The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Private School Teachers

(Based on the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Dr. Stephen Covey)

Mark Minkus

mark.o.minkus@gmail.com, www.theprivateschooleader.com, @theprivateschoolleader

Habit 1: Be ______________

Habit 2: Begin with _____  ______  _______  _________

Habit 3: Put ___________ things ______________

Habit 4: Think ________ - __________

Habit 5: Seek first to _______________ and then to be __________________

Habit 6: ___________________

Habit 7: Sharpen the ___________

Habit 1: Be ____________________

Reactive people focus on the things that they __________ control.

Proactive people focus on the things that they __________ control.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor E. Frankl in The Search for Meaning

Responsibility = ___________ + __________________

Reactive people are driven by their _____________, ______________ and ____________.

Proactive people are driven by their ______________.

____________ Mindset vs. ___________ Mindset

“Proactivity and Growth Mindset require a similar frame of mind that motivates individuals to take greater responsibility for personal progress.” The Leader in Me: Using Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in Education, July 2015

I can’t control what ___________, but I can control how I ________ to it.

Classroom Application:

• Proactive with the first day of school (rehearsing procedures)
• Proactive with communication
• Choose to act, not react in the classroom. Every teacher should have a “pause button”

Habit 2: Begin with _____  ______  _______  _________

We must have a very clear picture of where we want to go.

How compelling is your why?

Purpose/Process List      

Throwing Starfish

Classroom Application:

• Last day of school, last day of the Semester, 3:35PM, the end of the lesson
• Visualize what you want the end of the school year, day, end of the lesson (what do you see?, what do they know? How do they behave?, what is their level of enthusiasm?, what is YOUR energy level?, how are YOU feeling?)

Habit 3: Put ____________ things ________________

What we say is important to us VS. how we actually spend our time.

The wrong moral of the story.

The key is to not prioritize what is on your _____________, but to schedule your ___________.

A crisis in our country. Always doing what’s _________ while neglecting what is ____________.

The first casualty of a chaotic day is ___________.

Classroom Application:

• Physical health, sleep, state of mind, relationships with family and friends.
• My students are my priority. What does that mean? How does that actually look?
• Intentional Empathy
• Setting Boundaries
• The first day of school (teaching VS. rehearsing procedures)
• Responding to that afternoon parent email

Habit 4: Think ________ - __________

Life is not a ______  _________  _______. For you to win, someone else does not have to lose.

Life is an _____________________ reality, not an independent reality.

Classroom Application:

• PLC, sharing ideas, tips on a certain child.
• For you to win, the parent does not need to lose.
• An intentional effort to improve your interpersonal skills with your colleagues and the parents can create win-win.
• Never get into a power struggle with a student
• Move the child’s thinking from “me” to “we”.

The true definition of win-win is when the child ____________ from the ________________.

Habit 5: Seek first to _______________ and then to be __________________

_______________ has become a rare _____________ in our culture. Why?

• Distractions
• Listening with the mindset to reply

The best _______ that you can give is to be ___________.

Classroom Application:

• The best gift you can give is to be present.
• When you are on the phone with a parent, don’t have any devices open
• When you meet with a parent, don’t keep looking at your device and use active listening body language and skills
• Empathetic listening
• BS sniffers
• Part of the “then to be understood” part is giving honest feedback to students and parents.

Habit 6:  ___________________

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Horse #1 pulled 6,000lbs. Horse #2 pulled 7,000lbs. Together, they pulled ______________

What is “The Mountain Way?”

Classroom Application:

• Develop and use teamwork (colleagues/students)
• Positive comments: Most Effective 6:1, Least Effective 1:3
• Draw inspiration and encouragement from the blessing that surrounds you.

Habit 7: Sharpen the ______________

“The amount of busy work will always expand to fill the amount of free time available.” Douglas MacArthur

The greatest asset in your life is ______.

What does it mean to sharpen my saw?

• _____________: Nutrition, Exercise, Stress Management
• _____________: Emotional Safety, Empathy
• _____________: Meditation and Inspiration
• _____________: Reading, Planning, Writing

Classroom Application

• What do you do to recharge, refresh, refill?
• Sleep, mindfulness, time with family/friends, exercise, reading, worship/prayer
• Activity is not progress. To do list is like water, it fills in everywhere.
• Be Intentional. Schedule time every day to sharpen your saw. If you don’t, you WILL work harder and get less results.
• Stimulate your brain! Read 15 minutes a day. 6 minutes or less TED Talk. Edutopia article once a week. Try it for two weeks and then let me know if it made a difference.

Digging Deeper

YouTube Video

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The Leader in Me website (Educational resources using the 7 Habits)

2500 TED talks that are 6 minutes or less (to Sharpen Your Saw)

Growth Mindset Resources

1000's of webinars at Ed Web.net (to Sharpen Your Saw)

1000's of articles/100's of videos at Edutopia.org (to Sharpen Your Saw)