West Bath School students embrace and embody our school’s Habits of Scholarship traits to become effective learners.

This evidence set contains student self-reflections of their habits of scholarship within the classroom setting, school data collected on how students have improved in their habits over time, student reflections on how the Habits of Scholarship influence their work currently, and schoolwork from non-traditional classroom settings that show how the school has incorporated Habits of Scholarship into all aspects of the child's day in coherent and meaningful ways.

Unveiling and Commitment

With the Code of Character firmly in place, we were ready to add Habits of Scholarship to our schoolwide expectations. The habits were represented by an owl, with the idea that the owl rests in a tree just as students can only display habits of scholarship when the code of character is firmly in place.

To unveil the Habits of Scholarship, each grade level created a movie to define what their trait meant and demonstrate what it looked like in action. The movies were premiered at a red carpet event. Students then signed commitments to work towards the Habits of Scholarship.

Perseverance Plans

Third grade students create perseverance plans in guidance class, to help them to come up with strategies and plan for persevering through challenges, before the work gets hard. This is an example of how non-traditional classroom settings help students to develop their Habits of Scholarship.

Protocol Usage

Students use protocols to encourage participation in classrooms.

School Data

While we have been reflecting on Habits of Scholarship in a variety of formats for several years, we have only recently begun to report out on student report cards students' progress towards meeting Habits of Scholarship standards. As can be seen in the credentialing data sheet, our students entered the school year in the fall of 2016 lacking the skills to persevere, participate, and think critically. At the end of the year, more than 80% of students were meeting all Habits of Scholarship standards, with the most growth being demonstrated in the areas of participation and critical thinking.

This data set contains selected expedition work from our students that demonstrate "the way we work" at West Bath School. The samples include multiple grade levels and point to how the implementation of the Habits of Scholarship have increased student learning and achievement. The samples begin with kindergarten and their expedition that is focused on learning (and teaching others) EL Education vocabulary and practices and continue through 5th grade where students authentically develop a common language that articulates the skills and behaviors needed to be part of the greater community.

Kindergarten Students Teach Others The Way to Learn

Fifth Grade Morning Verse and Resonant Vocabulary

Fifth grade students begin their school year by studying how to be effective learners. They explore a variety of terms that could be used to describe an effective learner. They explore the meaning by studying the definition using a Frayer model. Next they reflect on how the word resonates with them by identifying where on their body they feel that word and give it a color. Then they vote on the terms that resonate with the class. These termed are further defined in a student generated rubric. The rubric is used throughout the year to score and reflect on their effectiveness as learners. The class resonant vocabulary is also used to create a morning verse which is a class created promise for how they will engage as a community. This is recited and reflected upon each day. The goal of this project is to establish expectations of classroom culture and citizenship as a way for students to self-monitor their behavior and work ethic.

This evidence set contains samples of student-led conference portfolios from multiple grade levels that demonstrate student reflection on their work and their Habits of Scholarship.