "offers evolving guidance on several questions that flow from our commitment to students’ enduring path to self-determination and opportunity" (Teach for America, 2016) pertaining to Academic Growth, Personal Growth, Social and Political Consciousness, and Access. As the students and I work on our understanding and application of the Habits of Mind, we grow personally. Regarding Personal Growth, TAL (Teaching as Leadership) asks the following questions (seen below in the Student Indicators and Broader Outcomes Wheel)
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Are the students building an understanding of their own strengths, gifts and prior knowledge in pursuit of learning?
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Are the students contributing to a passionate and joyful classroom environment through increased acts of leadership, empathy, and responsible decisions?
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Given the grade level and content... are the students building long-term skills and behaviors that will enable them to thrive in current and future academic environments?"(Teach for America, 2016).
Teaching as Leadership: The Student Indicators and Broader Outcomes Wheel
1. In teaching the Habits of Mind, the students have reflected on their strengths and weaknesses — at first in a Self-Assessment that we took (seen in the following section). In explicitly teaching each habit, we reflected more on how what the students did well in and where they could improve. We talked about how they can use these habits in their pursuit of learning Spanish, as well as other subjects. For example, we talked about how habits such as Listening to Others with Understanding and Empathy can lead to better listening comprehension in Spanish, since the students would hear their peers speaking Spanish. In the Self-Assessment we took (seen in the next section), the students commit to work on at least one habit throughout the remainder of the school year. On top of this, I tried to elevate the habits that students excelled in, having them participate in activities that worked each of the habits and reflect on how each habit benefited them.
The students use their listening and collaborative skills in each of my classes.
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2. Since the first day of class, I worked with the students to create a positive and joyful classroom in which the students feel comfortable and enjoy learning Spanish. I treat everyone in the class with the level of respect that I would want to receive, and I stress that the students do the same. That can mean listening to their peers when they share out in class or respecting their peer's space, among other actions. In my classes, I have a large disparity in levels, with native speakers and students that do not know any Spanish. I also have freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors all in my classes. I regularly look to my native speakers for assistance in pairing and grouping with weaker students. I look to my upperclassmen to model professional behavior to my freshmen and sophomores. As the year has progressed, the students have become more comfortable with each other and I have seen acts of leadership, generosity and empathy.
The students work together in groups.
3. The goal in teaching our students should always be centered on not only utility in the classroom but also on how it can be applied out in the real world. That is why the Habits of Mind are so necessary, as the students need to develop and grow in these useful skills that they will take with them wherever they go in life. Habits, such as listening to others, finding humor, working with others, managing impulsivity, persistence, being observant, striving for accuracy, etc. all are useful in our class, as well as in future classes, college and careers. Because of this, I look for ways to incorporate these habits in our daily lessons. That can appear as pair and group work, class routines and expectations, discussions, among many forms.
The students work on the Habits of Mind in class.
Self-Assessment
In the following class, the students received an assessment that they will take again at the end of the school year to measure their progress and see where they improved and where they continue to grow. The assessment went through all of the 16 Habits of Mind, where students checked how often they applied each habit in their lives. Options included Most of the time, Frequently, Sometimes, and Not yet. I asked the students to take their time and answer as honestly as possible, in order to really grow from the assessment by the end of the year. After all the students finished taking the assessment, we went over the results. The students reflected on which habits that they did well and which ones they needed work.
Student Copy Self-Assessment
The students took the assessment relatively seriously, and I noticed some trends when compiling the data. I noticed the students were split on Thinking Interdependently, with around half of the students comfortable working with others and the other half preferring to work alone. There were responses that I anticipated, such as many students responding that they Find Humor. Many of my students have a great sense of humor and can find the positive in many situations. I noticed certain responses that surprised me, too, such as most students putting that they Listen to Others with Understanding and Empathy. However, as an outside observer, I felt that many students needed to work on their listening skills. I also noticed many skills that would be beneficial for learning Spanish that varied greatly by student, such as Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations and Gathering Data through all the Senses.
In the assessment sample above, the student excelled in habits such as Continuously Learning, Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision, Creativity, and Taking Responsible Risks. She struggled with habits such as Striving for Accuracy, Responding with Wonderment and Awe, Questioning and Posing Problems, and Managing Impulsivity. I had the students commit to at least one habit that they wanted to work on during the rest of the semester. This student committed to working on her impulsivity, by planning and sticking to her plans. She mentioned that she will think more carefully before making impulsive decisions. Other students' commitments varied, with students committing to work on Persisting, Striving for Accuracy, Listening with Understanding and Empathy, Thinking Interdependently, Responding with Wonderment and Awe, Managing Impulsivity and Taking Responsible Risks.
The students work on the self-assessment
Habits Taught in Class
Conclusion
In the beginning of explicitly teaching the Habits of Mind, I gave my students a self-assessment that they would take again at the end of the school year. However, as Connecticut schools have most likely closed for the rest of the school year due to the COVID-19, my students will be unable to retake the self-assessment and check their growth in each of the habits. Although I do not have these results in front of me, and student answers would vary, I can say that many of my students would show growth in the Habits of Mind that we worked on in class. After spending weeks explicitly teaching the habits and reinforcing them afterwards, many of my students would likely show growth in Listening to Others with Empathy and Understanding, Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations, Gathering Data Through All of the Senses, Finding Humor and Thinking Interdependently.
Students can benefit from learning important habits and mindsets that help them in class and in their daily lives. Although it may seem like it can stray too far from the content we are required to teach, we also have an obligation to students to prepare them for life outside of school. The Habits of Mind are important tools for students to use in their daily lives and future endeavors. Being well-versed in many different subjects can only go so far if students do not have the habits and mindsets to apply them outside of class. Examples of this include being able to work with and listen to others, learning from past experiences and mistakes, and paying attention to the world around us. It is important that as we teach students these habits and continue to reinforce them, we make sure students "have internalized these traits beyond just talking about them" (Johns Hopkins, n.d.). Our goal as educators is to lead students to become productive, successful and happy global citizens that know how to interact with the world around them.
References:
ACTFL. (n.d.). USE OF TARGET LANGUAGE IN LANGUAGE LEARNING. Retrieved October 27, 2019, from https://www.actfl.org/guiding-principles/use-target-language-language-learning.
Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Describing 16 habits of mind. Retrieved from http://www.habitsofmind.org/sites/default/files/16HOM2.pdf