I am not a fan of new years resolutions. Mainly, because most people give up on them after a couple of weeks. I am, however, a strong believer in creating good habits. This goes for me personally, as well as for my students. I think the best way to create well-rounded students is to teach them how to create, grow and keep good habits.
This is easier said than done. Creating good habits for students takes time and effort. Keep reading for my 5 steps to creating good habits for students.
But first, I actually have a tip before we even dive into the steps. I suggest involving students in this process as much as possible. As you keep reading, I want you to keep asking yourself, “How can I have the students do this with me?” Even early elementary students can someone be involved in the discussion and implementation of good habits.
Click here to download Project-Based Learning and Soft Skills: The Complete Guide
Step #1 in Creating Good Habits for Students- Choose the skill
Most habits are formed because of a need for improvement in one of the soft skills.
Soft skills include skills such as:
- Creativity
- Critical Thinking
- Time Management
- Public Speaking
- And many more!
Start by thinking about which skill your students need to focus on the most. (Pro tip: Ask your students what they feel needs to be worked on most as a class!).
It’s best to start with one skill. We can build on more later!
Step #2-Choose the Domino Habit
I am a huge fan of the book The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. In it, they say that making one small habit, will have a domino effect that can cause massive. They say to think about what you want to change. Then, you break this goal into what you can do to make it happen. You want to break it down to something so small that you will say to yourself, “Oh that’s easy, I can do that”.
For example, If I want to wake up earlier in the morning, what are some things I can do to make that happen?
- Going to sleep earlier (not small enough)
- Drinking less coffee (not small enough)
- Putting my phone away an hour before bed (not small enough)
- Getting into bed and read a book for an hour→ This is the domino habit
So based on the skill you chose in step #1, what tiny habit could students implement each day that would lead to the goal?
Click here to check out the habit tracker in the Student Habit resource!
Step #3 for Creating Good Habits for Students-Make it Wicked Simple
Whether you create this domino habit with your students or not, you want to make sure students are very aware of this habit and understand what it is.
This could mean:
- Displaying the habit somewhere visible in the classroom
- Making printable displays for each student’s desk
- Creating a letter to go home to parents so that they are aware of the new habit
- Creating a song for when it’s time to do the habit (if it isn’t a subtle habit)
Check out the Student Habit Bundle, and the Creatures of Habit resource, which both include posters, habit trackers and student displays!
The goal: make it well known by students, parents and other school community members what habit your class is working on implementing.
Step #4-Track It!
Next, you want to make sure students, and yourself, are tracking this habit.
You may choose to have a whole class tracker displayed on the SmartBoard. Each day that your class is successful in fulfilling the habit, a student could come and check off the day on the tracker.
Or maybe this habit needs to be fulfilled by students individually. In that case, a personalized tracker could be placed on each student’s desk.
Thirdly, if you wish for students to also do this habit at home, an at-home tracker could be used-Just make sure you’re checking in with parents to ensure it’s being done at home.
Step #5 for Creating Good Habits for Students-Grow it!
Once you and your students feel that this new habit is now second nature, you can move on to either levelling up this habit or working on a new habit that practices a different skill.
For example, let’s say I want my students to get better at asking questions. The domino habit could have been to ask their seat partner how they are doing at the beginning and end of each day. Once students have mastered this and are doing it without asking, we could level up this habit by having students ask follow-up questions to their partners.
Or maybe, instead, I want my students to move on to practicing time management. In this case, I would create a completely different habit. Please note, students would still be expected to be doing the first habit, however, I would create a new one if I feel the first has become innate in my students.
Final thoughts
I hope this was helpful in getting started with implementing the idea of habits with your students.
Be sure to check out the Student Habit Bundle and the Creatures of Habit resources, both available now in my TpT store!
Have any questions? Drop them in the comments down below!
Ps-Don’t forget to download your free copy of Project-Based Learning and Soft Skills: The Complete Guide!
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