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“First we make our habits, then our habits make us”
Habits, we all have them – ranging from helpful ones to comforting ones to unnoticed ones and to those very secret ones only those close to us know about. On a practical level, habits I would benefit from acquiring include: putting the recycling out weekly (my lodger would appreciate it), checking my emails more regularly (Lizzie would approve) and taking my turn to cook more often (my partner and friends would be delighted).
As you probably know, at school we are talking lots about the habits that we’d like to get better at. We are trying to notice things about ourselves that will help us to be better learners. This hasn’t all been plain sailing. Sometimes there are things within ourselves that we know we need to work on, but at other times it can be really hard to observe things that we’ve previously not noticed or got used to not seeing. Facing up to old habits and turning them into new ones can be a challenge but it’s a challenge we’ve all set ourselves (including the teachers).
Many of you may already have started to help your child to collect evidence for their portfolios that shows the steps they are taking to develop their chosen habit. The collaboration here is so exciting, as this project gives us the opportunity to enrich our partnership and look at children’s progress more holistically. We all know that learning never stops and now we have an approach that reflects this.
The potential of this approach dawned on me last week, when I discovered that Elias had planned a film project at home on Chinese New Year from start to finish. I’d already seen the film, but I had no idea of the process he had gone through to make it. On another occasion he designed a swimming pool, digging a hole in his garden and lining it with a paddling pool. This made me realise that there is so much that the children do, that we don’t know about. I can’t wait to learn more about them as they develop their habits at home and beyond.
Clare (Class 2 teacher)
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