Elusive Habits of Mind for Students
Persisting - Today many students lack grit and persistence. Students want a quick completion of work and want things to come easily. I have one student in particular who gets out their math homework each day in resource room and says, "I don't know how to do this." When I ask them what specifically they don't know how to do, they respond, "All of it." Each time, I follow up with the same tertiary question, "Did you read the question?" to which the student curtly responds, "No". Student often struggle with persistence because they have not been given the time and situations to struggle and try to think their way out. If something is difficult or uninteresting to students, they will oftentimes not feel that the need to persist is necessary because they find it unpleasant. This could possibly be, in part, attributed to the emphasis that has been placed on grades and standardized testing; We have lost our way, unable to see the value in trying situations and the process of learning.
Managing Impulsivity - From my observation, Computer-based assessment has increased the opportunity and frequency of impulsivity. Several students I have worked with are "happy clickers", clicking through ,computer-based assessments just to be done with it. This may also be associated with the lack of persistence in students.
Responding with Wonderment and Awe - Plainly said, students don't get jazzed about learning. School is a place to come for food, socialization, and perhaps clubs and/or sports; Learning in classrooms is a waiting room to the students' actual desire to attend (beyond compulsory requirement). Students now spend so much time on social media, often through filters that depict an ideal and unrealistic beauty. Students have less contact with nature and the beauty of the natural world. Many students don't care about the founding of our nation because it's just a bunch of "dead white guys who owned slaves". With the instant gratification that social media provides, students oftentimes just live in the moment and only care about likes, comments, and followers. Without intrinsic values and passions beyond a small screen, it is indeed difficult to feel any wonder or awe, much less respond with it.
Persisting - Today many students lack grit and persistence. Students want a quick completion of work and want things to come easily. I have one student in particular who gets out their math homework each day in resource room and says, "I don't know how to do this." When I ask them what specifically they don't know how to do, they respond, "All of it." Each time, I follow up with the same tertiary question, "Did you read the question?" to which the student curtly responds, "No". Student often struggle with persistence because they have not been given the time and situations to struggle and try to think their way out. If something is difficult or uninteresting to students, they will oftentimes not feel that the need to persist is necessary because they find it unpleasant. This could possibly be, in part, attributed to the emphasis that has been placed on grades and standardized testing; We have lost our way, unable to see the value in trying situations and the process of learning.
Managing Impulsivity - From my observation, Computer-based assessment has increased the opportunity and frequency of impulsivity. Several students I have worked with are "happy clickers", clicking through ,computer-based assessments just to be done with it. This may also be associated with the lack of persistence in students.
Responding with Wonderment and Awe - Plainly said, students don't get jazzed about learning. School is a place to come for food, socialization, and perhaps clubs and/or sports; Learning in classrooms is a waiting room to the students' actual desire to attend (beyond compulsory requirement). Students now spend so much time on social media, often through filters that depict an ideal and unrealistic beauty. Students have less contact with nature and the beauty of the natural world. Many students don't care about the founding of our nation because it's just a bunch of "dead white guys who owned slaves". With the instant gratification that social media provides, students oftentimes just live in the moment and only care about likes, comments, and followers. Without intrinsic values and passions beyond a small screen, it is indeed difficult to feel any wonder or awe, much less respond with it.