The Leader in Me

  I had a fantastic conversation today at our Teacher's Convention about Steven Covey and the 7 habits of healthy Kids. I used the 7 habits last year but didn't make it through all 7. The 7 habits are:

You can find a link to the descriptions of each habit here http://www.theleaderinme.org/

Today we discussed how to use this program to motivate students, to help them find their inner drive. Our children need to become intrinsically motivated or they will never be truly successful. So how to inspire that? How do we teach children to push themselves, to cooperate in a meaningful way, to understand their own power to change how they react to circumstances. I was so impressed with the school cultures that I see in these Leader in me schools. I don't believe there is anything magical about these words. They are not a new idea. But I see them as a basis of common language that could be the catalyst for changing a school culture. I will be using the 7 habits in my class and continuing to tell the teachers around me about them. Check out this video to see what it's all about.

Jumping on the wagon

   So, I am jumping on the wagon of creative solutions for nasty classroom furniture. I have these benches that I use at the edges of my carpet for extra seating (27 K/1s last year). They are hideous mauve on top of mustard yellow on top of yellow stain. I thought about spray painting but I didn't want to have to sand and then spray paint again at the end of the year if it all chips off. Then I thought about buying foam and fabric and covering the benches that way. I was on the hunt for some foam when I discovered these bad boys:

 That my friends is liner for your kitchen drawers and it is the solution to my nasty benches. I took the liner and covered the bench then attached it with upholstery tacks. The liner is about 1/8 inch thick and kind of squishy. It adds a little comfort to the bench and the upholstery tacks add a little rock and roll. You can see the before and after in the picture below. I'm not sure if I will deal with base or leave that project for next year.

 Here is a close up view. I really like the way it turned out and I am hoping it will wear well. Now I have all of the seating I need for whole class instruction as well as an incentive for good behaviour since the benches will be reserved for my rock star students!!!