Chapter 1- The Irresponsibility of Doing Nothing: Using Habits of Mind to Reduce DFWI Rates in a Gateway History Course

My first teaching job, which I started in 2007, was as an on-campus boarding schoolteacher near the shores of Long Island Sound. Though my high school students came from affluent backgrounds, few of them had found success in formal learning environments. Some faced learning challenges. Many had been expelled from—or failed at—prestigious private schools because of drug dependency. Somewhere along the way, they had all missed some of the basic strategies needed to succeed academically. Much of my job, then, revolved around teaching these students the skills needed for academic and career success