Ideas from Jerry

Hello friends!  Sorry it has taken forever to update the blog with new ideas!  Hopefully now that we're getting past this first part of the year, things will calm down enough that it can be updated more regularly.  Here are a few ideas that Jerry Gocken sent to me.  It looks like he is using a similar idea to the Leader in Me tree to help motivate his students to use the habits.

 Though these pictures are from autumn, this tree could be used year round!  You could the branches as a place to leave notes for students who show great leadership and in the upper grades, you could also allow students to leave notes for each other.  What a great way to get students involved in practicing and catching others demonstrating the habits.  It looks like a fantastic method for teachers to encourage their students to be leaders as well.

Check back for more ideas soon!

Ideas from The First Grade

Here's a look at Amy Roper's leadership ideas!

I love the posters that were shared in the previous post!  I had them enlarged and posted them at the back of my classroom.  They are a great resource for me to use as I am reviewing the 7 Habits with my students (plus it is a great cheat sheet for me as I do not have the 7 Habits mastered).  As my students are lined up, waiting to go to recess or leave for the day, I can easily refer to the posters.  

  I took each student's photo on the first day of school and posted them on the bulletin board below.  I didn't get a picture of it with their photos.  You could also have your students write why they are a leader and post that as well.

I choose a "Super Leader" each week in my class.  The Super Leader gets to lead the line, conduct the calendar activities, and help me in many ways!  They get to fill out a poster all about them to share with the class.   We write down the Super Leader's information in our class "Super Leader" books.  The Super Leader is also our classroom greeter!

I have incorporated my classroom rules, rewards and consequences with the 7 Habits.  This is not 

something new that I had to create, I just tweaked what I already had.  I have a frog theme in my room.  I always talk about how "Leaders Hop To It!"

If students in my classroom are demonstrating a habit, they can earn a "Hop To It" ticket.  We put the tickets in a container and have a drawing at the end of each day.

My little firsties made these frogs on the first day of school!  I am excited that we are all "leaping into leadership" not only in Room 20, but here at Vista Elementary!

I hope some of these ideas were helpful for you!  

A Few Fun Ideas!

Hello friends!  Here are a couple of fun ideas and resources for you to access:

This poster set was created by a third grade teacher in Colorado.  There is a poster for each habit and examples of each habit are listed on the poster!  This is a great resource for giving your students examples of what each habit looks/sounds like.  You can download and print these for FREE by clicking on this link: 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-7-Habits-of-Happy-Kids-Poster-Set-451302

Here are two awesome bulletin board ideas so you can help us to beautify the hallways or even to create an exciting leadership spirit in your own classroom:

Welcome to Our Idea Blog!

Welcome everyone!  It's been a wonderful year so far at Vista and it's been amazing to see the transformation the Leader in Me has influenced at our school.  We are so excited to introduce an idea blog to our wonderful faculty and staff.  On this blog, you can find links, ideas, lesson plans, and so much more to help you implement leadership skills and the seven habits in your own classroom.  The blog will be updated as regularly as possible by members of our school's lighthouse team.  This is an easy opportunity to synergize together and share the inspiring innovations that each faculty member has to share!

If you come across a great idea that you would like to share with the rest of the teachers here, you can email that idea to Morgan Ramsay and she will be happy to post it on this page for you!  Her school email address is mlramsay@graniteschools.org

It is our hope that this blog will be extremely useful, inspiring, and time saving for all of you.  We have a school full of wonderful teachers with creative minds so don't be afraid to share!  Continue the awesome work you are all doing - you are truly an inspiration!