Now that I have completed almost all my work for my fall semester of English,

there have been a few “Habits of Mind” that I have used throughout the semester. Some

habits of mind, or habits of success, that I have used throughout my semester to get my

ideas flowing and to get my assignments done, have been persisting, managing

impulsiveness, listening with understanding of empathy, thinking flexibly, striving for

accuracy, and responding with wonderment and awe. There are also some habits of

mind that I feel I could work on to do better, would be taking responsible risks, finding

humor, and thinking interdependently.

One habit of mind that I used this semester for my English class was persisting,

Persisting is not giving up when stuck, it is looking for ways to stay focus and reach your

goals when you get stuck. I did this throughout the semester, I felt stuck on most of my

assignments, and I couldn’t stay focused. A specific time I remember persisting was

when I was writing my Anthropocene essay. I felt stuck because I wasn’t understanding

what I needed to write about. I kept getting confused on what Anthropocene was and

how it connected to the topic I was writing about. I know that I need to stay focused and

do my research on the topic. I did my best to remain focused on this assignment

because I knew it was important and I knew that if I focused, I would be able to do a

good job. I stuck to the assignment, and I didn’t give up. I ended up getting a pretty

good score on that essay.

Another habit of mind that I used this semester was managing impulsivity. This is

thinking before acting, remaining calm, and being thoughtful and deliberative. There

have been many times throughout the semester where I needed to remain calm

because I was stressed. There were many times when I had to think before acting, I
would be stressed about an assignment and there would be times where I wanted to

give up and not do the assignment. I managed my impulsivity by staying calm and

taking breaks whenever I felt stressed or when I felt that the assignment was becoming

too much for me to handle.

Another habit of mind I used this semester was listening with understanding and

empathy. This is trying to perceive another point of view and see where they are coming

from. There have been times in the class when we were assigned to do discussions

online and respond to other people's posts. There have been times where I don’t agree

with what a person wrote in their discussion, there have even been times where they

had the complete opposite opinion than me. I might not agree with what they wrote but I

try to stay open minded and see their point of view so I can understand where they are

coming from and why they think the way they do.

Another habit of mind I used this semester was thinking flexibly. This is being able

to change perspectives and consider other options. I did this a few times during the

semester but in my last essay that I wrote about my research on social media and if

social media affected teens in a negative or positive way, I saw things in a different

perspective. In my research report I had to write about the good and bad of social media

and how it affected teens. Before I wrote my report, I only thought social media had a

negative effect on teens and their metal help. After doing my research, I learned that

there were also positives to social media. I was able to consider more options on this

topic instead of just thinking social media was a negative thing.

Another habit of mind I used this semester was striving for accuracy. This is doing

your best, setting high standards and finding ways to improve. I always try my best in
school with all my work. For every assignment, I always tried to understand what I

needed to do to get a good grade. Throughout the semester I would set goals for

myself, some goals were turning in assignments on times, getting a certain grade on my

essays, and pushing myself to be more creative with my work. I would always try and

find new ways to improve, when I could get feedback on assignments, I would take that

into consideration so I could do better for the next assignment.

One last habit of mind I used this semester was responding with wonderment and

awe. This is finding the world awesome, mysterious, and being intrigued with

phenomena and beauty. I enjoyed most of the essay I did this semester because I saw

some things in a different perspective, and I learned new things. I was fascinated by all

the new things I learned this semester. When I wrote my Anthropocene essay, I had no

idea what Anthropocene even meant. When reading the book by John Green, The

Anthropocene Reviewed, I found it very interesting to learn how simple things related to

Anthropocene.

I had a few habits of mind that I used this semester but there were some habits of

mind that I feel I could have worked on for further success this semester. One habit of

success I could have worked on was taking responsible risks. This is being

adventuresome, living on the edge, and trying new things. I never really went out of my

comfort zone. I stuck to what I knew and what I felt comfortable with. I could have

worked on being more open and trying new things with my writing like being more

creative.

Another habit of mind I could have worked on was finding humor. This is finding

the whimsical and unexpected, being able to laugh at oneself. I could have found humor
in my writing by being creative with my story telling for finding humor in essays I wrote. I

think finding humor in things lightens the mood and makes things more interesting to

read about. Next semester I will be sure to find humor in things to make my writings

more interesting and fun to read about.

Another habit of mind I could have worked on this semester was thinking

interdependently. This is being able to work and learn from others in reciprocal

situations, working as a team. There were many times this semester where I could have

gotten feedback from my classmates or where I could have worked with them to do an

assignment, but I mostly stayed to myself because I felt more comfortable that way.

Working with my classmates could have made things easier and I could have learned a

lot from them, but I felt shy and embarrassed that my work wouldn’t be as good as

theirs or that they would think I wasn’t the smartest. Next semester I will try to be more

open with people and work as a team.

Now that I have completed my fall semester of English, I learned a lot of new

things and used a different kind of habits of mind to be successful in my studies. Some

habits of mind, or habits of success, that I used throughout my semester have been

persisting, managing impulsiveness, listening with understanding of empathy, thinking

flexibly, striving for accuracy, and responding with wonderment and awe. There were

also some habits of mind that I feel I could work on to do better, would be taking

responsible risks, finding humor, and thinking interdependently. I will be sure to use

these habits next semester as well to succeed and I will work on the other habits of

mind to improve myself and be better.