A Special Kind of Love

Throughout our careers we have the opportunity to work with so many kids.  Many of those kids have special needs in some form or another.  Some require special attention academically, others emotionally, while some require "a special kind of love" all the way around.  We have students who start with us in kindergarten and stay with us through fifth grade.  We have others who join our school family somewhere in between kindergarten and fifth.  And then there are those who start with us and then leave to attend a different school with a new teacher.  It is these kids that I want to talk about.

As a teacher you know that typically you have one school year with the students who have been placed in your room.  One school year in the life of a child to make the greatest impact, to help them grow and learn as much as possible in the time they are with you.  Our curriculum demands require that we know so much about our students' academic strengths and weaknesses.  We have to make sure every student makes adequate gains and that our growth data shows that essential standards and skills have been met by every child.  Teachers around the country do this every day.  What doesn't happen in every classroom and every school is the "special kind of love" that I want to be given to each child in our school.  

To work with the mind of a child, to help him or her grow and mature, we need to understand his or her heart.  We can't possibly understand the behaviors of some of our students if we don't take time to connect and show love and care for them in and outside the classroom.  I'm not sure I could explain this better than the letter below.  This letter was sent by a Parma Elementary teacher to a teacher in a school where one of our students now attends.  Obviously the new teacher is having some issues with the student and has some questions.  A child may sit at a desk in your classroom for one year, but when given "a special kind of love", that child will be influenced by his/her year with you forever.

Letter from a Parma Elementary Teacher:

I'm sure I didn't do anything you aren't already doing. He requires a special kind of love, doesn't he!!  He ended up to be one of my favorite students by the end of the year, so don't give up hope!  I knew that I was going to have to develop a relationship with him or he would make my life and the other student's lives miserable.  I just went out of my way to let him know that I love him enough to not let him get away with anything.  I had heard that he stole things, so I was proactive about praising him for any time he picked up a pencil and gave it to someone, etc., and he didn't steal in my room.  The only other thing I can think of is that he was hungry all the time, so I always packed a lunch bag with fruits and veggies mostly ( I never gave junk food because of his teeth) and I gave it to him at the end of the day. I think many nights it was his dinner.  The reason I'm telling you this is that one day I had a sub and he was HORRIBLE for the sub.  When he saw that I had a sub, he went directly to the cupboard that his lunch bag usually was and saw that it wasn't there.  (Another adult in the room told me about this.) I always wondered if he was worried about being hungry that night so he behaved badly. Who knows?

My favorite moments with him were when in October he and one of my other difficult kids that year were arguing about which one I loved more (they both thought they were the one) and when he found something that would have been cool to take (I can't remember what it was now) and he returned it to a classmate and made sure to tell me that he did.  I said to him, "That feels good to do the right thing, doesn't it?" and I'll never forget the look on his face when he smiled and nodded his head.   

Academically, he was below reading level for a good portion of the year, but he ended up catching up and left right at grade level.  He had Title support, but he never read at home, so all of his reading only happened at school. He loved it when I listened to him read, and worked hard.  He was very strategic when he left my room and could solve words many ways.  He had to have extra support in writing.  He struggled in math and would always need extra help, so I can imagine that with Envisions and the depth that is there that he is having difficulty thinking at a higher level like that. 

I honestly learned to love that boy and really miss seeing him.  I often wished I could take him home with me.  Let me know if there is anything I can do. I ran into him at Walmart on Halloween and it was so nice to see him. 

We will continue to have students who need extra attention and love in order to progress.  May we all be aware of those who require a special kind of love!!

Letter Worth Reading:

Santa Letter - A great letter from parents answering the question whether or not they are Santa.

Videos Worth Watching:

This is the new WestJet commercial.  Our 4th and 5th graders watched this at assembly on Wednesday and discussed being on the giving and receiving end of gifts and the joy of both.  I loved seeing so many of our kids' hands go up when I asked who would like to work for WestJet and shop for others.

This was last year's Westjet commercial.  We watched both at assembly on Wednesday and talked about the spirit of giving!

Christmas Visitor!  - Some visitors are even more important than Santa!

A Christmas Classic.....and Michael Buble'!  Love It!

May you have a Christmas you will never forget!

Communicating Greatness to Parents

As we end conference week, and wrap up conversations with parents about their most prized possession, know that last week is not the beginning nor the end of parent/teacher/school communication.   It is our responsibility to provide an accurate picture of how each student is performing in class to our parents. Conference week provides an opportunity to share progress, challenges, leadership binders, etc.  The school year provides an opportunity to form a bond between families and school. Yes, it is our responsibility to report any concerns and challenges, but I challenge you to also share with parents throughout the year the greatness in every child that you are noticing this year.

Some parents are very apprehensive to come to school or speak with the teacher or principal.  Some due to their own experiences in school, and others because they are anxious about what they might hear about their son or daughter.  I'm sure you felt the nervousness and anxiety in some of our parents as you sat with them at conferences.  Some parents do not see themselves as partners in the education of their children, however, we know that if we don't work with our parents and involve them in ways they can help at home, we are missing a huge resource for our kids.

As we have worked this year to find the greatness in each child, it is my hope that we will find opportunities to contact parents to share these characteristics of greatness noticed in their children.  Along with sharing the greatness with parents, make sure to point out to the kids the qualities of greatness being displayed in the moment.  Name the greatness.  End each day with a greatness phone call, email, FB message or two.  It could just make your day and theirs and make a parent or two beam with pride.

I do believe that there is nothing more powerful than the teacher in the classroom when it comes to the academic success of our kids.  However, I also know that parental support and participation can make such a huge difference.  Parents need to know they are needed and appreciated.  We need them to know we welcome them and count on them to assist us in working with and celebrating our kids.

Parent teacher conference week is over, but I hope our communication with parents continues all year.

Articles Worth Reading:

I am "That" Parent - Powerful Read - shared by +Pernille Ripp

Positive Notes Home on Pinterest

There is always something good - +Pernille Ripp

50 Online Early Readers with Audio - +Matt Gomez

6 Tools for Parent Teacher Collaboration


Videos Worth Watching:

Fail Harder

Synergy:

Dangerous Minds:  This conversation could have gone so many ways.  Notice the looks on their faces.  How do you think this conversation will impact his performance and behavior in class?  Relentless focus on the positive!

Nurtured Heart Stand #2: Relentlessly Energize the Positive ("Absolutely YES!")

As important as it is to refuse to accidentally energize negativity, it is just as important to super-energize the positive and experiences of success.  In a typical classroom, when students are behaving themselves and following the rules, they get little or no response or attention from the teacher; but when they break a rule or cross the line, suddenly they get intense, highly present interest, connection and relationship with the teacher.  This is known as upside down energy.  We don't want to ignore or pretend problems don't exist, but we also don't want to pour gas on the fire of what the child already perceives; that problems are the most efficient route to juicy connectivity and relationship with the teacher.  Instead, we want to focus on what is going right: on recognizing the child's successes, good choices, following of rules, and other positive behaviors.  We want to inspire our kids to express their greatness by removing all energy from responses to their negative choices (other than to providing an unenergized consequence when a rule is broken); and by energizing the many positive choices students make in the moments those choices are being made. 

Focus on the positive and point out those moments of success and greatness.  Name the behavior or quality of greatness that you notice in the students.  Students must realize that our attention and energy is given to the positive choices.  We can reset and not give a great deal of energy to the negative, but this isn't enough.  We must also energize the positives.  I have noticed so many times if I go into a room and begin pointing out some of the great choices the students are making, others begin to follow along.  I have watched and heard so many of you do the same.  

This will take practice and reminders to each other.  I have become more aware of how much energy is given when a student makes a poor choice.  This week I stepped out of a classroom to see a student hanging from his locker door.  I proceeded to give a great deal of energy about how this could break the locker, how much lockers cost, blah, blah, blah.  The student simply looked at me when I was finished and stated, "I'm sorry, Ms. Haney."  I looked back at the teacher in her classroom and said, "Why didn't I just ask him to reset?"  I continue to work on both not giving energy to the negative and focusing on pointing out the positive choices and qualities of greatness I see surrounding me every day.  

It is my goal this week to "super-energize" experiences of success and students displaying qualities of greatness.  Will you join me?

Articles Worth Reading:

The Perils and Promises of Praise - I have given you this article before.  It talks about the types of praise we give and how some praise can actually be detrimental.  "Research shows us how to praise students in ways that yield motivation and resilience."  "You are so smart." vs. "You worked so hard and really put in a lot of effort to do well."  One is a fixed mindset and the other growth mindset.  One is "junk food" praise!  

Why Does Sitting Still Equal Learning - shared by +Brad Wilson 

Active Kids Perform better in school  - Shared by +Brad Wilson 

Gonoodle - (Get the wiggles out with free brain breaks for your classroom) shared by +Brad Wilson

Cute Idea for Parent Teacher Conference Night.

Videos Worth Watching:

"Kiss your Brains for that" - This teacher energizes positive behaviors and character (big or small) in the moment of success.

I showed this to our 4th and 5th graders during assembly.  I told them that it wasn't so that they would bring in socks, but to encourage them to ask these three questions:  

1.  What are you not okay with?

2.  What do you have?

3.  What can we do about it?

3 Questions That Could Change The World - Kid President

We also watched this video and talked about kindness and the fact that we may not know the impact of our kindness and that we don't do something kind to get something in return, but there are times, it comes back around.  Ask your 4th and 5th graders about "What comes around goes around."

Betty White's advice on living a positive life - "Look around....there is always something going right."

Stand #1: Refuse to Energize Negativity ("Absolutely NO!")

How often have you felt that a handful of students in your classroom are taking all the energy and basically running the show in a way keeps you from teaching and keeps everyone in the room from learning?  Have you ever had the day end and felt that you spent the day dealing with discipline instead of teaching?  How many times have you said, "I couldn't get through half of the lesson I had planned" due to managing students making poor choices?  I don't have to ask this question, because I have had this conversation with so many of you, but what are we not getting to and not

accomplishing and not doing for those kids in our school who always do the right thing, follow directions and never disrupt learning?  Are we the best school for all kids......including those kids who need help making better choices and for those who come to school every day ready to learn?  I believe that we are ready to stop letting our difficult students "run the show".  I know that what we really want is to give our energy to the successes, the positive choices, the ones who.....I almost typed the ones who "deserve it".  Don't they all deserve it?  We just have to reprogram how they get our attention and our energy.  Reprogram ourselves and the students.  Remember, we are their "favorite toy".  We don't want to be the kind of toy that "reactively moves into gear in an energized way when things go wrong."  This first stand of Nurtured Heart, Refusing to Energize Negativity, will help us with this change.

The reprogramming starts with us.  We have to reprogram our game board.  We want our most interesting response, most energetic response and juiciest connection with the students to come in response to positive choices not negative actions or choices.  This is easier said than done as we have all experienced in our first month implementing Nurtured Heart.  In that moment, it is very difficult not to give a lot of energy to the negative.  We need to reprogram....delete that response.  "Refuse the gift of your aliveness in exchange for negativity."

This doesn't just mean not giving energy to the negative, but it also means not remaining silent when things are going well.  We can't pour on the relationship and connect with students only in those times when things go wrong.  If this is happening, our kids feel where they will get energy.  We can't give our energy to negativity.  This will not be an easy change.  Unfortunately, our kids are programmed for years that they get a connection and a great deal of energy from their most favorite adults when they make poor choices.  They will try to "hook you in with inappropriate behaviors."  Remind yourself:  I am taking a stand.  I'm not going there anymore.  Absolutely NO!

This is only Stand 1.  The next stand we will see that there are so many things that are going right even in classrooms full of discipline issues and difficult students.  We have to help our students see the greatness and realize that in their greatness they will get our energy.  I love the quote from the book, "Disengage the gift that is you.  Save your soul for the good stuff - and, as you'll see, there's an incredible abundance of good stuff to be found..."

"If you do not provide positive relationship with students, they will find a way to access relationship from you by any means necessary, even if it's negative."

Have you ever considered that pushing limits and getting that negative energy is like an addiction.  Refuse to energize the negativity, and we help students break the addiction of pushing limits.   Instead we are going to show our students that we love greatness and help them discover that they too will enjoy showing their greatness.  Howard Glasser says that giving our energy and relationship when things are going wrong is like telling a child, "oops, broke a rule....here's 100 bucks!"  When we give our energy to what we don't want we are handing out $100 bills for negative or unwanted behavior.  Let's start holding onto those $100 bills and handing them out for what we do want.

Finally, refusing to energize the negativity is not just in the classroom, just like the 7 Habits are not something we only teach in the classroom.  Refusing to energize the negativity includes our conversations with colleagues, talk in the lounge.  If necessary, remind each other to shift our conversations to identifying and celebrating greatness....what is going right at Parma Elementary School.  Become Warrior Like in your passion for celebrating greatness.  #ParmaSTRONG, #ParmaPROUD....there is no place for negativity in a culture that celebrates greatness!  Let's give our energy to that greatness and help every child "who deserves it" discover how positive that greatness can be!  And yes, they ALL deserver it!















Great Bulletin Board!

Shared by @saratruebridge


Articles Worth Reading:

The Perils and Promises of Praise

An article by Carol Dweck regarding mindset and praise:
Research shows us how to praise students in ways that yield motivation and resilience.

What Makes a Parent Love a Teacher

The thing you could do in a bare cinderblock room with no electricity and no more technology than a stick for writing in the dirt floor. The one thing a teacher can do that makes a bigger difference than all those other things combined:

Know my child.

That’s it. This knowledge can manifest itself in so many ways: You can know their academic skills, their allergies, their family, their moods, their quirks, any and all of these things. Just know my child, and a lot of other stuff just falls into place.

Why Teach?

Teachers of all levels are called upon to get to know each student in order to individualize instruction in ways that address the personal needs, abilities, and interests of every boy and girl. The abilities of the students vary widely.

10 Pieces of Advice for New Teachers - +Justin Tarte 

 Strong student relationships will be your best friend. Get to know your students and get to know what makes them tick. Learn about their interests and hobbies and make sure they know you care about them. When students know you care about them, they will trust you. The strong relationships you create in the first few weeks of the school year will set the tone for the entire year.

Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart- Shared by +Kenneth Williams 

I am more convinced than ever that mindsets toward learning could matter more than anything else we teach.


Videos Worth Watching:

Nurtured Heart Approach at Rocky River Elementary School

Dylan Wiliam - Feedback on Learning: "Good Feedback causes thinking."

The Looper App.....and just a cool performance!

Love this kid.....Kindergarten is not a big hit with him!

Lead Time

I love that this year our school has decided to focus on our Lead Time in class.  One might wonder when in the world will or can we find the time to fit in these lessons.  When I consider the lessons taught and the discussions I have heard in some of our classrooms during Lead Time, I'm not sure how we could consider not "finding time" to do them.  These are powerful lessons centered around the 7 Habits, kindness, character, thoughtfulness, giving, caring, leadership, success, believing in
yourself, etc.  We have to have these conversations and teach these lessons to our kids.  Being successful in math or science only touches the surface of helping our kids be everything they can be.  Lead Time lessons help us dig a little deeper.  Teaching our kids how to treat others, how to not only be successful but how to respond when they are not, how to be proactive and the importance of finding a win win.....these are the skills that will also help our kids be truly successful.

Our school has decided to connect the idea of "One Book, One School" to our Lead Time Lessons.  Each month every classroom will be given two books to read in classrooms (okay, so it's two books, one school) with a sheet of ideas for discussions.  September's focus is on being proactive, and the books, Journey and I want my Hat Back, give us the opportunity to have many great discussions with our kids, and they give us a common topic throughout our school.  I love that I can talk to a first grader or a fifth grader about what their Journey will be this year.  We have planned a wall to collectively display our thoughts and ideas about these discussions.  What a great way to unite our entire school and share our learning with each other.

As we incorporate Lead Time lessons in every classroom, don't forget the importance of incorporating these lessons in our own lives.  Being proactive and not reactive, having a plan, choosing our weather, realizing our circle of control and influence, all of these are things that we can certainly model for our students and will benefit our own lives.

Below are a few videos that could be used during Lead Time.  The story that goes with the first video is amazing.  It is a great lesson on choosing your own weather.  Please take some time to watch them, share them with your students and discover the lessons.

Videos Worth Watching:

Be Proactive - A song about bullying - Standing up for yourself - Choosing your own weather - Kindness

Choose Your Attitude - Choose Your Weather!

Synergy - The Power of Union is Strength:  Working together!

Good Teamwork and Bad Teamwork:  This video could also be used to discuss how we treat others who aren't exactly like us.

Even though the language is different, the message can be seen in understanding others and having compassion.  The best way to have a Win-Win is to have a caring heart in how we treat others.

No Excuses - Raise the Bar High!!!

Be Proactive - The power of Positive Thinking - Choose your attitude, your weather!

Begin With The End In Mind - Don't Give Up

Have A Plan:  The Berenstain Bears Go Up and Down, Part 1

The Berenstain Bears Go Up and Down, Part 2:

#ParmaSTRONG

The beginning of a new school year is always an exciting time.  We have the chance to put into practice new ideas and strategies and to refine and master old ones.  Most importantly it is the beginning of building relationships that last a lifetime and impact everything!  Think about your class last year on the first day of school.  Now remember that same group of students at the end of the year. Magic happens between tomorrow, our first day of school, and June.  A list of names on a class list become "my kids", "our kids".  Though we do many things well at Parma Elementary, it is the development of strong relationships with our students that I feel we do best!

 Richard Elmore. "The relationship of the teacher and the student in the presence of content must be at the center of efforts to improve performance."

I am excited to see this year unfold as we explore the greatness in every child at Parma.  We will have students who need extra encouraging, extra nurturing.  We will have students who take a little longer to realize that they truly matter to us.  Some find it harder to believe than others, and some actually fight it.  This is what I know because I have watched it happen year after year within our school walls; every child will know he or she matters to us and that he or she has qualities of leadership and greatness by the year's end.  This takes ALL of us.  Our strength is in knowing this and working together to reach every child.  We are #ParmaSTRONG!

Tomorrow begins a journey that on paper ends in June, but we know what happens this year will last a lifetime and yes, it impacts everything.  I'm excited to be with you on this journey!

These are our kids.  They are all our kids.  And we will make all the difference for them. Nobody does it better!

Articles Worth Reading and Links worth Checking out:

Behavior Management: Not Systems but Relationships

7 Learning Zones Every Classroom Must Have

Why I don't Do Behavior Charts

10 Ways to Ensure Parents won't need to ask What Did you Do at School Today

10 Picture Books My Students Say You Need - +Pernille Ripp 

Building Relationships with Students

Videos Worth Watching:

Rita Pierson - Every Child Needs a Champion

What Great Teachers Do Differently - Part One

Teacher Motivation - +Justin Tarte 

Freedom Writers - I am Home

Time to Climb

Becky DuFour reminds us of our fundamental purpose and the foundation of a PLC.....I have heard this keynote in person more than once, but I needed this reminder to refocus!

For two days this week I attended a conference on RTI with presenter, Bob Sonju.  It was not surprising to me that the first day of this conference was spent talking about PLCs.  There is nothing with stronger research that supports and impacts student achievement than the school staff functioning as a PLC.  Why wouldn't we begin with being a solid PLC when considering our intervention plan within our school?  I realized as I sat listening that I desperately needed this refresher and reminder.  We began the conference looking at Effective schools and what characteristics all Exemplary schools have. As you read, consider where Parma Elementary is on each characteristic.

Exemplary Schools share the following characteristics:

1.  A clear focus on LEARNING as the outcome - Teaching is critical, but if the kids didn’t get it, it is just lecturing.  The only way we can determine this is by assessments to see what they know and don’t know.  What is our purpose?  If we truly believe that our fundamental purpose is high levels of learning for all, it’s not a matter if we will or won’t….we must!

2.  A COLLECTIVE sense of purpose - everyone in the school knows why they are there. 

3.  SHARED OWNERSHIP for student learning. They are not your kids or my kids, they are our kids, and we share the responsibility of making sure all kids learn at high levels.  Can we make this promise to EVERY parent:  "It does not matter which teacher your child has at our school, if your child needs extra time and support to learn at high levels, we guarantee he or she will receive it.”

4.  COLLABORATIVE, collegial relationships - challenge each other’s thinking.  There is a difference between being a group and working as a team.  One example that demonstrates the importance of accomplishing goals as a team is the story of Michael Jordan.  Jordan was voted best offensive player and best defensive player and yet his goal of winning a championship had not been accomplished.  It wasn't until his entire team began working together that this goal became a reality.  It doesn't matter how good ONE teacher is on a staff if the school is not successful in its goal of high levels of learning for ALL.  It takes a staff working as a team, together, collaboratively to meet this goal.

Part of the mission of Mayo Clinic reads: Teamwork: Value the contribution of all, blending the skills of individual staff members in unsurpassed collaboration.
Excellence: Deliver the best outcomes and highest quality service through the dedicated effort of every team member.  At the Mayo Clinic teamwork is not optional….it’s mandatory.  Patients don’t get a doctor:  they get the expertise of the whole organization.  Collaboration, cooperation, and coordination are the three dynamics that support the practice of team medicine at the Mayo Clinic.

Can we, as a school, say that we value the contribution of all and that we blend the skills of individual staff members in unsurpassed collaboration?  Let us strive for "unsurpassed collaboration".

5.  Have a desire to get BETTER - When we look at our current reality, we must act and look at doing things differently.  We have to have a desire to get better.  Jim Collins in Good to Great says that we have begun our decline if we say we are good enough.  Rick DuFour says that these schools focus on results and use data to improve learning.

When we look at our current reality, which we have been doing, we have to think, we must act, and we must do things differently. 

We must be willing to examine our current practices.

I can tell you that I left this two day workshop feeling refreshed, excited and remembering what made our school a "Reward School" and a "Beating the Odds School" a few years ago.  Somehow Common Core, new adopted curriculum hit us upside the head, and we forgot to just keep doing what we know and have proven makes us successful.  We always want to be research based and use best practice.  Our "research" can show that we were very successful when we were operating as a PLC with fidelity.  When we let some of those practices become weak, we began our decline.  Our presenter gave us a quote that I think is fitting, "When is the best time to climb a tree......20 years ago.....when is the second best time......right now."  Let's begin our climb again now.  We know what works for students at Parma Elementary School.

Common Core is daunting.  Robert Marzano states,"To cover all of this content, you would have to change schooling from K-12 to K-22…..The sheer number of standards is the biggest impediment to implementing standards.”  The first most critical work is to identify the critical skills.  Yes, we have "been there and done that" with "power standards", and it worked.  We have to look again at the common core and identify the "power standards" or "Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum".  What can we guarantee every child at every grade level will know at the end of the school year?  It is these skills that we use our intervention resources to make sure EVERY child has mastered.

The 4 Essential questions of a PLC:

1.  What do we expect our students to learn?  ( Guaranteed Curriculum, Power standards)
2.  How will we know they are learning? ( Common Assessments, Data )
3.  How will we respond when they don't learn? ( Intervention )
4.  How will we respond if they already know it? ( Enrichment )

We got this!  We have the right people to make this happen.  Collectively, we are an "unsurpassed" staff with everything we need, including the will, heart and desire to guarantee EVERY child "gets it"!

I am excited, can you tell, for us to refocus Parma Elementary.

Articles Worth Reading and Links worth Checking out:

I am skipping the links this week.  I think we all have enough to think about!

Videos Worth Watching:

Brian Regan demonstrates our need to be clear and specific.  What do we want our students know and how do we assess it and then intervene.

Rick DuFour - Groups vs. Team

 A sense of Urgency - Failure is not an option and yet, we get kids "almost there".....some students "choose" to not do the work....do we allow failure as an option?  It can't be an option!  It is a matter of life and death!

Young girl is selected to sing National Anthem at NBA playoff game.  She forgot the words.....who goes in to save her?   .....The coach, who has 100 things on his mind before the game, but he saw a child in need and steps in to help.  This is what we do every day.  What do our students need?  Who can step in and help them?

Pay attention to what the dad is saying.  Is he saying the right things?  Maybe, but is he modeling and reinforcing the wrong things?

Anthony Muhammad reminds us that Failure can not and should not be an option!

Put First Things First

I don't know about you, but I need a few refreshers from our 7 Habits training.  Starting with the time management domains.  It is easy to get bogged down in quadrants III and IV and spend so much time on tasks that are ultimately not important.  It is also easy to let quadrant I take over our lives.  The goal is to spend more time in quadrant II, but how do we make this happen?  This blog has been started now for a couple weeks, but....you guessed it, I just haven't had TIME to finish it, or my time has been absorbed by urgent or unimportant interruptions.  I spent some time rereading the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People....let me share:

Take a minute and answer a couple questions before reading this blog:

1.  What one thing could you do that you aren't doing now that if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your personal life?

2.  What one thing in your professional life would bring similar results?

There are two factors that define an activity, urgent and important.  Urgent activities require immediate attention.  Urgent things act on us, they are usually visible, they press on us, they insist action.  They are often unimportant.

Important activities have to do with results.  They contribute to our mission, our values, our high priority goals.  We react to urgent matters while important matters that are not urgent require more initiative, more proactivity.  We have to act to seize opportunity, to make things happen.  If we don't practice Habit 2 (Begin with the End in Mind), if we don't have a clear idea of what is important, of the results we desire, we are easily distracted and diverted into responding to the urgent.

We all have Quadrant I activities in our lives.  However, we can control whether or not we allow these activities and this Quadrant to control us and consume us.  If we allow ourselves to focus on Quadrant I, it will get bigger and bigger until it dominates all our time.  At this point, the only relief from Quadrant I activities is to escape to Quadrant IV, the not important, not urgent activities.  This leave 90% of time being spent in Quadrant I and 10% in Quadrant IV and 0% in Quadrants II and III.

Covey states that, "People who spend time almost exclusively in Quadrants III and IV basically lead irresponsible lives."  Effective people, highly effective people, strive to stay out of Quadrants III and IV, because urgent or not, they are not important, especially to our life mission, our values or our high priority goals.


Quadrant II is where we strive to spend the majority of our time.  This is the heart of effective personal management.  These are the activities that are not urgent, but are important.  It deals with things like building relationships, long-range planning, exercising, preparation, creating a mission statement.....basically, the things we know we need to do but often don't get around to doing because they aren't urgent and we have allowed all our time to be consumed by urgent or unimportant activities.

Take a look at the time management matrix and think back to your answers to the two questions at the beginning of this blog.  What quadrant do they fit in?  Are they important?  Are they urgent?  More than likely they fit into Quadrant II.  They are obviously important but not urgent.  Because they aren't urgent, you often don't do them.  So, What one thing could you do in your personal and professional life that, if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life?  Quadrant II activities have that kind of impact.  Covey contends that our effectiveness will take "quantum leaps"when we do them.

QUADRANT II EXAMPLES:

 

• Frequently buying flowers for your wife/girlfriend “just because”
• Eating healthy and exercising to avoid future health issues
• Preventative maintenance on your home or car
• Reading, Learning, and Education
• Forming bonds and strengthening relationships with your friends and family
• Self renewal and spending time on things that inspire and uplift you

 Take some quantum leaps this week!  Focus on what matters most, what is truly important!  Be intentional in how you spend your time and be focused on your mission, Put First Things First.  Spend time doing the activities that help you reach your "end in mind".

Check out this app, 7 Habits Life Balancer.

We are teaching our future lawyers, doctors, teachers, PRESIDENTS!!  Bodhi Williams is getting a head start.....

Articles Worth Reading and Links worth Checking out:

April Is School Library Month - Look at these slides on the impact of school libraries.

Every day we have a choice to make - Thank you for sharing Courtney Thelen

8 Things to Look For in Today's Classroom - by +George Couros @gcouros

Common Core Math - The New Way - Interesting explanation of WHY the "old fashion way" isn't                                                                      helping our kids have better number sense.

Transforming Charts into Tools

Pinterest page for Writing Workshop

Classroom Blogs - A great resource for blogging with our students

10 Risks Every Teacher Should Take with Their Class - shared by @TechMinock


Videos Worth Watching:

First Things First: Matthew 6:33 - Don't forget to touch 1st Base!

Simple Acts of Kindness make such a huge impact!

A Sincere Compliment:

Dancewalk!  Why walk when you can Dance?

My Favorite Teacher !