Habits of Mind
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.
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Introduction
Habits of Mind (HOM) are a set of tools individuals can use to tackle a complex problem (Costa & Kallick, 2000). More specifically demonstrating a HOM means having a disposition towards behaving intelligently when confronted with a problem that cannot be immediately solved. There are 16 unique HOMs that have been identified and these HOM can be observed in children and adults.
Habits of Mind are beneficial because they are strategies that individuals can use to tackle a wide variety of problems- personal, professional, and academic (Boyles & Watts, 2009). It is important to develop HOM because they are not innately learned; they require time and practice to be reinforced.“Once you have habits, they’re very hard to lose, so be very careful of the ones you choose” (Namelocamme, 2010, 0:34). As educators it is our responsibility to intentionally create opportunities for students to explicitly learn about HOMs, to continually develop them through reinforcement activities, to eradicate negative behaviors and mindsets students. In my classroom, I have pushed students to develop HOM through explicit instruction, reinforcement activities, and internalization. Please click the links below to see how my students are demonstrating managing impulsivity and listening and understanding with empathy.
Conclusion
At the beginning of the school year, my students had a limited understanding of HOM. Over the course of the year, I have introduced them to HOM through direct instruction, engaged in reinforcement activities, and pushed my students to internalize the HOM. As the HOM became reinforced my students did more than just talk about them they were using managing impulsivity and listening with understanding and empathy to drive their personal growth. As students demonstrated the HOM behavior in my classroom began to shift. I gave students more merits than demerits and observed fewer students shouting the first thing that comes to their minds, fewer students out of their assigned seats, fewer conflicts between students, and deeper more reciprocal relationships between students.
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References
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Boyes, K., & Watts, G. (2009). Developing Habits of Mind in elementary schools. Retrieved from
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Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Describing 16 Habits of Mind. Retrieved from
http://www.habitsofmind.org/sites/default/files/16HOM2.pdf
Namelocamme. (2010, June 14). What is a habit poem [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=nwIckU-lZJo