Thursday, July 28, 2011

We Are Leaders Because We All Have Gifts

The 7 Habits of Happy Kids [Book]




Have you read this book???  It is based on Stephen Covey's Book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People .  My school is in its 2nd year of implementing the habits. It has made an incredible difference in the students at my school.  It is refreshing to see children take responsiblity for their own actions (self discipline) and learning!  It has been a truly amazing transformation!  I had the opportunity to visit AB Combs, a leadership school..... wow!  double wow!   I highly recommend both of these books to you. 





This is the review from Amazon.... It says it all!

The world has entered an era of the most profound and challenging change in human history. Most of our children are not prepared, and we know it.
Parents around the world see the change and know that the traditional three R's -- reading, writing, and arithmetic -- are necessary, but not enough. Their children need to become far more responsible, creative, and tolerant of differences. They need to increase their ability to think for themselves, take initiative, get along with others, and solve problems.
Business leaders are not finding people whose skills and character match the demands of today's global economy, including strong communication, teamwork, analytical, technology, and organizational skills. They need young people who are self-motivated, creative, and have a strong work ethic.
How will we bridge this ever-widening gap? The Leader in Me is the story of the extraordinary schools, parents, and business leaders around the world who are preparing the next generation to meet the great challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.
In 1999, the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina was on the verge of being cut as a magnet school and needed to find new ways to educate its students. Teachers and administrators began teaching practical, principle-based leadership skills -- with remarkable results. In a short time, the number of students passing end-of-grade tests vaulted from 84 to 97 percent. Simultaneously, the school began reporting significant increases in students' self-confidence, dramatic drops in discipline problems, and striking increases in teacher and administrator job satisfaction. Parents, meanwhile, reported equivalent improvements in their children's attitudes and behavior at home. As news of the school's success spread, schools around the world began adopting the mantra to "develop leaders, one child at a time." Business and civic leaders started partnering with schools in their communities to sponsor teacher training and student resources. Each school and family approached the principles differently, but the results were the same -- attentive, energized young people engaging in the world around them.
The best way to prepare the next generation for the future is to emphasize the value of communication, cooperation, initiative, and unique, individual talent -- for nothing undermines confidence more than comparison. Whether in the classroom or at home, it is never too early to start applying leadership skills to everyday life. Drawing on the many techniques and examples that have already seen incredible success around the world, The Leader in Me shows how easy it is to incorporate these skills into daily life. It is a timely answer to many of the challenges facing today's young people, businesses, parents, and educators -- one that is perfectly matched to the global demands of the twenty-first century.

Have you or your school implemented the habits?  I would love to hear your comments.

6 comments:

Sarah said...

Our district is implementing The Leader in Me this year. I'm really excited about it! Last school year, I visited a school in Illinois that has the program in place. I got so many great ideas. I would LOVE to visit A.B. Combs. Their principal came to our district to speak last month. She is amazing!
I would love to hear more about how you introduce the 7 Habits in your room and how you start the school year off introducing them--I'm also a kindergarten teacher. Do you use data notebooks? We're beginning the use of them this year also.

Pam said...

Hi Sarah,
This year I am going to introduce a lesson a week from the 7 Habits book and focus on that habit that week. For the first few weeks of school I will introduce the habits and the children and I will write a "vision" for our class. We will practice the habits---what does that habit look like, sound like, feel like...and practice all year! This is just a short version of what we do! We do use data notebooks. This was easy for us because we have been using them for years. In my notebook, I have included the academic goal and personal goal of each child. After visiting Combs it was easy to implement. I also rely heavily on the book, The Leader in Me. It helps you to find ways for children to practice their leadership skills. By the end of last year, my children were so skilled in the habits they rarely needed any guidance from me socially and there were very few behavioral problems. Oh,,, we have a can do kid assembly once a month where the children lead the assembly and we honor children and their special leadership abilities. I can send you my school's website if you email me. It has some pics on it that you may like. Thank you and please let me know if I can help you in any way!

Anonymous said...

My school is currently in it's second year of implementation. I would love to see your data notebook.

~Heather said...

This is our first year of implementing the 7 habits and I am really excited about this! Do you have lesson plans that you use when introducing the habits each week. I really could use some great ideas...I kind of feel like I'm at a roadblock with this.

Pam said...

Pam,
Would you be willing to share some of the things you are doing in your class using the Seven Habits? I was wanting some ideas to use with literature. We have been setting goals all year and graphing our goals. However, we just now put together our actual data notebooks. The kids loved them.

Mczachurski said...

Hi nice reaading your post

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