Week of October 22 - 25

This week we will complete our study of Habit #5 and begin our study of Habit #6.
Last Friday, I introduced the students to the concept of empathy.  Below is a quote that sums it up well:

We will start off this week discussing a time when your child used empathy and explore how empathy requires us to get outside of our judgments and take the perspective of another person.  We must use empathy to truly "hear" and understand another person, a requirement of Habit #5 ("Seek first to understand....).  I will explain the second half of Habit #5 (... then to be understood), and we will discuss how to be heard.  The students will then apply the 3 requirements of "genuine listening" to a conversation with a peer as they practice using both parts of Habit #5.

On Tuesday through Friday, we will be discussing Habit #6: Synergize.  The students will learn the definition of synergy (when 2 or more people or things work together to create something better than either could have done alone), discuss examples of synergy (a good band, geese flying in a "V" formation, the sequoia trees, a bird feeding off of a rhino), and discover the 4 requirements necessary to achieving synergy (celebrating differences, teamwork, open-mindedness, and finding new and better ways).  They will also learn about three roadblocks (ignorance, cliques, and prejudice) that prevent us from "celebrating our differences. Finally we will differentiate synergy from compromise and cooperation by describing each of these concepts from a mathematical perspective:

Compromise:  1 +1  = 1 1/2
Cooperation:   1 +1  = 2
SYNERGY:    1 +1  = 3 or more

Bell Ringers for this week:

Monday: Describe a time when you used empathy with another person.

Tuesday: Are you willing to commit to improving your ability to listen? If so, how will you do it? If not, why not?

Wednesday: Describe how the Indian Talking Stick can be used to help you "be understood" (the second half of Habit #5).

Thursday: How can using Habit #5 create synergy (Habit #6) in our classroom?

Friday: Did your group experience synergy yesterday?
Explain your answer by telling me whether your group worked as a team, how you "celebrated" your differences,  and if YOU were open-minded.  Also, tell me one thing your group could have done better in order to create more synergy.