Change is inevitable. Those who embrace the tools that best enable them to deal with change will survive and even thrive.
The reason I am passionate about the 7 Habits and The Leader in Me is that the principles of personal effectiveness and interpersonal relationships are timeless and apply to every aspect of our lives. Everyone who embraces these concepts increases their potential to be successful in whatever endeavor they undertake.
We are experiencing a change in our school culture as we continue to grow in the 7 Habits. As individuals, we are embracing these changes at different rates. Some of us jumped right on board while others have moved more slowly. This is OK and expected. It is important to understand that our pace of change will vary from person to person based on our experiences. What is critical is that we have common vision and goals for why we are working on this.
I want you to consider what your pace of change is for the 7 Habits and The Leader in Me. Do you see yourself as leading the charge or do you see yourself as reluctant and still searching for the "Why are we doing this?" Maybe you see the need to focus on these concepts, but you're having difficulty implementing them. What are your thoughts about your pace of change and our school's pace of change.
The reason I am passionate about the 7 Habits and The Leader in Me is that the principles of personal effectiveness and interpersonal relationships are timeless and apply to every aspect of our lives. Everyone who embraces these concepts increases their potential to be successful in whatever endeavor they undertake.
We are experiencing a change in our school culture as we continue to grow in the 7 Habits. As individuals, we are embracing these changes at different rates. Some of us jumped right on board while others have moved more slowly. This is OK and expected. It is important to understand that our pace of change will vary from person to person based on our experiences. What is critical is that we have common vision and goals for why we are working on this.
I want you to consider what your pace of change is for the 7 Habits and The Leader in Me. Do you see yourself as leading the charge or do you see yourself as reluctant and still searching for the "Why are we doing this?" Maybe you see the need to focus on these concepts, but you're having difficulty implementing them. What are your thoughts about your pace of change and our school's pace of change.
40 comments:
It's been different for me...I still learn and think "How would this work in my classroom and with my kids?" But then I don't have a "classroom or kids." I have a building and teachers. So, I have found that the application and change has happend for me, at a much more personal level, personal change. My influence on others and their aquisition of new skills and knowledge is at a much slower pace than what's taken place personally. BTW, great graphic! Where'd you find that?
That is a tough question to answer! When we began discussing, researching, etc.. the 7 Habits and Leader in Me I never once stopped to ask 'why?' or question the relevance of them. I immediately saw how powerful the learning could be for me personally and professionaly. I have to say I have experienced the most impact personally and the profesional impact has been a bit slower. I think most of that is because personal change is something I can control, at work it involves a variety of people with different views, and children, therefore you have to be more aware of how change is effecting them.
I think I see myself as leading the charge. I've been teaching in this building for more than 20 years and I have not been this excited about the direction we are headed. I love talking the talk.
Unlike Lisa, I do more with it at school, not home.
I definitely am not a leader in the sense that I want people looking at me and what I do. But, I do feel I am paving my new path with the 7 Habits. I see the benefit of living and thinking and doing the habits as lifelong skills. I feel as if am playing a part in helping my kids establish the qualities they'll need to be successful in subsequent grades, college, and life, in general. I KNOW the kids are watching me, evaluating me, in my endeavor toward living out the 7 habits, so maybe I am leading the way. For me, right now, that's the path that counts.
Being a proactive person who embraces change, I would like to think that I'm leading the 7 Habits charge at WA Porter. I have implemented the 7 Habits and incorporate the language into our daily routine and conversation. I have also added classroom leadership roles. The classroom implementation of the 7 Habits has been very positive. This encourages me to lead in the change within our school and share my ideas/thoughts. However, I KNOW that I have A LOT to learn still and am looking forward to it!
Good things are happening at David E. Smith! I love the change and I feel like I'm moving at the same pace as the school. I am not the least bit reluctant, and feel that The Leader In Me is the main focus of my classroom. Whenever behavior issues arise, I always take the time to stop and reflect on the habit that applies to the situation. I sometimes wonder if it is because I read the book and received the training. It is exciting to think about what David E. Smith will be like in 5 years!
School wide it is our opportunity to focus on the 7 Habits at a pace that is best for our own class. Seeing that, “all children are not made the same,” and/or, “all classes are not the same,” we may still be learning to be Proactive. That’s Ok, starting slow is sometimes better then moving on when you know they are just not ready. As for me, I try to reinforce the children when I can catch them. As I see something occurring in the hallways, lunch room, etc. it is my responsibility to “lend a hand,” and encourage making better choices.
I love the poem, At the Crossroads. How many of us were at that very same juncture in our youth, and had a mentor or teacher who helped you choose the right direction?
In a school environment we have an awesome opportunity to help children choose the right path. Starting with the basic priniciples of how to live a successful life by living out the 7 habits just makes good sense.
I find that I am slowly forging ahead in my classroom, but after being a lifelong procrastinator at home, the personal changes are slow to follow. I would not say that I am leading the way, but I am trying to keep a pace that will allow the kids to move forward and not get stuck on any one step too long. I want them to be conscious of the steps we've already covered, but I also want them to be excited about what it ahead.
I've found that reviewing the steps we have focused on and using the language consistently in class is making a difference and my students will be better equipped to carry on the habits in their own personal lives.
For myself, I will continue to fight the procrastination bug, and make my own growth in the 7 steps a priority.
Michelle
What else can I say about the 7 Habits that hasn't already been said. I look forward to the day when not only are the kids using the 7 habits at school but they have taken what they have learned to their homes and have influenced their families.
Although I think I am a better Indian than Chief, I have noticed by practicing the 7 Habits and using the language in my life I have become a leader in my classroom and my subordinate team members. I have made a huge impact on Jen.
Donna
I am noticing changes in the students at our school, some more quickly than others. I saw a great example of a student exhibiting habit #5 today (Seek first to understand....) A little girl was in the nurse's office a couple of weeks ago and was told to change out of her shorts into some long pants because it was cold outside. (She said she didn't have any pants at home). Another little girl was in the nurse office at the time, sitting quietly. Today, the little girl who was sitting quietly that day, brought a bag to school with 2 nice pairs of pants "for the little girl who doesn't have any." It really was sweet! I had to call her mom to make sure mom knew she was giving away her clothing. Mom said that when she heard someone else didn't have clothing to wear, she really wanted to help her. The two girls don't even know each other! I think we, as a school, are progressing at a good pace with the 7 Habits. It is really nice for all of us to be able to use the same encouraging vocabulary....
I SEE CHANGE occurring everyday. The environment in my clasroom has changed since teaching, practicing, and using the 7 habits. I use it as my behavior plan and it has proven to work.
Erin
I definitely think that I am taking action. I truly believe in the 7 habits and try to find ways to implement them into my classroom whenever I can. I think it needs to be woven in whatever we do. It will take some more practice for me to be fluent in the language on a whim. Of course "proactive" rolls off the tongue constantly, but I don't find myself saying "sharpen the saw" to the same extent. I am trying to use the language more each day.
Angela LeRoy
You make some good points above.
However, I also think that this can be helpful to you:
The book and Training Video: PREVENTING Classroom Discipline Problems
If you can get this book and video: [they are in many libraries, so you don't have to buy them] email me and I can refer you to the sections of the book and video [that demonstrates the effective vs. the ineffective teacher] that can help you.
If your library does not have them, you can get them at:
http://www.panix.com/~pro-ed/
that are also used at this online course:
www.ClassroomManagementOnline.com
See: Reviews at: http://classroommanagementonline.com/comteach.html
If you cannot get the book or video, email me anyway, and I will try to help.
Best regards,
Howard
Howard Seeman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus,
City Univ. of New York
Prof. Seeman
Hokaja@aol.com
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My thoughts concerning my pace of change and our school's pace of change is that personally I'm not as proactive as I feel I will be with experiece's time. I feel that you always do a better job each time you revisit a concept because of past learning and with figuring out what worked and what did not. I didn't get off to a great start, due to the waiting of materials and with my own personal knowledge of the program, but I feel that I will have a better start next year with organization and presenting lessons at the very start of the school year. My class lessons have been picking up and we hit a lesson weekly-every Friday, so it's getting better. :) I feel that our school has done a great job at emplimenting the 7 Habits and the children are really grasping the idea of the character development and what it means for them now, and in their future.
Reed
It was immediate for me as well to see how powerful these habits are and how important they are to have good character. The language of it is still "a work in progress" for some of the habits, especially within the classroom. I look forward to learning more about implementation.
Jill Fielder
I have never asked why we are doing this, but instead would ask, why wouldn't we do this!! I think all schools need this. These kids are the future and the future progressively gets more and more difficult. Teaching our kids the seven habits now will only benefit them in the future. They are the next leaders after all. I like the little picture of the person falling down on the blog picture. I think for me I am taking action to set things in motion in the classroom. We have leadership jobs and try to connect the habits to many of the books we read and activities we do in the classroom. I feel like the falling person from time to time when I fall back into the old ways. The old saying that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is wrong...you can teach teachers new things, but sometimes it takes a while. I appreciate schools that realize that this is going to be a work in progress and they do not expect perfection immediately! I look forward to what our schools will do and the difference it is going to make.
The 7 habits seem very normal to me. It is a value system that was instilled in me by my parents. I can remember as a child not always feeling that way about these values. I believe in them, though, and think our kids deserve to be taught values that will allow them to be successful in life. Change for many of them seems to be occurring slowly, but I believe they are worth the time and effort.
I definitely hear the implementation of the 7 habits as I go from classroom to classroom. I love how the students, often on their own, are able to make connections between guidance lesson topics and the habits. I love that we as a school - students and staff - jumped in with both feet at the start of the year. We seem to be continuing to go strong. I'm excited to see how we "kick it up a notch" as we continue to grow in and implement the 7 habits.
Lisa L.
While I am not "leading the charge" I am eager to learn more about using the 7 Habits in my personal life, as well as at school. I still have to remind myself to use the language but am very excited about the changes I see at our school. One of my favorite things to say as I dismiss a class is "a leader is more than the person at the front of the line - a leader sets the example." I love the difference in our hallways and the fact that students enter my classroom ready to work. As the holidays approach I think I will need to take more time to help the children focus on using the 7 Habits, but I am confident that we can do it!
The seven habits has really taken off on a positive path in our school. The kids seem to be changing their ways and getting along better/solving their own problems. Personally, it is helping with my family at home and is very exciting. I look forward to a few years from now when the students really grasp what it is all about and are putting this to practice both at school and with their own families.
I use the 7 habits more at home with the Grandkids. As Darla pointed out this is something I was taught at home. I inturn taught it to my children, but I can see if it gets dropped by one generation you start loosing. Some of our students are only getting taught ethics at school. It won't be long before they begin teaching this to their parents. We must continue the 7 habits at school. It could be the most important thing we teach.
Sallye
It is so great to read everyone's thoughts! On a personal note, my daughter, who for the last year thought I had been 'brainwashed' by the 7 Habits, used the term 'synergize' to describe a situation w/some fellow classmates! Hmm... maybe brainwashing isn't all that bad! LOL!
Mais
I don't know if I would say I was "leading the charge" in my classroom, but this is something I definitely feel strongly about and this is so important. I , too, am having trouble remembering to use the language consistently, but we do have leadership roles in my classroom. I also greet each child in the morning with a handshake and each child in my class rotates on a weekly basis being the student greeter. Some of the habits are easy to implement in Kindergarten, and others are more difficult- at least for me. I've already seen a difference, however, in both my classroom and throughout our school. I can't wait to see where this takes us!
I am using the "proactive" strategy with my best friend who has been laid off for 3rd time from IT field. Also, just being available to talk by phone, text or visit another girlfriend to 'synergize' while she recoupersates from cancer surgery.
At the beginning of the year, the students kept asking, "Why do you keep bringing this up?" Now they understand that we are working to change their habits and create lifelong strategies for success in any area. I do not consider myself a leader, but I am definitely "on board" with these changes and I see improvemnts across the school.
Rocha
I don't find the 7 habits difficult to work into speech therapy. Some of them are things we have always done, but it helps to have them clearly defined. I agree with Angela LeRoy, however, that there seem to be more opportunities to use some of the habits than others. I apply #1-6 more often than #7.
In response to ProfSeeman, I have not read the materials you referred to, so I'm not sure how it goes along with 7 Habits. However, the mention of classroom management, effectiveness, etc. did spur the thought that 7 Habits is so much more than just getting the kids to do what they are supposed to so the class runs well. It is getting them to incorporate these values into their very nature. It just seems so much deeper and important than surface behavior issues.
I believe that W.A. Porter is "leading the charge" together. We are each incorporating the 7 Habits into our classrooms and using the language in day to day conversations and lessons with our students. I think this combined effort is helping make the transition easier. In my classroom I try to use the 7 Habits language whenever I can, and I have also helped my students develop classroom leadership roles this year. I still feel like I need some practice, but it's easier knowing my colleagues are in the same boat and that we all support each others' efforts.
The 7 Habits is slowly taking form in my classroom. I have fewer and fewer students tattling because, as a class, we are enforcing being in charge of yourself. In addition, several parents have commented on teachers being at the door in the morning and Mr. Gregory greeting students. I a beginning to see wonderful habits forming!
rachel
I feel I am more of a leader when it comes to the 7 Habits. I think about each one of the habits and truly believe that they are life lessons and not just a set of statements. These are not just life lessons that we want to instill in our students, but also in ourselves. If we model each one of the habits, then we will be leading and teaching by example. I want in my own life, the 7 habits to become second nature. I want that same thing for my students. I already see positive results with my own students. After attending a conference at the Covey Center, I came back to my classroom and made a few changes. I gave all my students a job. They voted to make the jobs last 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, I had them choose their replacement. I asked them to think about who would be able to do their job and then I had them train their replacement. It was a great experience. It is a joy to watch them grow and mature through the 7 habits. Just like in your graphic we have some that have slipped up a little and we revisit the habits to remind us of where we want to be. Thankfully, there are always opportunities to use our 7 HABITS!
In the past I have not embraced change, but I have not had a problem with starting to use the 7 habits at Porter. I think it is a great thing for the kids. I don't get to use the language of the 7 habits with the kids as much as the teachers do, but when I do as was said above I use proactive most of all. I need to work on using the other vocabulary more often.
Ginger Griffin
I find every aspect of the seven habits to be a positive change for us all here at W.A.Porter. This paradigm shift enables the students to feel in control of themselves and their own destinies. Furthermore, the seven habits higlights just how many decisions a person must make in a single day and how those decisions effect not only that person but everyone around them. At home, I am constantly using the same langugae, which I have grown accustomed to at school, in order to help solve family problems. Of course, in the begining, my own children would groan and look at me like I was crazy but now I hear them telling one another, "that is not a win-win," and it makes me smile.
I am brand new to both David E. Smith and the 7 habits. I recently finished the book and I am looking forward to training this coming August. I wholehaertedly agree with the concepts presented in the 7 habits and I have already begun to put them into practice as I inteface with the students.
I may not be the leader but I do have the 7 habits in mind in everything I do now. I don’t feel that I have the language down all the time but my belief is strong. I believe that in using the 7 habits we are giving a gift in living the “Right Way” to children for the future. I am wondering why the BISD district has not adopted the 7 habits district wide. Porter has definitely come as one in leading the charge together.
I am finding myself using the language everyday and my students are too. I am on the band wagon and know it can work. We have seen it work this year already. Porter is a great school but we can always improve. By all of us using the same language, our students will know what to expect when they walk in every classroom from K to 5th grade.
I have never questioned "why" we were using the 7 Habits approach with our students. Like someone said above, "why not?" There are nothing but positives associated with its implementation.
I would not call myself a leader in implementing the change, but definitely did a good job at the beginning of the year introducing the habits to my students, using the 7 Habits stories and characters to explain them, and implementing class jobs in my classroom (LOVE them, by the way!). What I need to do now is to revisit the habits again and to find more ways to point them out to the kids on a regular, routine basis.
I think that as a school, Porter has done an excellent job of jumping right into the program and implementing it schoolwide. I have never felt that anyone here was not onboard and supportive of the approach.
Tracy Clegg
You kbow what is so great about the 7 habits? We are having to follow them at school in order to make them work for our students! We've been SYNERGIZING! We are working together as a campus for the greater good of our students! We are PUTTING FIRST THINGS FIRST, knowing that if our students don't know how to take care of themselves and take care of others, it doesn't really matter what academic skills they master, we are being PROACTIVE, taking the steps necessary to help our students be successful in the 7 habits mindset...we are BEGINNING WITH THE END IN MIND, we know what it is we want our students to achieve in the end, We are thinking WIN-WIN, helping students (and ourselves) see that often the best solution is one that is a compromise, where all voices and opinions are heard and respected (oh, isnt' that SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN BE UNDERSTOOD)?
I feel I am a helping to lead in the 7 habits. I am not afraid of change and welcome the challenges to become a better person. The pace is ok for me personally, but I think our students in the lower grades need a slower pace. I believe our 3-5th grade students are beginning to understand and implement the first two habits. enjoy the common focus.
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