Technology-Assisted "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens"

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens
Technology Integrated Lesson Plan


Unit Author
First and Last Name: Susana Prochaska
School District: USD 501
School Name: Highland Park High School
School City, State: Topeka, Kansas

Unit Overview
Unit Plan Title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens
Curriculum-Framing Questions
Essential Question What does success require?
Unit Questions How can habits cause us to be effective or ineffective?
Content Questions What are the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens?
How can the 7 Habits be applied to our daily lives?
Unit Summary:
In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, author Sean Covey applies the timeless principles of the 7 Habits to teens and the tough issues and life-changing decisions they face. Covey provides a step-by-step guide to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve their goals, get along with their parents, and much more. This unit teaches teens the underlying principles that are essential to achieving their goals and personal success. The activities, described in detail below, support an understanding of each of the 7 Habits along with any important terms and the application of those habits into the daily lives of the students through the implementation of “baby steps” that will be monitored twice a week by the students’ personal mentor.

Content Standards/Benchmarks:

Student Objectives/Learning Outcomes:
The student will understand the difference between passive and active listening and utilize active listening strategies.
The student will understand the importance of time management to academic and life success.
The student will understand the importance of long and short term planning to academic and life success.
The students will become aware of their own learning style, social style, academic strengths, and personal interests.
The student will understand their emotions and how their emotions impact their actions and choices.
Procedures:
Students will be reading the Sean Covey book – 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. While reading the book students will be answering questions about the chapters and dialoguing with their mentors about the book. The students will be doing some journal writing, chapter reactions, and creating a PowerPoint presentation reflecting on what they have learned from the book. Students will also be listening to descriptions of the 7 Habits by the author, Sean Covey.
Week 1: Student writes an introductory letter to his or her mentor. The letter will include a brief autobiography, family, hobbies, interests, and a description of school and community in which writer lives. The letter will reflect both positive and negative attributes that the student possesses. He or she will discuss his or her feelings toward school. The mentor will respond to the letter and also write his or her own letter of introduction to the student. The mentor will also obtain a copy of Sean Covey’s book 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and begin reading it.
Focus on Habit #1-Be Proactive. The students will provide a description regarding the term "proactive" and give examples of proactive and reactive behavior and speech. The mentors are asked to respond to the students' messages by offering their understanding of the term proactive and anonymous examples of can-do and no-can-do people.
Week 2: "Begin with the end in mind" Habit #2. Students and mentors should read pages 73-103 this week. Both students and mentors are asked to answer the questions from the "Great Discovery" on pages 86-89 and share these answers with each other. Students will create a personal mission statement, and mentors are asked to provide feedback and assistance as students fine-tune their missions.
Week 3: Habit #3 - "Put First Things First" The students will describe to their mentors the types of persons they are based on Covey's time quadrant model. They will give examples of why they see themselves as they do after reading pages 105-127. The mentors are asked to describe to the students what kind of people they would be described as and why. They are also asked to describe if they would have classified themselves differently as a teenager.
Week 4: "Think Win-Win" Habit #4, Students will identify the people in their lives who are models of "win-win" thinking, and describe those people. The mentor is asked to complete this activity along with the student, and relate to the student some of the competitive problems they observe in the workplace and how they deal with those.
Week 5: Habit #5 - Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. Students and mentors will read pages 163-179. They will identify the poor listening habit(s) that keep(s) them from understanding others, and formulate a plan of action for becoming a better listener. Mentors are asked to describe their listening strengths and weaknesses, and how listening skills can be beneficial in the workplace.
Week 6: "Synergize" Habit #6: Students will be discovering what synergy is and how it is an important process. Students and mentors are asked to read pages 181-201. They should each determine what kind of fruit s/he is, and share that information. Students will write a persuasive 3-paragraph paper to convince a reader that two are better than one for problem solving. Mentors are asked to provide feedback, and examples of synergy in their own lives.
Week 7: Habit #7 - "Sharpen the Saw" Students and mentors will read pages 205-241. Students will identify how they currently keep their saws sharpened, and the areas where they need to make changes for renewal. Each student will describe how s/he renews himself/herself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually (or how they plan to) in a four paragraph paper to share with mentors. Mentors are encouraged to share with students how they keep their "saws" sharpened.
Week 8: The students will work on their Power Point presentations, while responding to mentor feedback and catching up from possible absences. The student will send thank you letters to their mentor, who are asked to send letters of support and reflection for the students to include in their final portfolios. The student will send a final power point project to his/her mentor by Thursday, November 22.
Approximate Time Needed:
10 – 50 minute periods, 2 per week for a total of 5 weeks
Prerequisite Skills:
Students must be capable of using basic internet skills, reading @ 7th grade level +, and word processing.
Materials and Resources Required For Unit: See Below

Printed Materials: Covey, Sean. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. 1998.
The Ultimate Success Guide for Teens, Premier Agendas, 2002.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Personal Workbook, 2004.
Supplies: Computer Lab, “7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” CD, Classroom copies of the “7 Habits” book, copies of the personal workbook and study guides, color printer for projects, multimedia projector for presentation purposes.
Internet Resources: www.telementor.org
www.franklincovey.com/missionbuilder

Others: TelementoringCoordinator: Wendy Meier
Telementor Volunteers
Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction
Resource Student: Extended work time, chapter summaries on compact disc, keyboarding assistance, transfer messages from Microsoft Word to webpage messaging system for easier spelling and grammar checks.
Non-Native English Speaker: Bilingual mentors, Spanish versions of the “7 Habits” book, extended work time, sheltered instruction and comprehensible input with essential vocabulary terms and definitions for each chapter.
Gifted Student: Students will pursue completion of the “baby steps” listed at the end of each chapter, Apply these extensions through self-reflection in the “7 Habits” personal workbook
Student Assessment: Assessment will occur through observation, a portfolio of weekly projects such as journals, essays, quizzes, tests, and a final powerpoint project outlining key points from one of the 7 Habits.