Leader In Me

Leader In Me

September is here and the students know classroom routines and procedures. We are teaching positive behavior through P.B.I.S and will soon be assisting students through the M.T.S.S framework. These systems are in place to help our students, however, they are missing a key component. They are lacking student empowerment and self-discipline. My school became the first “Leader In Me” school for OMSD last year. The “Leader in Me” program teaches students “7 Habits” that they need to become successful. I have discovered that what I have been trying to instill in my students aligns with the “Leader in Me” program. In my classroom, students become responsible for their behavior and learning. They know that they are in control of themselves and can achieve any goals they set for themselves.  

Every student has potential

              Many of our students lack basic skills and/ or are below grade level. As teachers, we must do our best to get them to meet grade-level standards. I have discovered through “Leader in me” that students need to be taught how to self-regulate their emotions and work well with others. Once they have learned these skills, they can reach any goal personally and academically. The “7 Habits of Happy Kids” learned through this program teaches students how to do that. I learned how important it is that students learn self-worth and that they have the potential to accomplish any task at hand no matter their circumstances. Students need to feel loved and supported. Every morning, I greet my students with a good morning greeting and acknowledge them by name. I also remind them of the great day we will have learning together. Simple conversations like these will encourage a student that they will have a great day. 

What are the “7 Habits of Happy Kids?”

              The creator of “Leader in me,” Steven Covey discovered that students will go through three stages of development through his 7 habits: Independence, interdependence, and developing the whole person. The independence stage has 3 habits: Habit #1: Be proactive, Habit #2 Begin with the end in mind, and Habit #3 Put first things first. The interdependence stage has 3 habits: Habit #4: Think win-win, Habit #5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood, and Habit #6: Synergize. The last stage is developing the whole person: Habit #7: Sharpen the saw. In order for me to teach the 7 habits, I first had to embrace them and implement them in my everyday life. I had to start slow and work on the first 3 habits in my personal life before I could share with my students. After I practiced the habits at home, then I could teach my students.

The First 3 Habits

Habit # 1: Be Proactive is all about having control over how you encounter a problem. In order to get the students to understand, I share a personal story and ask them how I should and should not respond. The key terms are proactive and reactive. I give a brief story about my sons fighting over a game. If the students come up with “they could share,” or “wait their turn,” I tell the students they are right and that means they are being proactive. If students do not say, “take it away,” or, “push them,” then I will introduce it. The students usually say it is not ok. I will then explain that that is being reactive. I ask my students daily, “How can you solve your problem?” Then the responsibility falls back on them. I constantly discuss being proactive/ reactive throughout the day during lessons, read alouds, and when students misbehave. Habit #1 falls in line with P.B.I.S!

              Habit # 2: Begin with the end in mind is making a plan to reach a goal. I start teaching by using myself as an example and tell a story of a goal that I want to meet. This month, I chose to be healthy. I asked the students about ways to be healthy and what I can do to reach my goal. We came up with drink water and exercise. The students are my accountability partners and ask me every day if I drank water and exercised. After we have charted my growth and understood how to make a plan, we as a class decided we needed to work on line basics. We came up with a plan and chart if we are meeting our goal. In time, we will set individual academic goals and chart them in our Leadership Notebooks. My students are learning to make plans to reach important goals.

Habit # 3: Put first things first is making time to put the important things first. As always with introducing habits, I give an example of myself. This time my example was how I was missing out on spending time with my sons because I had too much work to do. I discussed this with my students and they decided that I needed to only do work at school and not do it at home. They stated that spending time playing with my sons was more important than work. As a class, we learned that in order to have free playtime, we need to get our work done first, then we can play. It helps the students to be accountable in completing assignments and that they are the most important thing to take care of. When students are off task, I ask, “Are we putting first things first?” This helps students to check themselves and get back to work. My goal with these habits is to help students become accountable for their behavior and learning. My students learn the importance of taking care of themselves and have the potential to accomplish any goal they have.

Successfully Learning,
Marcy Mesa