Making the Seven Habits a Part of Everything Respectfully submitted by Jaimie Smith

“For many schools and educators, this approach [using the seven habits] will represent a significant paradigm shift. The approach A. B. Combs has undertaken is a ‘ubiquitous’ approach. “Ubiquitous” means that it is built into everything the school does…” The Leader in Me.

At W. A. Porter, we are working through the shift in thinking and how can we make the seven habits a part of everything we do. During the recent staff development, we were able to work on aspects of implementing the seven habits on our campus and making it a part of our campus culture. To begin our work, we did a consensogram about how often we implement the seven habits in daily lessons. Do we consciously think about how we can incorporate the seven habits in lessons while lesson planning? We also completed an affinity diagram on ways to help implement the seven habits in daily lessons. Because of our work with David E. Smith, we also re-examined our campus-wide discipline system and made some changes to reinforce the positive side of the seven habits. A group of staff members worked on the curriculum for the first week of school listing additional resources available for all to use. A third group worked on the school leadership roles for next year. We have narrowed our school leadership roles to twelve. It is our plan to roll out the school-wide leadership roles process in May, so we are ready to go when we return in August of 2010. Each of these groups will continue to work on their area of implementing the seven habits throughout the spring. The last thing Porter discussed as a campus was having staff leadership groups as a model for our students. Some example of staff leadership groups are The Birthday group, The Celebration group, The Daily Five group, The Prayer group, The Data group, etc. The idea is that a staff member could sign up for any group(s) in which they have a strength. Then the group would work together to perform their role on campus. This is a completely different way of thinking about how we form groups to do the work on campus.

Some things to think about:
Do you consciously think about how to incorporate the seven habits when doing lesson plans? If not, what would help you implement the seven habits in daily lessons?
How do you feel about using the first week of school to introduce each of the seven habits instead of a major emphasis on the academics?
What input do you have on staff leadership roles?

Respectfully submitted by Jaimie Smith.

Keeping the Faith and Staying the Course

This is the time of year when stress, fatigue, and anxiety start to creep into our daily lives at school. While I have observed tremendous success with the 7 Habits and The Leader in Me, I have noticed that not all students seem to be getting it. In some instances, we may even see students regress.

When things seem to be unravelling is precisely the time we must recommit ourselves. Keeping the faith and staying the course requires that we keep the big prize in mind. Consider our Vision ~ All Students Succeed in a Future They Create. Consider our Mission ~ We Engage and Encourage Students and Staff Every Day Through Meaningful Work in a Safe and Caring Environment. Consider our district belief statements and examine your own beliefs about children and education. Does our work with the 7 Habits and the Leader in Me directly correlate with our Vision, Mission, and Beliefs? If it does, then you must have faith that this will ultimately lead to great results. You must stay the course even when things get tough, and they will get tough.

Consider that students come to you with various background experiences, different cultural values, and widely scattered academic abilities. Students are going to internalize the principles of the 7 Habits at different rates. Some students will come to you ready to go on day 1. For some students it will be a work in progress that may last years. Don't lose your faith in the principles of the work. Even if you don't see monumental change in some students it doesn't mean that you are failing or that the child isn't getting something out of it. There is no perfect timeline for children when it comes to learning anything.

Focus on the big prize. Consistently go back and recommit yourself to your beliefs about children and education, our mission, and our ultimate vision. Your daily work in this endeavour is invaluable, even if you don't always see the immediate results. What tools are you using to keep the faith and stay the course?