Leader in ME

When I first took this job, I had never heard of the Leader in Me program. I was informed that it was our behavior plan, and the school had seen many benefits from its rollout. That was about it. As a new teacher to this school, I didn't want to fall short so I did some research. Come to find out, it is a student based program based on Stephen Covey's 7 Habit of Highly Effective People.

Fast forward seven months, I'm on board with the idea!  I even serve on our Lighthouse team. We meet twice a month to implement and discuss Leader in Me in our school, but we had a tough time getting traction at the start of this school year. When you read the list of "new" that we faced, you will understand why! In the months of August and September, we were hit with a new literacy series, new principal, new superintendent, new 1:1 technology rollout, and new math standards. See what I mean? By the time we got to Lighthouse, we were all so exhausted, it was hard to even think straight! But I'm happy to announce that in our last few meetings, we are finally getting some impressive traction. Yea! It feels so good to be focusing on this program and implementing the ideas we have been talking about all year.

All the "new" at the start of the year  =  circle of no control
Learning to focus on my circle of control

One of the things we had been throwing around was the idea of school wide leadership roles. While there were tons of different role possibilities, it boiled down to these five. We chose them to highlight the habits, give a variety of choices for all ages, and to simply help our school run smoothly! Applications are due on Friday, but I already have a huge stack on my desk! I'm pretty excited to go through them and choose our new leaders.

So many applications! 

1. Greeter - students will be expected to speak clearly to people as they enter the school and direct them to the office to sign in and get a visitor pass.
2. Shutterbug - student will help to showcase all the great things that are being done around out building! They will need to use a camera/iPad/phone to take pictures
3. Tour Guide - student will need to have basic knowledge of our building and operations of the school. Applicants should be positive, have the ability to communicate well with visitors, and showcase our great school!
4. Habit Announcement Leader - student will need to speak clearly over the school intercom system. Student will be giving a brief 7 Habits reminder once a week. 
5. Weather Specialist - Student will need to be able to use technology to acquire weather data. During the afternoon announcements, each student will share the weather report for the following day. 

Is there something you have been mulling over for months (maybe years), but just haven't quite pulled the trigger? Do it! It feels so wonderful to see these changes in our school, and I can't wait to see what else we come up with now that we're on a roll!