The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

An interactive activity guide for students

Created and adapted by Casey Crawford

Who Am I?

I am your constant companion. I amyour greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down

to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do you might just as

well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly .

I am easily managed – you must merelybe firm with me. Show me exactly how you

want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, ofall failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures,

I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I workwith all the precision of a machine plus

the intelligence of a human. You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin – it

makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be

easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

I am….HABITWhat is your definition of Habit?

On a sheet of paper, write down your own interpretation of HABIT. Draw a symbol or illustration of what the word means to you.

Now, what does the dictionary say?Click on the link Habit

Breaking Bad Habits

•Click on the link above and watch the video on habits.

•After the video is finished use your paper to complete the activity.

Why Use these Habits???

You have now had a chance to recognize at least one bad habit of yours. Everyone has them, you are not alone, but YOU can CHANGE them

Sean Covey developed 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens because he wanted to give teens a set of tools to use as they travel through adolescence.

These tools can help teens live happy and successful lives as long as they are implemented.

7 Habits

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

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

Habit 6: Synergize

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Mix and Match Now, match the action to the habit-complete on your own paper

7 Habits Mix and MatchMatch each item on the left with the correct item on the right.

1. _____ Habit 1: Be Proactive a. Renew yourself regularly.

2. _____ Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind b. Have an everyone-can-win attitude.

3. _____ Habit 3: Put First Things First c. Prioritize, do the most important things first.

4. _____ Habit 4: Think Win-Win d. Define your mission and goals in life.

5. _____ Habit 5: First to Understand, Then be Understood. e.Work together to achieve more.

6. _____ Habit 6: Synergize f. Listen to people sincerely.

7. _____ Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw g. Take responsibility for your life

Created by Mrs. Crawford

So, what’s your struggle?

What is your weakest habit, what is your strongest habit?

Place the habits in order from 1 to 7 (1 being your strongest, 7 your weakest)

based on how you believe you live your life. Be honest with yourself.

Label this on your sheet of paper

Next Steps….

Now that you have evaluated yourself it is time to put what you know into practice.

Activities have been created for each habit.

Start with the habit you rated as your weakest and go from there.

You will eventually complete each habit’s activities.

Habit 1: Be Proactive Take responsibility for your life.

(5 slides)

Does any part of this sound like you?

Habit of the Defective Teen: React Blame all of your problems on your

parents, your stupid teachers or professors, your lousy neighborhood, your boy/girlfriend, the government, or something or somebody else. Be a victim. Take no responsibility for your life. Act like an animal. If you’re hungry, eat. If someone yells are you, yell back. If you feel like doing something you know is wrong, just do it.

Continued…

Proactive vs. Reactive Watch this clip

Many times, we have to know what we do wrong, before we can do what is right. Many of us are reactive instead of proactive. We just say, “it’s just the way I am…I can’t help it” WRONG!

Take this short quiz. Are you REACTIVE or PROACTIVE?

Proactive vs. Reactive Quiz

Proactive versus Reactive Scenarios

Use the document to analyze two different scenarios.

SCENARIOS Within each scenario there are

various choices a teen could make. Decide whether the choice would be

proactive or reactive.

APPLICATIONTime for a Change Print out the article above and use your

annotation skills.› Ask 3 questions› Circle 3 or more unknown words and define

them› Find 2 WOW moments…something from

the article that struck you!

Being Proactive-Goal Setting

After reading the article, the author gave really good pointers on how to become more proactive. Now, let’s put it into practice

Using those pointers, make a list of 5 goals (on a sheet of paper) to help you become more proactive in your life. › Questions to consider?????

What are your problem spots? (Home, school, parents, friends, etc.)

What are solutions to help you fix your problem spots?

What actions can you take?

Habit 2: Begin with the End in MindDefine your mission and goals in life

(9 slides)

 ”To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination.  It means to know where you are going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.”

-Stephen R. Covey--The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” –Stephen Covey

What does this quote mean to you?

Write a brief explanation on a sheet of paper. Give an example of how you are a product of your decision.

Mission Statement ActivityPart 1

Write your name in a circle. Out from the circle, write words that describe you.

(Make an organizer on your own paper.)

Mission Statement Part 2

Now, think about what kind of person you WANT to be. Make a list.

I want to be a/an:

1.-2.-3.-4.-

Mission Statement Part 3

Use your graphic organizer and your list to write a mission statement.

This is a sentence or paragraph about the person you want to be.

My mission is to:

Application

In ten years a newspaper decides to do a story about YOU! They interview four of your closest friends.

ASSIGNMENT: What would you want them to say about you?

› What is “the end” for you? What do you hope to be doing ten years from now? Twenty?

› Write an article for a newspaper column about you, the future you! What do you want to be remembered by, who do you want to be seen as? Complete this assignment on a word document.

Application Continued…Choosing friends

Why are friends important? Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind teaches that the

paths you choose today can shape you forever. If you join a gang, the things you do may affect you for the rest of your life. If you smoke, drink, or do drugs, how will your health be affected several years down the road? What values will you choose? What will you stand for? How will you contribute to the community? Believe it or not, these are all questions that are largely tied to the things you do and the decisions you make as a teenager.

The friends you choose will have a profound affect on the choices you make. Friends can help you or hurt you. They will be a powerful influence on your attitude, reputation, and direction, so choose them wisely.

Choosing friends activity

Open the document and fill in with your responses Choosing Friends

After completing the document, examine your friends…are they a reflection of what you believe and value? If not, what can you do now to begin with the end in mind?

Evaluate How good are you at beginning

with the end in mind? Rate yourself on this scale. 1

being you always begin with the end in mind, 10 being you only think about today.

Why did you rate yourself this way?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Habit 3: Put First Things FirstPrioritize and do the most important things

first!(8 slides)

Jar of Life- Watch this video and see the analogy it gives for prioritizing and putting first things first

This is just a short clip of fun. Come sing this to your teacher…it will make them smile Habit 3 Song…

Are you a procrastinator????

Yes No I cram for tests the night before

I write papers the last minute before they are due. I do not read them before I turn them in.

I arrive late frequently

I am not good at planning or organizing.

I can’t seem to get motivated without pressure.

I am frequently preoccupied with one thing while I am doing something else.

I feel frustrated by the slowness of people and things around me; I hate to wait or stand in line.

I seem to rush between places and events.

I rarely have time (or save time) for myself.

I frequently wish that I had thought about things and acted sooner. Often, I am just too late.

TOTALS = Count your YES Scores From 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey

SCORESWhat are you?

“YES” Scores

8-10 --You definitely have an urgency problem!

5-7 -- You are a moderate procrastinator.

1-4 -- You may have some urgency tendencies, but they are manageable.

Procrasti-NATION

We all do it to some degree…we procrastinate! Look at the map to the left…does this seem familiar??? Using a sheet of paper, draw your own map of your procrasti-Nation. What are the things that take you away from your priorities?

How do I Put First Things First?

Sean Covey says it is “about learning to prioritize and manage your time so that your first things come first, not last. You may have a nice list of goals and good intentions, but doing them—putting them first—is the hard part. Putting first things first also deals with the learning to overcome your fears and being strong during hard moments. Habit 3 is the habit of “will power” (the strength to say yes to your most important things) and “won’t power” (the strength to say no to less important things and to peer pressure).”

Where does my TIME go?

Complete the assignment by clicking on the document. Time Survey

This quick survey will help you see where you spend most of your time.

Is the place with the most hours

spent the most important things to you or the most important things that need to be completed in your life? If not, what needs to change?

Reflect….

Now is the time to put first things first…yes, your friends may be very important to you, but is that where the majority of your time should be spent?

Write a paragraph about what needs to change in your life so that you can become a better manager of your time and start putting first things first…remember the Jar of Life example.

Habit 4: Think Win-WinHave an everyone-can-win attitude

Win-Win Watch this clip

The video offers three other attitudes that we can have. List the three different attitudes

Write this on your own paper

Scenarios

Scenario handout-Read the handout. The handout gives a brief description of the 4 life attitudes.

Activity: Since you are now familiar with the 4 attitudes it is time for you to apply your knowledge. You will be given multiple scenarios and it is your job to determine which attitude they fall into (Win-Lose, Lose-Lose, Lose-Win, or Win-Win)

If the scenario is not Win-Win, you need to rewrite it in a win-win format. What needs to change in order for it to become Win-Win?

Scenarios continued…

Scenario 1: You have had your eye on someone for weeks, but you haven’t told anyone. Your best friend meets the object of your affection and is instantly attracted. She asks you to ask your crush if he would go out with her. You agree to do it and give the guy your best friend’s phone number.

LOSE-WIN

Scenario 2: You are running for class president. You are confident that you will win the election, but you still feel threatened by your competitor. She is known to be a straight-A student with good morals and ethics. You decide to start a rumor that “Miss Goody-Two-Shoes” is into drugs and was arrested a few weeks ago for marijuana possession. Your plan works. The students shun “Miss Goody-Two-Shoes,” and her popularity goes down the drain. You win the election by a landslide.

Win-Lose

Scenario 3: You and your best friend applied to the same college. You decide to open your admittance letters together. You are accepted, but your friend isn’t. Although you know he must be disappointed, he turns to you and congratulates you with genuine cheerfulness.

Win-Win

Scenario 4: Your sister “borrowed” your favorite CD without asking. When you ask her for it, she gets a guilty look on her face. “I’m sorry, I loaned it to a friend of min and he scratched it.” You decide instead of getting mad, you will get even. While your sister is out, you take her favorite stuffed animal, the one she has slept with every night since she was little, and chuck it in the garbage.

That night, she looks all over the room for her nighttime companion. She ends up going to bed without it and cries herself to sleep.

Lose-Lose

Scenario 5: Your mom needs your help with a luncheon at the church on Saturday. You want to go to the amusement park with your friends. Instead of refusing to help, you decide to ask her if she needs your help for the whole day. She tells you that if you can help her set up from 8:00 a.m. until noon, she can probably get some of the luncheon attendees to help clean up.

On Saturday, you and your friends help your mom set up for the luncheon and then head over to the amusement park. When you get home later that night, you find a note from your mom expressing her appreciation for your help and telling you that she loves you.

Win-Win

Your Turn

Now, give an example from your own life with the 4 different attitudes. Make a chart similar to this

Win-Win Win-Lose

Lose-Lose Lose-Win

How have you either been the giver or receiver of these certain attitudes?

Two campers come upon an angry bear. The first says, "I'm glad I wore my running shoes." The second says, "you can't outrun the bear." The first says, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you."

LET’S MAKE IT SO WE ALL CAN GET AWAY FROM THE BEAR!!!

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

Listen to People Sincerely

Habit 5 Prezi

Take a look at this awesome Prezi presentation! As you go through this think about yourself as a listener…do you seek to be understood first, then

seek to understand?

Comic Strip ListeningStep 1: Divide a sheet of construction paper into 10 squares. On the top 5 squares I want you to illustrate (in comic strip form) the 5 types of poor listening. 1. Spacing out2. Pretend Listening3. Selective Listening4. Word Listening5. Self-Centered Listening

Step 2: On the bottom 4 squares you will illustrate the 4 types of genuine listening in the same comic strip form. 1. Eyes, ears and heart2. Mirroring3. Feedback4. I-messages

Step 3: In the empty square please illustrate the type of listening you mostly do. Is it a poor type of listening or is it a genuine type of listening? Then explain what you need to do to become a better listener.

Habit 6: SynergizeWork together to achieve more

5 slides

Use the Wordle to come up with your own definition of SYNERGIZE. Create a sentence using each word. You may have to add some fillers to make it into a complete sentence.

Synergize…

Definition: to cooperate with another or others, especially to remedy/fix something

Olivet Middle School Football TeamWatch the video and read the article

about the Olivet Middle School football team.

Application

How did the football team use synergy?

Write at least one paragraph describing how the football team used synergy to accomplish a goal.

Ask yourself a couple questions to help with your response:

1. Explain how the team achieved a goal by drawing on others’ expertise and differences

2. Describe the result

Application continued…

From Bullied to Homecoming Queen

Evaluation Now, it’s your turn to reflect. You have

read and seen two instances where people have come together, despite their differences (physical, mental, emotional, etc.) and were able to accomplish a goal.

How have you done this in your own life? Have you done this? If so, please give your example and be specific. If not, tell us why you believe you haven’t synergized?

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Renew yourself RegularlyHow Do I Sharpen the Saw?

If you ever feel imbalanced, stressed out, or empty inside, then you’re going to love Habit 7. It was specially designed to help you deal with these problems. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw is about keeping your personal self sharp so you can better deal with life. It means regularly renewing and strengthening the four key dimensions of your life—your body, your brain, your heart, and your soul.

The Four Dimensions

BODY The Physical Dimension -Exercise, eat healthy, sleep well, relax.

BRAIN The Mental Dimension -Read, educate, write, learn new skills.

HEART The Emotional Dimension

-Build relationships, give service, laugh.

SOUL The Spiritual Dimension -Meditate, keep a journal, pray, take in quality

media.

Starter

A man has been working hard to saw through a tree for over three hours. He still hasn’t cut through the tree trunk. What might be wrong with the man’s saw? What should he do?

What are you doing??

What do you do to take care of your body? What do you NOT

do?Could you make any

improvements?

How you are working to improve your brain? What could you stop doing? What could you start doing? Can you think of someone who really works on this area of their life?

What are your plans for “feeding” your brain? Make a list of things you want to learn or things

that you want to do that will teach you.

Brain Food

Feeding your Soul

How you are working to improve your soul? What things do you do that make you the most happy?

What feeds your soul? What inspires you and gives you

peace? What are some songs, books or movies that make

you want to be a better person? Is there a person that makes YOU want to be better?

Does the Heart Matter?

Does the heart matter? Are you serving/helping anyone? What things do you do to make friends and/or to make other people happy? Can you think of someone that really is good at this?

Your Saw is Your Life

What Makes Your Saw Sharp?

What Makes Your Saw Dull?

How good are you at sharpening the saw?

My saw is very sharp!

My saw is very dull!

What steps could you take to sharpen your saw?

Credits

This slideshow was created by Casey Crawford using the following resources:

1. The Seven Habits for Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

2. The Seven Habits for Highly Effective Kids by Sean Covey

3. The Seven Habits for Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey

4. www.youtube.com