I am going to be enhancing my leadership qualities by learning about, and teaching others, the 7 habits of highly effective people. Each week I will be learning a new habit, discussing how I am going to integrate it into my interactions with others and teaching this new habit to another person. I will be teaching these habits and discussing my learning with my fellow fifth grade teacher, Courtney. She is new to teaching this year and I hope to share my learning to not only help myself understand the new skill I am working on, but help her understand it and possibly implement it as well. We talk constantly throughout the week since we team teach and share all of our students. I’m not sure we will have a specified time each week to discuss the new habit (such as Wednesdays at 2:00), but I know we will make time to sit down and discuss it. We always have meetings on Mondays from 1:15 - 3:15 so if a hard deadline is needed, I will discuss it during this time.
The first habit I will be learning and teaching about his week is being proactive. Being proactive means you take responsibility for your actions and gain control over your circumstances instead of being controlled by them. You get more positive results by taking responsibility for your actions and making wise choices than by reacting to situations and blaming others. When people see that I am proactively controlling situations and taking responsibility, I will increase my sphere of influence as a leader. It requires a shift in how you look at the world and react to it and in turn it will make you a more effective leader. The thing to remember is that you only have control over three things: what you think, what you say and how you behave. Since I can control all three of these things, I will be more proactive in my interactions, get more positive results, and increase my sphere of influence.
The way I am going to be more proactive is by planning ahead. I am really organized and have always been a planner. This makes being proactive an easier task. If I am thinking about an event coming up, such as Back to School night, I will think about what I need to do to make it a positive experience, and take steps to do so. I will not wait for others to tell me what to do, or blame others if the experience is negative. I have control over my actions and I am choosing to be proactive and will plan ahead for Back to School night. I will also think about my interactions with others and plan ahead for what I can do to make the interactions more positive. Whether it’s interactions with my students, their parents, or colleagues, being prepared for those interactions is what allows you to gain control over your circumstances. I will not walk into class on Monday and expect my lesson plans to magically appear. I will plan my lessons ahead of time, think about possible problems that my students may have during the lesson and plan solutions. When working with my colleagues, I will plan ahead and write down ideas that I think should be addressed at our meetings to avoid confusion or misunderstandings that week. I will be taking control of my actions throughout the week and in doing so will have a more positive experience. I have already started being proactive is by taking control of some of my current circumstances. Our district is currently undergoing major shifts in teacher and student relocation. Due to this, maintenance is bogged down with orders and many were not completed by the beginning of school. Our classroom projectors have sat in a box all week and have not been installed yet. One way I have been proactive is by taking control of the situation and connecting the projector myself and set it up on a desk (they are normally installed on the ceiling). I now have a working projector until they come to install it on the ceiling. This makes my classroom a bit more cramped because my students desks needed to be rearranged to make space for the projector, but it enhances their learning experience so I believe it is worth it.
When I have my discussion with Courtney about being proactive, I will explain the concept first, of taking responsibility for our actions to gain control over our circumstances to have a more positive experience. Then, I will explain examples of how I have done this over the course of the week (such as the projector example). I will explain how my circumstances improved because of the wise choices I have made by taking control. I hope Courtney will then maybe be able to share some experiences that she has had throughout the week in which she has been proactive. I think it would also be valuable to discuss certain things that could have gone better throughout the week if I had been more proactive. Since this is a new habit that I am working on, it will not be perfected in the first week, so discussing how I could have done better in certain areas could be beneficial.
The way I am going to be more proactive is by planning ahead. I am really organized and have always been a planner. This makes being proactive an easier task. If I am thinking about an event coming up, such as Back to School night, I will think about what I need to do to make it a positive experience, and take steps to do so. I will not wait for others to tell me what to do, or blame others if the experience is negative. I have control over my actions and I am choosing to be proactive and will plan ahead for Back to School night. I will also think about my interactions with others and plan ahead for what I can do to make the interactions more positive. Whether it’s interactions with my students, their parents, or colleagues, being prepared for those interactions is what allows you to gain control over your circumstances. I will not walk into class on Monday and expect my lesson plans to magically appear. I will plan my lessons ahead of time, think about possible problems that my students may have during the lesson and plan solutions. When working with my colleagues, I will plan ahead and write down ideas that I think should be addressed at our meetings to avoid confusion or misunderstandings that week. I will be taking control of my actions throughout the week and in doing so will have a more positive experience. I have already started being proactive is by taking control of some of my current circumstances. Our district is currently undergoing major shifts in teacher and student relocation. Due to this, maintenance is bogged down with orders and many were not completed by the beginning of school. Our classroom projectors have sat in a box all week and have not been installed yet. One way I have been proactive is by taking control of the situation and connecting the projector myself and set it up on a desk (they are normally installed on the ceiling). I now have a working projector until they come to install it on the ceiling. This makes my classroom a bit more cramped because my students desks needed to be rearranged to make space for the projector, but it enhances their learning experience so I believe it is worth it.
When I have my discussion with Courtney about being proactive, I will explain the concept first, of taking responsibility for our actions to gain control over our circumstances to have a more positive experience. Then, I will explain examples of how I have done this over the course of the week (such as the projector example). I will explain how my circumstances improved because of the wise choices I have made by taking control. I hope Courtney will then maybe be able to share some experiences that she has had throughout the week in which she has been proactive. I think it would also be valuable to discuss certain things that could have gone better throughout the week if I had been more proactive. Since this is a new habit that I am working on, it will not be perfected in the first week, so discussing how I could have done better in certain areas could be beneficial.