Wednesday - September 16, 2015 / Thursday - September 17 2015

Habit #4 is THINK WIN-WIN

You are not doing it right if you engage in any of the following "think win-LOSE" behaviors:

1. Using others emotionally or physically for your own selfish purposes
2. Trying to get ahead at the expense of another
3. Spreading rumors about someone else
4. Insisting on getting your way without concerning yourself with the feelings of others
5. Becoming jealous and envious when something good happens to someone close to you

Choose one of the below steps to becoming more of a WIN-WIN type of person and explain why you chose that step:

1. Pinpoint an area of your life where you most struggle with comparisons. Perhaps it's with clothes, physical features, friends, or talents. Work to let it go. Realize we all have strengths. Appreciate and respect those strengths in others without comparing or competing!
2. If you play sports, show sportsmanship. Compliment someone from the opposing team and mean it.
3. Form a study group ahead of a challenging test and work together to bring everyone's grade up.
4. The next time someone close to you succeeds, be genuinely happy for them instead of feeling jealous or threatened.
5. Think of a person you think is a model of WIN-WIN. What is it about this person that you admire?

Monday - September 14, 2015 / Tuesday - September 15, 2015

Copy and respond to the following quote:

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-1968)

Friday - September 11, 2015

Riddle Friday

Three birds are sitting on a wire. One decides to fly away. How many birds are left?

Thursday - September 10, 2015

Copy and respond to the following quote:

"Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."

Mark Twain

Would this quote apply to any of the habits we've covered so far? Which one and why? As a bonus, what was Mark Twain's real name?

Tuesday - September 8, 2015 / Wednesday - September 9, 2015

Habit #3 is PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST.

This one is easily the hardest habit to live. It's all about prioritizing. Each week you have to decide which are the most important things for you to accomplish. Don't neglect any important area of your life (family, friends, academics, extra-curriculars, etc.). Plan to do the most important things in all of those areas. Once you knock those off, you can do some of the silly things we do to occupy ourselves.

Here are five of Covey's suggestions for you. Choose ONE of them. Copy and paste it into your bellringer document. Then explain why you chose that step.

Set a goal to use a planner for a month. Stick to your plan.

Identify your biggest time-waster (games, Netflix, social media?) Commit to cutting back.

Are you always being asked to volunteer, and you ALWAYS say yes? Next time, say no when it's the right thing to do.

Study a little each day for an upcoming test INSTEAD of waiting until the night before.

Think of something you've been needing to do for a long time, but have procrastinated. Get it done.

Friday - September 4, 2015

It's Riddle Friday...

NO GOOGLING ALLOWED!

Romeo and Juliet are found dead in a small puddle of water, surrounded by broken glass. The apartment building they are found in is located next to the city's main train station. How did they die?

Wednesday - September 2, 2015 / Thursday - September 3, 2015

In the movie Dead Poet's Society, the Robin Williams character used the phrase "carpe diem". Translate this Latin phrase. Then, say what it means to you.