You’ll rarely hear of a teacher that has a New Year’s
resolution. Rather they adopt New
School Year’s resolutions. Just as
New Year’s resolutions last as long as it takes to read this article, so do New
School Year’s Resolutions.
They fade exceptionally fast.
This article is about how to develop, in yourself as an
educator, a lasting habit. (though the ideas can apply to any change of habit) New School Year’s resolutions are just
dressed up goals that incorporate a habit.
Professional
teachers reflect. Upon
reflection, we identify solutions, or steps to take to improve. Summer vacation is not a rest for
educators, it is period of time where extensive and exhausted reflection is
practiced.
Summer is when teachers develop game changing classroom
ideas.
This article will teach you how to transform a game changing
idea into a habit.
For help, we turn to William James, one of the most under
appreciated educators in modern history.
His advice, concerning everything
in life, is timeless and is worth your time. For this discussion, our attention turns to several pages of
Talks
to Teachers on Psychology; And to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals. Though it was originally spouted (it
was first a series of lectures) in 1899, his ideas are pragmatic, rationale,
and actionable.
He identifies four maxims to successful change of habit.
1. “…in the acquisition of a new habit, or the
leaving off of an old one, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong
and decided an initiative as possible.”
Commit, unquestionably, to the new action. Believe in the change and its positive
implications. Trust yourself that
the change is for the better.
2. “Never suffer an exception to occur till
the new habit is securely rooted in your life.”
To
successfully adopt a new habit (or break one), it takes 21 consecutive days. Adhere to the guidelines of you goal
for three weeks. At that point, automaticity takes over and less effort is
required to maintain the habit.
Automaticity is when you subconsciously begin to perform the
action. When your body and mind
treat the new behavior as something expected and automatic, missing a day
doesn’t mean you turn back the dial to day one. It means that resuming with the action will be easier. Embrace this threshold and work hard to
reach it.
3. “Seize
the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on
every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you
aspire to gain.”
Recognize opportunities to foster and feed your new
behavior. Actions require prompts;
be hyper-vigilant for small cues to practice your new habit. As you “work through the motions” you
do two things: provide positive
feedback and reinforcement and also take a small step to reaching automaticity.
4. “Keep the faculty of
effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise everyday.”
Challenge yourself.
Small bumps will make your constitution strong so don’t shy away: the
obstacle is the way. Build resilience by embracing challenge
and understanding it as an opportunity to grow.
More of a self-help article than an article on education,
use the guidelines to improve the success rates of your New School Year’s
resolution.
A little bit more…
On a personal note, I began using James’ ideas three years
ago when trying to stick to my start-of-the-year objectives. I keep them posted in my work-space and
remove them when my goal has become a habit.
What has the Pragmatic TV Teacher changed over the years?
Goal One: Rise early- I now rise from bed between 3:30 and
3:50am: it is amazing what you can do
before the rest of the world wakes up.
Goal Two: Exercise- rising early gives me time to get my
blood moving. More importantly, my
instruction has improved- there truly is a link between exercise and
productivity.
Goal Three: Read- though not as much as I’d like to, I treat
literature as a professional responsibility. My original goal was to read one book a week. I’m now getting through two/three books
a week. Reading has been the
single most important factor in improving as an educator.
What habits do you hope to change this year? Connect with the Pragmatic TV Teacher
and share your ideas.
Thanks for reading.
Photo Credit: William James
Really very interesting and very valuable information about the Change Your Habits nice work.
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