Begin With the End in Mind

My site school uses Leader In Me, a Stephen Covey SEL curriculum, embodying parts of his famous “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. We spend a lot of time with our students reminding them about Habit #2 – Begin With the End in Mind, the habit of vision.

I am reminded that being a teacher is a profession of constant reflection – in a literal way. Am I mirroring my students in the behaviors and tasks I ask of them? Example- when in a PD meeting, am I having a side conversation with the person next to me… after asking a student to stop doing that all day?

So naturally, as we plan for learning, our habits should mirror what we want our students to do. We must begin with the end in mind! What is our plan? What are the short term and long-term goals that go with it? What is the meaning and reasoning behind it all? Do our students see their purpose?

These questions at time feel BIG for lessons at an elementary level. We are just trying to teach them the basics, aren’t we? After all, they’re only 8 years old! A goal of my unit is “students can compose a personal narrative using descriptive language and sensory words.”

It’s easy to get caught in the limited mindset- this goal is the goal because this is just what we “have to” teach kids.  But when we change our perspective and think of the lifelong potential behind it, everything changes. We are part of priming the malleable, curious brains of children! When we teach them how to use rich, expressive language when describing something, we help their future story telling abilities as they tell their college roommate about the day their high school won a state game, taking it from “Yeah we won and it was sick” to “The utter shock was palpable as we watched the winning point be swiftly scored in the final second of the game! The entire stadium was electric with yelling and cheering!”

It is imperative for kids to know their lived experiences matter and are important to the world around them. Through a big idea that “descriptive writing helps us express experiences”, students use their voices and power to share their stories. We can probe this big idea through essential questions such as, how do places leave impressions? And why do we use description in narrative writing?

Each lesson we teach with intentionality is a brick in a hopefully strong foundation of skills that allow kids to be strong advocates for themselves and their capabilities. We must begin with the end in mind as we teach because kids deserve to know we think their time learning is worth it!