Hello and welcome back to another maker blog post this project was called Believe in Good. We read the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By: Stephen Covey. The driving question for this project was: How can I be my most effective self? The answer will be at the bottom, but here is a quick recap of the project. So we had to read the book, so we read it in sections 2-3 habits per reading section. These section were: The Private Victory, Public Victory, and Renewal. So your probably asking “What are the 7 Habits”. Well I will break down each habit and give you the basics. 

Habit 1: Be Proactive 

This habit is seeking help when needed and being as it says “Proactive” in getting stuff done if you need help you seek it out. 

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Begin with the End in Mind states that you should look at the final goal or product before starting the steps to reach that goal. Included with this habit is a Personal Mission Statement Table. Which is meant to be your driving statement for your life. Here is mine 

Habit 3: Put First Things First

In this habit you learn to prioritize your work do things that are harder or need to be completed then do easy things or the things that are due later. 

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Think Win-Win is the idea that everybody can win there doesn’t have to be one winner and one loser. 

Habit 5: First Seek to Understand, Then to be Understood

This habit is trying to understand them as a person before they can understand you. A example of this is if Bob is having a bad day you must understand that before he can understand your problems. 

Habit 6: Synergize 

Synergize is working together to achieve a goal, that individually you couldn’t do yourself. Or making something better, with someone else then you could do on your own. 

Habit 7: Renewal

Renewal is taking time to rest yourself Mentally, Physically, Spiritually, and Emotionally. So that you can be more effective in the first 6 habits. 

Alright so what work did we actually do in this project? Well we made these things called “Choice Boards” these choice boards were vehicles to showcase our learning they were broken down into categories . Some of these categories were: Audio, Visual, Kinesthetic, and Written. A few examples of things in these categories were a Podcast, Dance, Children’s Story, a collage. 

For the first Choice Board I made a podcast about the first 3 habits. 

 

My 2nd Choice Board were Keynote slides that had a small drawing and a personal connection to each habit. 

In the 3rd and final Choice Board I made a video showing 2 of my penguin plushies sharpening the saw. 

So the competencies being assessed for this project were: Empowered Learner: How might I use technology to construct knowledge? And Creative Communicator: How might I use technology to create and communicate?

So for the first competency Empowered Learner. I used my iPad to build my knowledge on the 7 habits by reading the book. And taking notes on them. I constructed a thoughtful pool of knowledge in my journey through this book. I learned that its ok to not do homework right away when you come home and instead read of just relax your brain to Sharpen your Saw. Is there room for improvement? Yes I think that I could have done more independent research on the 7 habits to find out what makes them so effective. Thus increasing my knowledge and performance in this project. 

For the 2nd competency. I think I used my iPad which is the tech to show knowledge at a accomplished level of understanding I say this because I filmed, drew, and created my choice broads using my iPad. But that being said I can definitely improve specific skills with my iPad, like editing and filming making sure the camera is focused I could also see about improving creativity with my iPad as some of the drawings I made were very basic and could have been improved. 

Right now your thinking “what’s the finished product?” Well the finished product is 3 Choice Boards. One Audio, One Visual, One Kinesthetic. And of course the Blog Post. So here are my 3 final choice boards. 

This one is a collage of habits 5&3 I chose these images to show a you must put homework before relaxation. I also mixed in a bit of habit 7 as you must be well rested and in the right mental state to complete your work. And habit 5 is represented by those coworkers having a meaningful conversation to work more effectively. 

The 2nd one is a podcast made by me and Declan (👉 blog) called the PPPPPPPPPP podcast yes that is a real acronym that we made stands for “ The Passionate Polite People from the Parent Participation Preschool Present their Perfect PLP Podcast”. So we covered 4 habits. Habits 1,3,6,7. In this podcast we talked about how you can apply these habits in real life situations.

The 3rd and final Choice Board was a Interpretive dance to some thinking music In which I covered habits 4 and 2 all let the video speak for itself. 

https://youtu.be/lkymsCWLXuk

Anyways what you’ve all been waiting for the Driving Question answer. So as a reminder the driving question was: How can I be my most effective self? I believe the answer is quite simple. Find what systems and habits work for you to meet deadlines, keep up your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Because at the end of the If it works it works and if other people find it weird or don’t think it will work prove to them that it will work for you. Personally I set reminders and use an app called Things to help me keep track of my homework. I try and find a healthy work life balance and I try to exercise at least twice a week. I watch YouTube to escape normal life. So again my answer find whatever system or strategy that works for you and stick to it. Until it either doesn’t work anymore or you find a better strategy. 

Thanks for reading my blog. 

Carter=BLog