It’s orientation week for new teachers at my school and the head of school gave a welcome talk. In it he mentioned vital behaviours for teachers and students for success at school. Afterwards I did a bit of reading about vital behaviours. (Here are two posts that helped me.) The phrase is from a book called Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change. Vital behaviours are those actions that lead to our goals. They are the smallest possible actions that make the biggest impact towards meeting goals.
Our head of school identified three vital behaviours for successful students:
- attendance
- completion of homework
- leadership outside of the classroom
He also identified three vital behaviours for successful teaching staff at our school:
- collaboration
- use of data and evidence to guide decisions
- high expectations for all students
The idea of vital behaviours really stuck with me. And made me wonder if I can generate some of my own. First I would need to think of a goal and then identify the fewest essential actions to meet that goal.
And since it’s goal setting time for the new school year, I thought I would give it a try.
Goal: Coach my grade 9 students (two classes) to communicate meaningfully in their maths portfolios/journals. (I’m not sure yet what I am going to call these books.)
First I brainstormed the steps I might take to work towards this goal.
introduce journals
provide exemplars (I already have some pictures of these.)
examine with students: What is meaningful communication and reflection?
establish thinking routines
provide rich tasks
provide reflection time
give summative feedback on tasks
have students give regular presentations in front of class
peer assess communication
write a rubric of expectations
And then I refined these to a list of vital behaviours:
- provide rich tasks
- provide reflection time
- examine with students: what is meaningful communication and reflection?
I’m sure that after school actually starts I will see if this goal and these behaviours need to be updated or changed.
Have you ever used the idea of vital behaviours in your planning?
What are your goals for this school year?