The Seven Commitments

Do my actions inspire my students to be kinder, gentler, and more caring?
~Dan Gurney (Mr. Kindergarten)
http://misterkindergarten.blogspot.com/

I have often posted about culture we create in our classrooms. Our culture comes from what we value. When the culture is strong, your classroom is more apt too respond to change as it comes.
Good attitudes, trust and respect do not come naturally. Teachers wear many hats through out the day. Coaching and teamwork is one of them.
Coaching takes time to develop people skills, creating a sense of community, a commitment to team efforts and the individual as a whole for the grater good.
I am not saying we as teaches don’t work to develop these skills, but so often many of us get lost in a supervisory role and it gets neglected.
With anything, we must be careful what we culture we create. Next thing we know, we may have started a movement that has taken on a life of its own.
In the revolutionary book, “Who Said So?” by Michael E. Parker, Entrepreneur and CEO wrote The Seven Commitments.In order to implement them as a teacher, we must first start with ourselves…
The Seven Commitments
1.Attitude Control: Commit to control attitude and behavior.
2.Identify and strengthen individual weaknesses: Commit to continually identify and strengthen individual weaknesses, including: aggressive attitude, ineffective communication, inferiority complex, low self esteem, and desire for power.
3.Positive thought process: commit to maintaining a positive attitude even I difficult circumstances.
4.Effective communication: Commit to sending effective messages and listening actively.
5.High tolerance level: Commit too exercising extreme patience in challenging circumstances.
6.Resilience: Commit to recovery quickly and bouncing back from disappointments and frustrations.
7.Respect for authority: Commit to respecting teachers, children, and families.

Talking about the commitments to kids by not only demonstrating it, but by regular group discussions,“What would you do if” scenarios,and one on one discussions (not only when they are in trouble) has proven to be very positive in instilling the culture I wish to create. What other ways do you instill The Seven Commitments?