By Michael Fleming
michael@cerra.org
Written by Teaching Fellow Ashley Giordano
Submitted by Dr. Lee Vartanian, Campus Director
michael@cerra.org
Written by Teaching Fellow Ashley Giordano
Submitted by Dr. Lee Vartanian, Campus Director
Last fall, our Lander University Freshman Teaching Fellows had the opportunity to learn about Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The freshman enjoyed learning about the 7 Habits which then spread to our committees. This semester we have brought something new and exciting to our program. We have created what we call a “7 Habits Institute”. Based on Covey’s famous book, this institute consists of four, hour and a half sessions where our director, Dr. Lee Vartanian, encourages our Fellows to engage and exhibit behavior that Stephen Covey would describe as being highly effective. The fellows receive 10 hours of service learning for completing the institute (6 hours of Institute work and eight 30 minute week-planning sessions) Our fellows are challenged to change their way of thinking and responding to be more meaningful and purposeful in their thoughts, conversations, and choices every day. We have set out to embark on a journey to “sharpen our saws” and to keep in mind how being proactive and effective can be beneficial to our careers as educators.
Because of today’s ready technology, our fellows use an app designed to break down The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This app provides flash cards on the different habits and how you can practice improving them, creating your own mission statement, and even daily motivational pieces from the book to encourage you to work on each of the 7 habits. This app is great for fellows because it is a constant reminder of the goals they set for themselves: who they want to be, what they want to accomplish in four years, what legacy they want to leave. This has been a great institute for our fellows and we encourage everyone to jump on board with the 7 Habits and see how you can sharpen your saw!
