I don’t remember hearing the sharpen the saw story before, but I appreciate the meaning behind it and the spirit of this habit of mind. In a blog post on living the realworld.org, Steve Pavlina likens Covey’s habits of Mind to tools and asks, “... are all of them still sharp? If not, which ones are dull, and what can you do to sharpen them?” 1 He also says, “As you renew yourself, you create growth and change in your life. Sharpen the Saw keeps you fresh so you can continue to practice the other six habits. You increase your capacity to produce and handle the challenges around you.” I like the idea of re-investing in myself, of purposely continuing to learn as a means to continue to grow in the other habits. I think the following, from the Mostly Maths website, will help me to live this habit as well:
1. "Sharpen the Saw - Steve Pavlina." 2005. 1 Mar. 2015 <http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2004/11/sharpen-the-saw/> 2. "Seven Habit - Sharpen the Saw - TeensGotCents." 2013. 1 Mar. 2015 <http://teensgotcents.com/seven-habits-sharpen-the-saw/> I love Habit #6 - Synergize. I think the idea of “creative collaboration” is truly beneficial as a life skill, and the results of synergy can definitely bring about better results than what one person could achieve individually. I generally feel much more energized when working with others to plan lessons or confront challenges at school. It can take additional effort to accept the ideas of others when you’re confident about your own perspective. I know I’ve been guilty of that mindset, just thinking it will be easier to do it myself, or thinking I know best. However, I have found that a definite benefit of working with others to tackle challenging tasks is the range of ideas that can be considered and developed in order to create an effective action plan. As Dr. Pumpian shared -- as a result of valuing differences in others and seeking alternatives, we can achieve better solutions. We've done some lesson studies at my school that have involved some intense conversations, but fortunately my math team has made a commitment to synergize (although we haven't used that word) and we all end up happy with the results of our effort.
I think this habit is also important for a democratic leadership style. Stakeholders need to believe that the school leader is open to new and different ideas in order to invest in the decision making process and develop creative solutions. And the result of that synergy will be “creative collaboration” that leads to a win-win situation. I’d like to share this habit with my sons using this Synergy Action Plan I found at http://www.slideshare.net/danielleisathome/synergize. I think the procession through the steps makes sense and is explained in a clear, concise way. I think a strong understanding of this habit will help them as they move through their college experience, and engage in more adult interactions in their classes, and I hope they will share experiences they've already had when synergy was beneficial, or when not synergizing was detrimental. SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD
This habit is one that constantly needs work - as Dr. Pumpian said, it takes tremendous energy. I know I can get so intent on the message I want to communicate that I don’t do a good job of listening effectively. Instead of listening - and really hearing what another person is saying - I often put my energy into thinking about how I will respond, or how I will make my meaning clear. I think to make this a habit of mind I need to work on intentionally listening to make sure I am hearing the message being communicated to me. I see this as a habit I need to work on as well as a good habit to communicate to my sons. Judith Martens, a Behavior Change Specialist, shares 4 keys to empathetic listening in her blog post on Covey’s 5th habit that I think can help me to “live” this habit. She suggests the following behaviors: (1) Mimic the content/rephrase what was said; (2) Rephrase the content/show that you are listening and that you understand; (3) Reflect on feelings/focus on the emotions rather than the words; (4) Rephrase the content and reflect the feeling/ understand the message behind the words. I think I can teach and live this by first talking (and listening to) my sons about what empathy is and then connecting that to the idea of effective listening. I will share with them Martens’ four suggestions and share with them my goals in putting those suggestions into actions and encourage them to do the same. Resources (2013). Covey #5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood ... Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http://www.behavior-change.net/covey-5-seek-first-to-understand-then-to-be-understood/. This is a habit of mind I live by in my professional life. I think it is very important for people who work together to feel like there's value in getting "mutually beneficial results." I try to keep this in mind with working with all staff members, from classified staff to fellow teachers to administration. I think this leads to healthy relationships and positive attitudes, which helps all staff to focus on what's best for kids. I think rather than "teaching" this habit to my sons, I will present them with scenarios and we'll talk about how to get to a win-win outcome in each situation. We'll address issues at home (for example, we could discuss raising their allowance but increasing the chores they do at home - how is this a win - win?), at school (for example, when working on a school project what can you do to make sure each member of the team participates equally), and at work (a friend wants you to work for him a couple of hours the next day - how can you make this a win - win situation?). I think the process of make this "real" for them will help them to learn this habit. This habit of mind, First Things First, is an important life skill, but also something that is very hard to live on a day to day basis. There are so many demands on our time, and everything seems to be so important, that it's hard to prioritize. I sometimes feel that I am getting everything done, but that I'm not doing all things well. I do find I'm most productive when I keep a list of the things I need to do during a certain period of time, and I love the feeling of crossing things off a list. My commitment this week, to keep the habit in the forefront of my mind, is to keep Covey's rock analogy in mind. As I look at my responsibilities for work, school, family, and church I will focus on what's truly important in order plan how I will use my time based on the priorities. My "truly important" tasks reflect what I value: family first, work/school second, other responsibilities third. My plan to help me to continue to put first things first is to begin to consistently use an app I have on my phone: Wunderlist. I like this app because I can great lists for the different areas of my life: work, family, church, etc. Another advantage of the app is I can literally cross things off the list when they're accomplished, and I know that positive reinforcement will help me to stay focused. I plan to teach this habit to my sons by talking with them about the rocks analogy, and asking them to consider what their "first things" are. I will encourage them to do as Dr. Pumpling mentioned in the video: focus on what's important and plan their time according to those priorities in order to achieve their highest priorities. I don't know that they've given serious thought to those priorities yet, and I think we can have a good conversation about what is most important to them and what they can do to get what they want. "Live your life with purpose and vision." This statement from this week's video lecture really made me stop and think. I think I have a strong grasp on the "purpose" part of my life, as a mom, an educator, a teacher leader, a church member. I am thoughtful about communicating what I believe in through my actions, and I am usually quite satisfied with the results of my actions. But I'm not as confident that I have a clear, well-defined vision. I often feel fragmented, split into many personalities -- who I am with my family, who I am at work, who I am at church, who I am with my friends. Is my "vision" overarching, touching on all aspects of my life? Or is a different vision needed for the different roles I play?
The behavioral change I want to focus on this week is taking a personal look at how I can make the Covey Paradigm an integral part of my day-to-day life : to See, or Focus on what's important, to Do, or Plan my time according to my priorities, and to Get mutually beneficial results. And by doing this I hope to start to get a clearer perspective on my vision (or visions). I plan to teach this habit to my sons, and connect this habit to their personal journeys. They are in the midst of their first year at a junior college, and are still unclear about what they want to "do with their lives." I'm not sure they're ready to "begin with the end in mind," but they could set some goals and start thinking of ways to reach those goals. My commitment ...
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Dena hause
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March 2015
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