Mind as a transdisciplinary frame with students completing a portfolio
representing their work in several subjects.
Portfolios can help us continuously re-create the narrative of our own
learning. All the failures and misfires are in a portfolio, sitting right next
to the triumphs and breakthroughs. Peers cheer the growth they see, the
power of words selected, and the essays they wish they had written. Stu-
dents delight in their changes, cherish the praise, and work even harder
to produce an admirable product. Beyond the chronological history of
work produced, the portfolio reveals a deeper layer where the patterns of
work tell a personal story of a student’s learning. The Habits of Mind serve
as a powerful framework for this work.
Performances
Te a c h e r s b e c o m e i n c r e a s i n g l y aw a r e o f t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e H a b i t s o f
Mind when students prepare presentations of their work. These perfor-
mances require orchestration and a great deal of social thinking. Students
can receive feedback about the Habits of Mind during three parts of the
performance:
•When they are planning for a performance.
•When they are in the process of working on the performance.
•When they are presenting their work to an audience.During Planning
In an example of incorporating the habits into the planning phase, a
science teacher presents a challenge to his students. They must work
together to create a persuasive presentation to the class about a solution
to a particular ecological problem. He asks the students to choose one
habit they feel especially strong in and one that they need to work on.
They then plan how they will work to develop the habits through the
actions they take. Next they develop a list of indicators as a group: What
will a habit look like when we see it happening? They agree to keep rec-
ords of when they observe the use of a habit. What is important about this
process is that they plan to pay attention to the Habits of Mind beforethey
begin their work.
210 Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind