J. Scott Rafetto's Page

Scott,

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I have often thought about Rick and how difficult it is to feel blindsided by life. I am working in an urban HS in Houston where they face these issues on a daily basis. I work with teachers and kids. It is an incredibly rich and grounding experience for my work. They are using the habits as a part of the AVID program they are doing. I have some incredible examples of how they are responding--really remarkable awareness of self and others. Maybe that is the best we can do--help students raise awareness, learn to value using the habits that will serve them best in school and in life, and learn how to build their capacity for becoming more skillful as they grow. I will definitely read the book. Hope you will be there this summer. Bena

Thanks for your comments. You especially made me laugh when you said that I don't need to read assignments. I am happily your critical friend. Bena

Hi,
As you consider indicators, perhaps it would help if students identified (1) the indicators as a group for the habits they think are most important to be paying attention to as a class (2) the habits they think are most important to pay attention to individually (they can set these individually). Then they might set some goals about what they need to work on, in what situations they might observe themselves or have a critical friend who might provide feedback to them, and finally to create their own I can statements to measure and observe their growth.
Another good book to check out is Daniel Goleman's new book on social intelligence. With all that we are doing with technology, he is defining what it takes to be physically and emotionally present. Much needed and he has some good indicators and definitions.
Keep me in touch with what you are learning. You have the lab!! I am just providing some guidance based on my own experiences. Bena

Hi Scott,

I am sorry I am not so good with keeping up to date on this. Of course I will be your friend :-) Send student work. I always enjoy that. Also, I think the I can statements are a good way to have the students pay attention to their developing habits. One thing that I would encourage--students (1) need to have the opportunity to practice the habits and (2) they need to recognize how the habits may or may not have helped them to be more successful in whatever it was they were trying to achieve. The I Can statements can serve as both a reminder of what indicators serve to tell them if they are using the habits as well as what they might be striving for. Bena