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 partof the student.
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In order to develop their best selves, and to achieve dramatic gains and outcomes, students need to develop positive habits and mindsets that guide their growth through their early childhood years, and beyond. These habits and mindsets, as described and researched by Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick, are critical to students’ development of a growth mindset. Therefore, educators and role models must provide explicit models of these “Habits of Mind” as well as consistent reinforcement over time, so that students, in turn, can internalize and independently demonstrate these character traits.
In my early childhood classroom, where the focus is on the “whole child”, I aim to teach and incorporate every habit and mindset throughout the year. Development of positive attitudes and mindsets greatly impacts students’ emotional, social, and cognitive growth, particularly in Pre-Kindergarten, when students are experiencing formal schooling for the first time, and growth is measured in daily increments, not years. One of the habits I focused on was Creating, Imagining, and Innovating. After explicitly teaching creative concepts in learning centers, as shown through mini-lessons in art, blocks, and science, students engaged in two seasonal applications of these mindsets, for St. Patrick’s Day and Mardi Gras.
Additionally, I focused on Questioning and Posing Problems as well as Thinking about Thinking (also referred to as Metacognition). These habits of mind were explicitly taught in conjunction with literary concepts, as part of my Dialogic Reading method, evidenced through lesson plans, as well as teaching samples from the initial lesson. Also provided are visual manipulatives, utilized by students during the lesson and in subsequent activities, in order to non-verbally cue their thinking process.
As they grow in confidence and efficacy in applying these mindsets on their own, my students demonstrate progress towards mastery of these Habits of Mind, which will guide them as they continue to explore their role in the ever-changing world.
