CORTNIE BELSER'S MSED PORTFOLIO
HABITS AND MINDSETS
Students reference their teacher’s guidance in organization, study habits, character traits and values.
They have internalized these traits beyond just talking about them which has led to personal growth on the part of the student.
Introduction
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While most students enter the classroom with a fixed mindset of self-efficacy, it is the teacher's responsibility to provide learning experiences and cultivate a classroom culture that ignites the growth mindset of every student. By integrating habits and mindsets in academic and personal growth goals, students can access a roadmap and criteria for evaluating their achievement more broadly. In addition, as students study and build character traits, they can begin to self-evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses and adjust accordingly. To support student achievement in habits and mindsets, the teacher must model the habits and mindsets with rigor and consistency.
The first habit of mind I introduced to students was Managing Impulsivity. The importance of developing this habit in my seventh and eighth grade students is not only so that they may remain on-task to complete assignments successfully, but also so that my students practice real-world skills in college and career. In addition, this habit of mind allows students to think critically about the unit's core text and essential questions. While the 8th grade students read Avi's Nothing but the Truth, a documentary-style text that chronicles a ninth grade student and his English teacher who both face unintended consequences for their impulsive actions. Through this lens, this habit of mind builds upon students' personal growth through academic content.
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The second habit of mind I introduced to students was Listening with Understanding and Empathy. The importance of developing this habit in my seventh and eighth grade students stems from the lack of peer affirmation and support I witness in my classroom everyday. While it is simple to tell students to be respectful and listen attentively, grounding this in the habit of mind validates its impact. In addition, this habit of mind provides a framework for students to analyze character relationships through a unit's core text and essential question. While my 7th grade students read Goodrich and Hackett's The Diary of Anne Frank: The Play, students explore the impact of listening with understanding and empathy has on a tenacious girl's journey to freedom. For my students, they also desire a learning environment where they feel heard, understood, and supported. Through this habit of mind, students are presented a criteria to develop a growth mindset of maturity through character traits that will impact them as students, adults, leaders and beyond.
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The third habit of mind I introduced to students was Striving for Accuracy. The importance of developing this habit was determined through a team activity coursework that determined how text-dependent questioning can strengthen this habit of mind in students and drive student achievement. Through informal and formal discussion, observations, and reflections, I am able to evaluate how students understand accuracy and how they embrace this precision in the classroom. Both my 7th and 8th grade students utilize this habit to engage in academic discourse, but also apply this habit of mind to real-world scenarios. Through this third habit of mind, students evaluate their integration of the previous two habits to hold them accountable to the precision of their thoughts and behaviors.
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Since all three habits of mind were introduced and integrated into the seventh and eighth grade classes, the evidence reflects both grade-level student development of the habits and mindsets.
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Below, you can click each image to explore how I support students through explicit instruction and reinforcement strategies to develop the Habits of Mind:
Conclusion
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Ultimately, the role of the teacher is to provide authentic yet rigorous opportunities for students to make sense of their time in the academic classroom. While many of my middle school students do not express a high self-efficacy, these experiences remain constant not only because of a fixed mindset, but also due to a fixed condition of education. For many of my students, they have been rarely celebrated academically or pushed to become a more engaged student. However, the habits and mindsets force students to evaluate their character traits and values as they discover new strategies. As we build competence of each habit, witness exemplar modeling, and develop tools to self-assess along the journey, I am able to offer students at least one resource that they can take beyond our classroom. When teachers craft thoughtful classroom experiences that allow students to think critically and adjust, we offer young people a glimpse of the real-world. Thus, by integrating Habits and Mindsets into academic discourse we legitimize curriculum that once felt too distant for students. Although habits and mindsets are not the only personal development and positive reinforcement students receive, it enhances my growth mindset as a teacher. As a reflection of my teaching philosophy, the habits and mindsets my students discover and develop are the skills needed to be agents of change.