What “Sharpening the Saw” means to me: Sharpening the saw means to invest some time on yourself. Life is compiled of many segments that, in spite of being separated, they are somehow weaved together creating a whole. Every piece matters, and each one of them directly affects the other. If one piece is missing or uncared for, the rest will be affected in some way. To ensure that all pieces are working in harmony, each one needs to be cared for, even if it seems as they have no impact or the same importance as the rest. There are four classifications that can be easily overlooked and they are the physical health, exercising our mind, relationships, and spirituality. One needs to make a conscious effort to maintain them in good shape to make life easier and more meaningful. What do I want to change and commit to (modeling)? · Take care of my body by continuing with my fitness program. · Taking care of my health re-assessing my eating habits. · Continue furthering my education and accomplishing my educational goals. · Dedicate some time for meditation. · Work on my people skills. Teaching new knowledge: This year I decided to include time to read aloud to my students and they seem to really enjoy and they look forward for those last 15 minutes before dismissal. I found a website that gives a list of books that are relevant to each one of the habits. I am going to read to my students a series of books that will focus in the different ways we can sharpen the saw such as taking care of their body and the importance of physical fitness, taking care of their mind by learning new things and being more inquisitive. Also, I would like to help students understand how to take care of their relationships and friendships. At last, I would like to encourage them to start writing a journal. Some of the titles that are recommended for this habit are: · Owl Moon by Jane Yolen · The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats · Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems · Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D. B. Johnson · Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky · Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by DyAnne DiSalvo Ryan What “Synergize” means to me:
Synergizing is to put all efforts together to complete a task. l though it is not the same as collaborating, it is very similar because it requires for people to work together as a team. Synergizing involves a group of elements working together, bringing their strengths together to create something greater than the sum of all elements. It is about fining innovative ways to solve old problems. Synergizing is about being open-minded and using our differences to create new things. What do I want to change and commit to (modeling)? · I will invite parents to enrich our lessons by sharing their talents with my students. · Acknowledging students strengths, and encouraging them to synergize with their peers. · Providing more opportunities for students to synergize during class. Teaching new knowledge: In our school we celebrate multiculturalism every year with an event called. “International Fair” Since we are already preparing for this huge event, I think this would serve as a good example for synergy. During this event, parents, teachers and students get their talents and skills together to make this an exceptional fair. I will make the connection with my students about how synergizing helps us accomplish that huge task. What “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” means to me:
Seeking for understanding means that one needs to take the time to listen and understand where things are coming from, without making any assumptions or judgments. Before we expect others to understand our point of views, one needs to give others the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings. This habit addresses the circle of influence. I can control my approach to becoming a better listener at the same time that I can help others change their perspective. Becoming a good listener can also help for collaboration. The better we communicate, the more productive. What do I want to change and commit to (modeling)? · Focus more in the message rather than the words themselves. · Become a better listener. · Rephrase what I hear to make sure I understood correctly. · To become more empathetic. · Not to use paradigm filters when listening to others. · Agree to disagree Teaching new knowledge: I decided to use resources from the “Leader in Me” official website because this is a difficult concept to explain. I found this lesson that I liked for my students. FRANKLIN COVEY LESSON PLAN Brush That Bullying Away! By: Pam Almond and Debbie Falkner, A.B. Combs Elementary School Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood Grade 2 Common Core State Standards Connections • 2.lCR1.5 Exemplify how to communicate with others with kindness and respect. • PE.2.PR.4.2 Summarize the benefits of positive social interaction as to make activities more enjoyable. • 2.MEH.1.1 Identify appropriate standards for behavior. • SL2.6 Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. Learning Outcomes At the end of this lesson, students will understand that words are very powerful tools that can either encourage or discourage our friends. Materials • "The Berenstain Bears and the Bully" by Jan and Stan Berenstain • Toothpaste • Paper plate Learning Activities REVIEW (1 minutes) Ask, "What does Seek First to Understand mean? Can you give an example?" ANTICIPATORY Set (3 minute) Ask, "Have you ever said something to a friend that made him or her sad or happy? Why do you think those words made your friend feel that way?" END IN MIND/OBJECTIVE (1 minute) Say, "Today we will read a book and learn that our words and actions affect our friends in positive and negative ways." GUIDED PRACTICE (30 minutes) Read "The Berenstain Bears and the Bully" and lead a discussion about how Sister Bear felt when she was being bullied at school. Then ask students to raise their hand and tell about a mean comment they’ve heard or a mean action they’ve seen. Each time a student talks about a mean comment or action, squeeze out a little bit of toothpaste onto a paper plate. After about 10 of these responses and a lot of toothpaste on the paper plate. Say, “Can I put the toothpaste back into the tube? No! What if the person who did these mean things says “I’m sorry”? Can he or she take back the mean words or actions?” Lead the students to understand that even though the bully can and should apologize, the hurtful words and actions are like the toothpaste. Once it’s out, you can’t take it back, but you can always make amends to build a stronger friendship. CLOSURE (10 minutes) Say “As friends we sometimes say or do things we don’t mean to do. Sometimes we may not seek to understand our friends’ feelings. It is times like these that we need to use our words and talk to our friends so that we can seek to understand their feelings and they can seek to understand our feelings.” Resources: The Leader In Me Online. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.theleaderinmeonline.org/community/view/279/brush-that-bullying-away-official-franklincovey-lesson-plan What Win-Win means to me:
Win-win is the art to compromise, the give and take game of negotiation. A win-win situation is the one in which everyone takes something. Although in many instances some people may thing that they are loosing because they are not taking all, at the end, there is greater benefits when we share. It is based on the concept of collaboration Vs competition. Summative, not subtractive. In some cases there is a need for added efforts to achieve a goal then sharing it after. What do I want to change and commit to (modeling)? · To increase the level of communication. · To find more ways to effectively compromise with people around me. · Identifying what is an acceptable solution. · Review the situation through different perspectives. · Avoid competitive settings for my students. Teaching new knowledge: First I will read the story The Little Red Hen to introduce and discuss the concept. After discussing about the story we will make connections and come up with possibly changing the story into a more win-win situation. I am also thinking on having some activities and games that call for compromising. For example, giving one granola bar for 3 students. Students will have to discuss what is the best way to deal with this situation and how to make it a win-win. What Putting first things first means to me: Prioritizing is a way to organize our life to ensure that we take care of what really is important us. It is a relative concept because each individual has their own view of what matters most to them. Many times we get carried away and worry mostly on getting things done that we forget or neglect our of focus from what really matters to us such as our family, our work or our health. What do I want to change and commit to (modeling)? · Take the time to prioritize and define what is important to me. · Commit, stay focus, and dedicate enough time to what is most important to me. · Always try my best in everything I do and not feel guilty when I do not get far on things that are not my priority. Teaching new knowledge: In my class we will start by making a flow chart of the steps necessary to complete a simple every day activity. We will relate it to an everyday event and show students how to prioritize their daily routine to make it go smoother. We will do a spiral review. I will connect habit one being proactive by making good choices, and doing things before they are told to do so by their parents. Also habit two beginning with the end in mind as the final goal, which is to prepare to go to school. What Begin With the End in Mind means to me:
In order to map or plan something, it is important to know where we are going. The more specific and detailed it is, the more likely to be achieved. Things do not happen by chance; instead, they are the result of our actions. Being able to have a clear vision of what we want and where we want to end, helps us break big tasks into small ones ranging from short term, intermediate, and long term. They are like puzzle pieces where one piece completes the one before and connects the next one up until the whole picture is completed. Early in my career a professor said to the class: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and that is exactly what happens when people do not have a plan. I was just living my life with no specific place to land, when suddenly reality hit me and I decided to set my goals in life to better my situation. During my freshman year of college I wrote an essay titled STEP NUMBER ONE That essay tells the story about the day I decided to go back to college and how I was able to plan my future once I knew where I was going and what I wanted to do with my future. Little by little I was able to achieve the immediate goals, which turned into long-term goals that help me accomplish my final goal. What do I want to change and commit to (modeling)? · Have a clear and defined vision of where I want to go in my personal and professional duties. · Plan ahead and set short and long-term goals. · Plan backwards to see exactly where I stand and where I need to start. Teaching new knowledge: I have connected this concept with our health and wellness science subject to explain what having an end in mind looks like. Once we defined the meaning and benefits of being healthy we decided to use that concept as our final goal. We then started brainstorming and creating a plan about what is it going to take to be healthy. We addressed the different things that contribute to our health such as doing physical activity and eating right. After that we talked about specific examples of activities that would help us reach our goal. What being proactive means to me: We are subjected to our surroundings. What happens around us affects our life in one way or another. Being proactive is about taking control of situations and making the right decisions. A proactive approach offers the opportunity to avoid being reactive to external stimuli, to tackle tasks in a more effective way, promotes self-initiative and positive attitude. What do I want to change and commit to (modeling)? · I want change the way I handle rough situations. · I want get more organized and take control in all situations for which I am expected to lead. · I want take the time to analyze and weight possible solutions to ensure that I am making the best decisions possible. · I want focus more on my circle of influence and work around things that I can not change. · I want use my abilities to maximize efficiency on the things I do on a daily basis. · I want take advantage of my impetus to incorporate new habits and tasks that may influence those around me in a positive way. Teaching new knowledge: This school year came with new challenges for me. I would like to focus on teaching the seven habits to my students to improve their social interaction. I want to help my students build a strong community in which everybody feels safe and motivated to learn. I want to start by raising awareness of their feelings. Students need to learn how to see within themselves and how to listen to their bodies. I believe that they need to identify how they feel in order to take control of their surroundings, decisions and their own emotional state by turning negative feelings into positive ones. Once they learn to identify their own feelings, we can move on to teach them how to acknowledge others emotions and how to impact others in a positive encouraging way. |
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March 2015
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