How To Become A Highly Effective Teacher With 7 Habits

Every staff room should own a CPD library, a sanctuary of knowledge and inspiration that feeds the minds of each effective teacher eager to learn and grow. However, the pursuit of knowledge should not be confined to education. That’s why it is crucial for staffroom CPD libraries to offer more than just educational resources—they should also provide growth mindset books.

One such book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” has transcended boundaries, captivating over 40 million readers with deep insights into personal and professional success. It is time to add it to your staffroom CPD library.

One such book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” has transcended boundaries, captivating over 40 million readers with deep insights into personal and professional success. Add it to your staffroom CPD library if it is not there yet.

Let’s adapt the principles of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” to highlight the 7 habits of highly effective teachers. 

These habits are game changers and will send all teachers adopting them to the pantheon of great teachers.

Without further ado, here are the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers:

1- Be A Proactive Teacher

Highly effective teachers are proactive teachers. They are in charge of their individual student’s education, which comes with various challenges. Proactive teachers are ready for all situations because failing to plan is planning to fail. They know their students, understand their adjustments and take action to create a positive learning environment. They are everywhere: in the staffroom, interacting with colleagues, on the playground, building relationships with students, by the school gate, getting to know their parents, and running PD sessions. They do it because they understand that a teacher should not be limited to the classroom environment

2- Begin with the End in Mind

To foster purposeful learning, highly effective teachers begin each new topic with the end in mind. They lay down clear outcomes and objectives. This approach ensures that students understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning.

Teachers can incorporate storytelling techniques to make the curriculum more engaging, creating narratives that connect the content to real-life situations and making it more relatable and meaningful for their students. By infusing storytelling into their teaching, teachers can capture students’ attention, foster curiosity, and enhance their understanding and retention of the subject matter.

Read more on how to turn your curriculum into a storyboard.

3- Put First Things First 

All teachers must juggle numerous tasks, but highly effective teachers know how to prioritize. Planning, grading, attending meetings, and engaging with students, they allocate time wisely by prioritizing based on importance and urgency.

Highly effective teachers write their to-do list before bed. By doing so, they’ve already got their to-list ready to go and can start taking action as soon as they wake up. They also remember to check off items that they completed. This is a form of easy accountability.

Looking for the right notebook? Take a look at these minimalist Primordial Teachers notebooks and start jotting down your daily to-do list.

4- Think Win-Win

You are not alone. Successful teachers embrace collaboration and empathy. They develop positive relationships with colleagues across the curriculum and are able to share ideas, resources, and best practices within the professional learning community. This enables them to gain fresh perspectives and insight that enriches their teaching style and improves student outcomes.

Their resources are often available on the internet on TES, or Teachers Pay Teachers because they want the best for their community and aim to raise education standards.

5- Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the role of teachers has shifted. Highly effective teachers recognize this change and prioritize understanding their students by actively listening to them and comprehending their needs, strengths, and challenges. Creating a safe space for communication requires patience and perseverance, but once established, it allows teachers to effectively cater to their students’ diverse learning styles and backgrounds. By investing the time and effort to create this safe communication space, teachers can truly connect with their students, fostering an environment of mutual respect, trust, and effective teaching and learning.

6- Synergize

Cooperation in the classroom is a critical aspect that highly effective teachers prioritize. By encouraging teamwork, they create a sense of collective responsibility and tap into the power of diverse perspectives. This approach fosters an environment where students actively engage with one another, learning from different viewpoints and working together towards shared objectives. Through synergistic interactions, teachers empower students to learn collaboratively, explore new possibilities, and develop vital social and communication skills necessary for success in an interconnected world.

7- Sharpen the Saw

Learning is a lifelong journey, and highly effective teachers invest in their professional development, constantly seeking new strategies, technologies, and pedagogical approaches to enhance their teaching practice. Highly effective teachers don’t wait for the weekly PD sessions and take their education in hand.

Great news! You are reading this post, it is a proof that you are a highly effective teacher. Your growth mindset inspires your students to become lifelong learners as well. You are looking for novel approaches and ways to surpass yourself. This brings us back to our first point, being a proactive teacher.

Takeaways

Becoming a highly effective teacher requires more than just subject matter expertise. It demands a commitment to personal growth, empathy, collaboration, and continuous improvement. By incorporating these 7 habits into their professional lives, teachers can create transformative learning experiences and empower their students to excel academically, emotionally, and socially.

If you want more ideas for your CPD library, read this post about 12 Rules for Teachers, inspired by Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life.”