The late Steven R. Covey gained international acclaim for his ‘holistic, integrated, principle-approach to solving personal and professional problems’ through his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Covey’s acclaim grew as millions of people connected to his highly practical and thoughtful methodologies. It was through Covey’s work that people began to look at their personal and professional lives through different lenses. Covey taught us to evaluate our paradigms and principles. He taught us to be thoughtful and aware and to prepare for both private and public victories. Covey also helped us to complete our self-awareness circle by sharing the importance of balance and self-renewal.
It has been quite some time since I have read Covey’s work but I found myself thinking about his principles Friday afternoon at 5:30 as I fretted over the fact that I had not completed my blog submission for the week. I wondered what Covey might say about how I had prioritized my ‘First Things.’ I had not made blog writing a priority for the day as our teachers entered the school for the first time in months. I decided relationships would be the ‘First Thing’ Friday. It was wonderful to have our staff back in the building and I needed to be available to provide support as needed. Relationship building with the staff, students and parents of DCSS will continue to be my personal ‘First Thing’ this year.
The DCSS Admin team’s ‘First Thing ‘ is learning. Covey quoted John Wolfgang Goethe in his Habits book stating: “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” Learning matters most in our schools. As an admin team, it is our responsibility to make sure ‘learning’ is always within our thinking when we make decisions and must be a part of the conversations we have at the school level. As you may have noticed while reading the 180 Days of Learning, we are influenced by the work of John Hattie, Andrew Hargreaves, Michael Fullen and Russell Bishop. We will use Hattie et al’s work as resources for the work we will engage in this year.
The blogs I will write as part of the 180 Days of Learning will stem from the professional reading I will engage in throughout this year, from the conversations I will have, and from the learning I see happening within the walls of the South Peace Campus. 180 Days of Learning, in my mind, is an opportunity for the DCSS Admin team to share what we are all about. When I say ‘we’, I mean ‘we’, the collective community that makes DCSS a great place to go to school and a great place to work.
*Multiple versions of Covey’s books have published over the years. I borrowed ideas from his The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic (1989).
- Paul Chisholm -
It has been quite some time since I have read Covey’s work but I found myself thinking about his principles Friday afternoon at 5:30 as I fretted over the fact that I had not completed my blog submission for the week. I wondered what Covey might say about how I had prioritized my ‘First Things.’ I had not made blog writing a priority for the day as our teachers entered the school for the first time in months. I decided relationships would be the ‘First Thing’ Friday. It was wonderful to have our staff back in the building and I needed to be available to provide support as needed. Relationship building with the staff, students and parents of DCSS will continue to be my personal ‘First Thing’ this year.
The DCSS Admin team’s ‘First Thing ‘ is learning. Covey quoted John Wolfgang Goethe in his Habits book stating: “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” Learning matters most in our schools. As an admin team, it is our responsibility to make sure ‘learning’ is always within our thinking when we make decisions and must be a part of the conversations we have at the school level. As you may have noticed while reading the 180 Days of Learning, we are influenced by the work of John Hattie, Andrew Hargreaves, Michael Fullen and Russell Bishop. We will use Hattie et al’s work as resources for the work we will engage in this year.
The blogs I will write as part of the 180 Days of Learning will stem from the professional reading I will engage in throughout this year, from the conversations I will have, and from the learning I see happening within the walls of the South Peace Campus. 180 Days of Learning, in my mind, is an opportunity for the DCSS Admin team to share what we are all about. When I say ‘we’, I mean ‘we’, the collective community that makes DCSS a great place to go to school and a great place to work.
*Multiple versions of Covey’s books have published over the years. I borrowed ideas from his The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic (1989).
- Paul Chisholm -