Dimitri Syros
Social Studies Teacher
Integrated Habits & Mindsets Lesson: Persistence, Thinking Flexibly and Posing Questions
Integrating the Habits of Mind into my curricular planning during the initial stages of creating a lesson was very helpful in being sure that I could be intentional in inserting aspects to produce the desired results. The Civics lesson that I taught was based on the relationship between amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the results of major Supreme Court Cases. Being that I had already strongly exposed my students to the Habit of Mind of “Persistence” I felt that I should tie it in to the lesson. When I got to the Brown vs. Board of Education case in which African American students pushed for the integration of public schools, I pushed my students to make connections between the actions of the students and the mindset of persistence through a series of written responses. In doing so I wanted to put students in the minds of the characters involved in the case as well as push them to make connections to their own lives and habits of mind journeys.
I parlayed this exercise into an assignment focused on “Thinking Flexibly” in which students wrote a RAFT assignment putting them in the position as a Justice on the Supreme Court reckoning with a decision on the cases before them. This activity caused my students to have to consider multiple perspectives and utilize their knowledge of the content to write in a manner that was indicative of their understandings. As we proceeded with this lesson I was very excited as students began to exhibit other qualities related to Habits of Mind and growth mindsets that I had tried to infuse in classes prior such as posing problems and questioning. Students were quick to fill our classroom “Parking Lot” with a series of queries regarding many of the cases and why the court and broader society interacted in the way that they did.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Integrated Lesson Plan
2. Student Work
3. Student Interview Transcripts
1. Integrated Lesson Plan
2. Student Work
Student Work Sample #1:
In this work sample from the aforementioned integrated lesson plan, students were tasked with writing a RAFT writing assignment (Role, Audience, Format, Tone). In this paper the student maintained the majority opinion in ruling segregation as unconstitutional. In the student's reasoning they recalled two of the habits of mind referenced in the lesson plan. Persistence is explicitly mentioned in the text as the student recalls the attitude of the Brown family throughout the Supreme court case. The student was able to highlight specific actions such as "never giving up" and "working hard" in connection with the habit of mind practiced in our classroom. As the paper continues, the student also progresses into discussing thinking flexibly as a Supreme Court justice. While the student holds one opinion, they recognize the dissenting opinion in the case even though they disagree with it in saying "they only feel this way because they are not used to it and are scared of what might happen." Finally the student calls on people to think more flexibly and be "more willing to accept change" in solidifying their argument.
Student Work Sample #2:
In this work sample, the student takes the same approach as the first sample by siding with the majority opinion in the case of Brown v. Board of education. The student first highlights some precedents of the case in introducing their argument but then progress into referencing habits and mindsets in their observations. This time the student hones in on the habit of persistence by giving a concrete example of a persistent behavior exhibited by Linda Brown in "walking three miles to school everyday." The student goes on highlight how Linda Brown's father "kept fighting" and did not give up despite steep odds in court and enormous societal pressure.
3. Student Interview Transcripts
On being persistent...
"Learning about how to have better habits has helped me in a lot of ways this school year. One thing I've learned is to never give up. When I didn't make the basketball team last year I was really upset and discouraged because lots of my friends made the team. When I learned more about being persistent and how even Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team, I began to realize that I could come back stronger and better than ever by making some changes to my game. And you know what, this year I went out there and made the team."
On thinking flexibly...
"To me, thinking flexibly means being tolerant and embracing our differences. I have always tried to see other people's perspectives on issues but it was cool to see how our class was able to debate one another without fighting and being disrespectful by actually hearing each other out. While talking about issues like gun control and Donald Trump we learned to actually listen to one another and consider each others opinions."
On posing questions...
"For me it has always been like read your text book and search for the right answer. But in this class we look a little bit deeper. WE learned that history is only a perspective and there are actually a lot more hidden stories in our history that books and stuff choose to leave out. For example I wonder why my world history class only talked about Egypt when we learn about African history. What about the other African empires that existed? Were their accomplishments not important enough or something? I don't know, but what I do know is that when I'm the one asking the questions, I feel like I am in control."
Habits and Mindsets Explicit Lesson Plan