Running head: Habits and Mindsets 1

Habits and Mindsets

Shani Neal

Johns Hopkins University, School of Education

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In my observation of the classroom I noticed several things about test taking strategies. Last

week we were swamped with benchmarks, growth monitoring assessments, and the usual

assessments for class work. This gave me a great chance to observe perseverance, stamina, and

striving for accuracy. Socially I observed empathy, kindness, fairness, and leadership. With a

growth mindset in mind I observed emphasizing importance of effort and process in learning and

demonstrating belief that one’s intelligence is not fixed. As activities we engaged in restorative

justice circles, journal prompts, and class dojo videos and activities engaging in these topics.

All of the activities we have completed so far were verbal, so I will describe our

conversations. We have already discussed gratitude in a very in-depth month long session that

ended with a final presentation and celebration with parents. We have also discussed

perseverance very briefly, but did not discuss stamina and accuracy within that topic. During

assessments and benchmarks I observed several students giving up, stopping frequently, and

beginning to guess by just filling in bubbles. I also observed students working together during

group assignments with a fixed mindset and playing together on the field without consideration

of others. As a whole class we have developed a sense of family, but one on one the students

still struggle.

Two specific habits and mindsets I identified as areas of growth for my classroom were

listening to others with emotion and empathy and perseverance. I picked these two habits and

mindsets because I believe that is what my students need to be kind to each other and to keep

working through difficult math problems.

Empathy refers to gently attend[ing] to another person demonstrating their understanding of

and empathy for an idea or feeling by paraphrasing it accurately, building upon it, clarifying it,
Running head: Habits and Mindsets 3

or giving an example of it (Costa & Kallick, 2000). A few of my students act in such a way to

suggest they do not understand how that person would feel. They will say hurtful or threatening

things without remorse and very little remorse once their emotions have calmed.

Perseverance, according to Meaning and Happiness (2012) or Persistence [perseverance,

industriousness] is finishing what one starts; persisting in a course of action in spite of obstacles.

I have observed unfinished math assessments and students complaining about using strategies to

solve problems, then giving up.

My goal is to increase empathy and perseverance in the classroom by using restorative

justice circles that discuss both issues. I will also use class dojo videos and activities that cover

both topics. Discussions will be about defining the two, discussing what they look like, and how

to practice them. We will look into another person’s perspective and why it’s important to

remember it and also revisit our hopes and dreams and connect them too our class and individual

goal to grow as a family and academically. Together we will use the Y-Chart created by Boys

and Watts (2009) to develop these conversations.

Individual achievement will rise to 80%, 4 out of 5 opportunities: socially, academically, and

behaviorally. I will know this has been met through answers on the y-chart, discussions of the

material, and a change in behaviors in the classroom. Students will be more engaged in

assessments with less quitting and more perseverance. Students will also be able to work

through disagreements by looking at the other person’s perspective and compromising to fit

everyone’s needs.
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References

Boys, K., & Watts, G. (2009). Action tool 1: Exploring the meaning of Habits of Mind with

teachers. In Developing Habits of Mind in elementary schools (pp. 11–16). Retrieved from

http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/books/boyesAT2009_exploring_the_meaning_of_habits_of

mind_with_teachers.pdf

Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Describing 16 Habits of Mind. Retrieved from

http://www.habitsofmind.org/sites/default/files/16HOM2.pdf

Meaning and Happiness.com. (2012, February 5). List of personal strengths: Psychology

research. Retrieved from http://www.meaningandhappiness.com/psychology-research/list-of-

personal-strengths.html#list-of-personal-strengths