I am so glad that we are going to be spending some time with Stephen Cover and his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People text. I was first exposed to this text about a year and a half ago when I started teaching at my school. We have an Advisory class that meets three times a week for 40 minutes, and at least once a week we spend time reading through the student version of this text, and try to build up the character of the students in out classes. I think that by going through some of this myself, it will make me much more successful at teaching these habits to my students, and I look forward to that time that we will be spending together.
It is easy to ask for these character changes from my students, but to truly internalize these lessons is not something I have spent much time doing. Because I have seen how great these lessons can be, I will commit to being open to what I am learning. I commit to spend time each week pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone, and to reflect on my habits and behaviors honestly.
I like the differences that the text draws between the circles of influence and the circles of concern. Proactive people worry about the circles of influence. They worry about the things that they can do something about. Reactive people worry about the circle of concern, or things that they have very little power over.
Our school has used this video below as a nice little metaphor for being proactive. Most of the time, taking the first step is obvious, we just hesitate, doubt ourselves, or do not want to do it. This compares that experience to being on an escalator when it breaks. Sometimes you just have to walk the rest of the way yourself, and not wait for someone to come help.
It is easy to ask for these character changes from my students, but to truly internalize these lessons is not something I have spent much time doing. Because I have seen how great these lessons can be, I will commit to being open to what I am learning. I commit to spend time each week pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone, and to reflect on my habits and behaviors honestly.
I like the differences that the text draws between the circles of influence and the circles of concern. Proactive people worry about the circles of influence. They worry about the things that they can do something about. Reactive people worry about the circle of concern, or things that they have very little power over.
Our school has used this video below as a nice little metaphor for being proactive. Most of the time, taking the first step is obvious, we just hesitate, doubt ourselves, or do not want to do it. This compares that experience to being on an escalator when it breaks. Sometimes you just have to walk the rest of the way yourself, and not wait for someone to come help.