Q This week, you were introduced to the habit loop, a central idea in The Power of Habit. For the next few weeks, you will learn more about each part of the loop and how to apply it. In this discussion, you will consider what the loop is and how you can apply it to developing a habit as part of essay 1. Objectives • Identify each part of the habit loop • Explain an example that illustrates the habit loop • Choose a habit from the essay 1 instructions to develop • Create a habit loop for your new habit Discussions Task • First, read any articles or watch the videos assigned for discussion. You will be writing and responding to this reading or video; you will also devote time to discussing your insights with your classmates and responding to their insights regarding the topic. Discussion Materials • Before beginning this discussion, ensure that you have read Chapter 1 of The Power of Habit, the Essay 1 Instructions, and reviewed the following handout: "How to Create a Habit." • You will also need to choose a habit for essay 1 and this discussion. You must choose a habit related to improving your study, reading, writing, or academic skills. Choose one of the following habits; please study the link for each habit if applicable as these will explain how you can use these to help you academically: o Creating and following a calendar/schedule o Establishing a set study routine (Links to an external site.) o Active reading o Applying the writing process (Links to an external site.) to an essay o Using the Pomodoro technique to task manage (Links to an external site.) o Doing grammar exercises (Links to an external site.) 3 x per week o Meditating (Links to an external site.) 3 x per week o Journaling (Links to an external site.) 3 x per week o Exercising (Links to an external site.) 3 x per week Discussion Prompts • Initial Post (due Friday): After reading Chapter 1, post a response (100+ words long) addressing the following. Your initial post is due Friday. 1. First, explain how the habit loop works. Discuss one specific example from Chapter 1 of the book that helps you better understand the habit loop. 2. Then, refer to the essay 1 instructions. Identify the specific academic, reading, or writing habit from the list above you will start by using the habit loop. You will track your progress over the next two weeks and write an essay about your experience creating a new habit. Using "How to Create a Habit", map out your new habit loop. Be specific about the cue, routine, and reward. • Response Posts (due by Sunday): Choose at least two classmates and develop responses to each of their original posts. To earn exemplary marks in this area, respond to more than two students. Share your advice to the students regarding how they can introduce the new academic, reading, or writing habit they chose into their routines. Discuss your experience with this specific habit. Writing I agree or I disagree will earn you a score of "developing" in the rubric below. Responses must be at least 50 words long. Sample Initial Response Post The Power of Habit is such an exciting read for myself, mainly because if I'm being honest I have quite a few bad habits. Not only am I hoping to learn more about how powerful and interesting the brain is but I am so excited to take what I learn in this course and apply it in my everyday life and change my habits. In the first chapter of The Power of Habit: The Habit Loop; I took away so much valuable information, had so many emotions, and personal theories. I could personally relate to Beverly when the doctors told her "to be prepared if her husband was gone" and that "he might not be the person you remember". I found it remarkable that through the power of reputation Eugene was able to form habits to help him function in everyday life, maybe not be to full his capacity but to live out the rest of his life with his wife and children. To know how Eugene "always wanted to do something important with his life" and without knowing he helped so many different studies around the world was the best reward to any of his routines. My chosen habit to start, would be to exercise three times a week, because it will help my other habits that I would like to form in theory. While exercising three times a week, I will have to change my sleeping and adjust my eating habits, and with adjusting my sleeping and eating habits, I will have to plan and prioritize my time for studying and completing my assignments. My theory is by focusing on one thing, all the other things will align and I will feel better, focus better, and be able to manage my time more effectively. Discussion Guidelines • Your initial post should be posted by Friday; you will lose 1 point for each day the initial post is late. • Be sure to proofread your paper for sentence structure, clarity, typos, etc. • Read at least five posts from other classmates. In this course, we use the Peace and Justice Principles from the Peace and Justice Institute (Links to an external site.) as guidelines for discussion. You should follow these when composing an initial post and responding to your classmates. Discussion Criteria for Success: I grade your discussion posts on three areas: how well you engage with your classmates in discussion, how well-developed your response is, and how organized your response is. I do not grade your discussion posts for grammar. Just as in a classroom, this is a space where what matters most is your ability to communicate your viewpoints and ideas in respectful ways that align with the PJI principles. Below is the rubric I use for all discussions. Discussion Rubric Grading Criteria Developing Acceptable Exceptional Participation with Peers Student only minimally interacts with the class, writing brief, surface-level responses to the class. Student can review the PJI principles and work to align post with those principles. Student completes required number of posts and engages with class. Student shows clear attention to the PJI principles and creates a hospitable and welcoming environment through his or her discussion posts. Student completes more than the required number of posts and engages with the class. Student shows clear attention to the PJI principles and creates a hospitable and welcoming environment through his or her discussion posts. Critical Thinking Student's response does not clearly or directly address the questions asked. Student's response addresses the questions asked. Some lapses in logic may be present. Student provides some evidence for his or her assertions. Student's insightful, thoughtful response clearly and directly addresses the questions asked. Student has answered each of the questions, provides evidence for his or her responses, and refers directly to the material studied this week in developing his or her responses. Organization Student's response is disorganized; no central idea is present. Student's response is organized around a central idea. Student's response is organized, cohesive, and unified.