Summarize: I’m able to take care of me. I look for ways to relax and enjoy myself with things that will help me to continue to grow and keep me cool, calm, and collected. I continue to find ways to stay relevant and current, so that I continue to be a better version of me professionally and personally. The behavior I want change and my commitment and What will I do for myself? I think this is one of the most important habits to learn to use effectively. Habit 7 is about making time for yourself, so that you can hit refresh and take on anything. I do not believe that this habit should be ignored or taken lightly. Which is where I see room for improvement on my end. I am working on making sure that I stay in quadrant 2 in every aspect of my life, by creating a map, sticking to it -as much as I can- and making sure that I constantly repeat this process to build those good habits. While doing all of this I tend to push this habit to the side. I focus on accomplishing important tasks, that I have planned for, and disregard my sharpening-of-the-saw time because I feel that those planned tasks take precedence over sharpening the saw. I want to be able to schedule that time for me. I’m conscious that by following this habit I will be able to tackle on complicated, and not so complicated tasks, easily because I have a better frame of mind once I hit refresh by implementing this seventh habit. I am realistic, therefore, I will begin by trying to implement a workout of about 45 minutes, 3 times in the next week. I know I feel energized, clear-minded, and focused when I exercise. Therefore, I will begin with small steps, which will eventually evolve into a better version of me, with well implemented seventh habit. How will I teach it someone else? I will collaborate with my colleagues to create meaningful P.E. lessons in which the students take away the importance of staying active, so that they are more focused and ready to learn. We will discuss the importance of staying active and using Physical Education as way to sharpen the saw. Then I will have them think over ways they can sharpen the saw and write them down on a poster. I will then have the students create a mind map in which they show me, with illustrations, other examples of how they sharpen the saw. We will discuss these and post them on our art wall, so that we can see what will do to make sure we are hitting that refresh button to our mind. Summarize: 1+1=3 I make an effort to work well with others. I put forth my strengths, so that others can put forth their strengths. When we do this we have better results. I value other’s opinions and they value mine to create better solutions. I am humble and show respect for everyone that is part of my team. The behavior I want change and my commitment and What will I do for myself? I loved doing things independently because I was under the impression that this way I had more control of things. I didn’t want to feel that I was depending on anyone, because in mind this meant I was at their mercy, which is not a state I like to be in. This is something that I am working on, because I realize that if I’m going to be a good leader I have to learn how to make appropriate use of other’s strengths and be able to trust someone to complete that task. I could do everything by myself, but I know that I get better results when I work with others. I want to be better at letting go. I don’t need to do everything myself. I will make sure that whenever I get the pleasure of working with others I practice Habit 5 and from there find ways they can support me, so that we can synergize and come up with a much better product. How will I teach it someone else? My students are very familiar with this habit, but they look at this habit from a simpler perspective, which is teamwork. They see teamwork as everyone working to get to one objective, but I want them to see that is not just about working together. I want them to understand that teamwork is a part of synergizing, but that it involves listening to others opinions and finding eachothers strengths and working together to get better results not just one result. I will show them a quick video on teamwork, that relates to synergizing, titled “Pigeons”. Then I will have them review things that they already know about working as a team, that they might have seen in the or that they might have remember. We will then write those things down on a graphic organizer titled synergy. When we have reviewed all the ways I will then use a Teacher’s Pay Teachers lesson that talks about using strength’s to create something better. I will have the students do that lesson, which has the students using the primary colors to create a rainbow. I will split the class into three groups and give them the primary colors. I will then ask them to create a rainbow on a poster paper, as a class. Each group will only have one of the primary color to create the rainbow. I’m hoping that they can figure out how to combine the colors to create more colors to add more colors to the rainbow. I will conclude the lesson by having them talk about how they came up with something better when they worked together. Summarize: I listen with an open heart, and validate everyone’s thoughts and opinions. I don’t go into my own thoughts and ignore others' when they are sharing. I never judge, probe, or give advice. I’m an empathetic listener. I value and acknowledge everyone’s opinion without interrupting. The behavior I want change and my commitment and What will I do for myself? If you listen to them empathetically they will come and if they come willingly they will want to support you and your vision. I could say that I considered myself an active listener. An active listener meant I was listening because I was asking questions and commenting on what the other person was saying, that way they knew I was “paying attention.” I believe that even though I had good intentions, I was not truly listening because I was preoccupied thinking of the questions I wanted ask and the comments I was going to make. When I would do this I ultimately ended up giving advice, where perhaps advice was not what the other person was looking for. I want to continue to work on this well intentioned bad habit. I would like to push myself to listen carefully every time anyone talks to me. I want to commit to empathetically listen to my students and loved ones when they are sharing something. I will refrain from asking any questions and truly give them time to think and express all their thoughts. Instead of asking and commenting I will wait for them to ask for my opinion. When I’m given that opportunity to speak I will begin with the simple phrase, “What I’m hearing you say is….” That way I can reassure that person that I have been listening. I will then proceed to ask clarifying questions, so that they can continue to share. I will only give advice, make comments, and or give my opinion if they ask for them. How will I teach it someone else? I will begin with a game of telephone, to make the connection of being a good listener. I will have my students focus on the importance of paying attention to the person that is whispering something to them and truly focus on what they are saying. I will have my students pause and share why the message was delivered successfully or why it was not. We will then remember to review other habits like think win-win and begin with the end mind, to be successful. Once we finish this activity we will return to classroom and review the importance of being a good listener and the qualities of a good listener, through a mini lesson that focuses on these things. Then I will prepare a poster that incorporates these qualities. Furthermore, I will have each student write on a sticky note which qualities they need to work on and which ones they feel they do well. We will then try the telephone game again, to see if we are improving as listeners. We will then discuss the things that helped us, and the things we still need to work on. Summarize: I work with others to find solutions that will benefit us all. I focus on solutions that will show consideration of others of what others want and what I want. I’m making deposits into others’ Emotional Bank Accounts, and I minimize the withdrawals. If there is conflict I encourage collaboration, to come up with a mutually agreed solution. The behavior I want change and my commitment: The amazing part of the Seven Habits is the perfect way in which they lend themselves to complement each other as you are applying them. With that said, I realize that sometimes as a teacher, you feel the need to always trying to solve problems for your students. I also see myself trying to do this with my colleagues. My reasoning, now that I have done the various readings, is that I focus on the task at hand and on making sure that it gets completed. Even though this might seem like the logical thing to do it doesn’t always take into consideration everyone that is working with me, students and/or colleagues. I want to make sure that I’m giving time to listen to the group’s needs and opinions. This will make it easier for us to collaborate and complete the task more efficiently. Also, I don’t get stressed because we are not completing the task and they don’t feel rushed into doing so, ultimately giving us time to collaborate to find a better solution. What will I do for myself? I will assess any situation by looking at our end in min, or goal, based on this I can decide what the best course of action would be. This means collaborating with others to come up with better solutions to conflicts that arise. I understand that by doing this I can support a collaborative environment which will lend itself perfectly to making those deposits to emotional banks. I will ask myself “Are everyone’s wants being considered? and Did we come up a “better” solution that supports these wants? I believe that by doing this I can grow as a leader. How will I teach it someone else? I think it is important for all students to understand how to work well with each other and most importantly collaborate so they can come up with solutions that are considerate of everyone’s wants as well as their own. Finding a balance of between what they want and being considerate of their peers will support their understanding of this habit as well as empathy, which I think this habit indirectly teaches them. I will have 4 mini lessons in four days, in which I will present a short story that represents each of the 4 types of solutions: Lose-Lose, Win-Lose, Lose-Win, and Win-Win. After each reading I will give time for the class to assess what they think about the solution to the story. I will have each student list one positive and one negative thing that came from this solution. To make sure that we see all of their ideas, I will have them post on Padlet (online bulletin board) that will keep all of their thoughts in one place. When we get to the last story, which is the Win-Win scenario, I will have them compare that to the other three. Then I will ask the class to look at all four solutions but to look for a scenario that does the following: allows everyone to contribute, supports everyone’s wants, and helps everyone feel that are getting something. We will then discuss why it’s important to think about these things. I will have some of them share with the rest of the class their thoughts and ideas on why it’s important. With this I hope to make sure the students have a better understanding of what it’s like to think win-win, and why it’s important. Summarize: I prioritize and focus on important things that I need to do first based on my vision or plan. I don’t waste time on small, unimportant things. I get things done to achieve higher levels of success and motivation. The behavior I want change and my commitment: I can tie this back to my previous post by noting that I have problems focusing because I get easily distracted. I want to continue my commitment by focusing on the important things first and not confusing the importance each task deserves in accordance to my end in mind. Furthermore, I want to continue growing in the maturity spectrum from dependence to independence. What will I do for myself? I will help myself to put first things first by asking myself the simple question: Will this task support my daily/weekly plan? If I answer no, then I will stop and find something that will. I will also allot a certain amount of time for each task I work on, so that I can easily notice if I’m giving too much attention to a simple, or otherwise, unimportant task. I will try to do this every time I felt that I’m taking too long on something. I see these things as simple changes that will help keep me on track and committed to this journey. How will I teach it someone else? When my students get to class I will begin by telling everyone that we are going to do an awesome art activity at the end of the day. I will hype it up, by talking about all the cool things that they will be able to use during this activity and ask if they are interested in doing the activity? When all of them, hopefully, answer yes. I will add it to the end of our daily schedule. Our official start is 8:15 am, but almost all my students get there 5 minutes before. During these five minutes they are allowed to use any app on their iPad before we officially begin class. While this is happening I will ask them if they would like more time doing this before we start our day? I’m assuming that almost all of my students will say yes. Therefore, I will allow them to continue using their iPads. I will, then say, “ Okay, when everyone is ready I would like for everyone to quietly let our classroom helper know you’re done, so that he can ring our rooster bell. This way I know you’re all ready to continue with our schedule.” When they agree, I will wait patiently and observe. I’m assuming my students will take a long time “playing” on their iPads and ignoring our daily schedule. I’m also assuming that my students will eventually get tired of “playing” and they will want to start our day. We will obviously start our day later than our normal time, which will push everything back. They will eventually figure out that we will not have time to do the last part of our day, which was that super awesome art activity we talked about at the beginning of class. Once I have the class bring this major issue up, I will ask them to go to our schoology discussion board and tell me why they think we did not have time to get to art today. We will look at the responses and find a common response. I’m assuming they will point to fact that they used a lot of their time “playing” at the beginning of the day. I will then ask them what should we have all done, so that we could have done the fun art activity. This is when I hope they will say that we should have done what was on our schedule first. To which I will respond with an explanation and the importance of putting first things first, or habit 3. Summarize: I have an end in mind or a plan of what I want. I always start with a mental blueprint of what I want and the steps I'm going to take to get there. My vision and the steps to get there have meaning and therefore create positive cycle of what I say, what I do and the consequences of my actions. The behavior I want change and my commitment: It is easy to lose sight of my path, because there are multiple visions that are constantly floating in my head. While I have amazing visions and goals of what I want for my future I must confess that I allow other things to dictate my path. I think I blame other things, because it is the easiest thing to do, or the at least the thing that will take away the sense of guilt when I don't stick to my vision or goals. I want to have a clear plan and stick to it. What will I do for myself? I can be easily distracted by other things that I might deem important, but I have to make sure that these things are part of my plan. Therefore, I want to try and create monthly agenda in which I map the steps to get o my vision or goal, for that month, and do one thing each day that will take me closer to these goals. How will I teach it someone else? While my students are aware of how important it is to develop good habits, as opposed to bad ones, I'm certain that they are still not fully aware of how important it is to create a plan to achieve a goal. I want to change this and make sure they understand the importance of Habit two. I will teach them about his habit through writing and the writing process. I'm going to give them 45 minutes to write about a topic. I will collect this piece and save it. Then, for the next four days, I will take them through the whole writing process. Next, they will compare their first paper, the 45 minute piece, to their second paper, one for which they actually created a plan. They will then compare the two and decide which one is better and why. This will hopefully help them see the importance of beginning with the end in mind. Summarize: I'm in charge of me is something that takes a lot for anyone to understand, adults, and children alike. The idea of having control over one's self is something that seems like a simple enough concept to understand, but one that takes a lot to put into practice. Being proactive is about taking charge of your life by taking initiative, choosing what kind of weather you will carry (things that you are in control of), and being responsible and taking ownership for all my actions. The behavior I want change and my commitment: I love taking on new and interesting projects/tasks. When I begin any of these said projects/tasks, I start off strong, very motivated, and with a lot of ideas. But as soon as I see something go wrong, or I find another project, then I move on to something else and don't complete what I started. I want to change that. I want to stay committed to one task and complete it. I want to be able to keep my focus, give it my all, and complete a task. What will I do for myself? I will begin with a simple plan each time I start. I will create a quick mind map to have that clear focus. I will take 20 minutes of each day to plan out my list of tasks that I will do for that day. This clear idea will help me to visualize the end product and consequently lead to more success, so that I can reach my task. How will I teach it someone else? I decide to focus on my class and help them find that focus as well. My second graders, like me, are great at thinking up ideas that are amazing, but like me, they have a hard time completing them to best of their ability. I want to show them, and remind them that it’s not just about finishing quickly or completing tasks by doing the bare minimum. I want them to see that bad habits like that will make it more difficult to complete bigger more involved tasks. I would also like for them to see that by changing our mindset and developing new habits they to can accomplish anything. I will begin by discussing the importance of developing good habits as opposed to bad ones. I will then ask them to think of various ways we can be proactive. I will give everyone a sticky note and ask each of them to think of way they can be proactive, so that everyone has a chance to contribute. Then we will review them as a class and use the proactive language to say how we are going to practice these. We will then take five minutes each day to write in our journals what we did that was proactive. |
AuthorI am in charge of what I Archives
March 2015
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