Teaching Responsibility

I am discovering my own personal benefits of teaching social/emotional skills. When I teach my students about things, such as being responsible, it helps me to see the areas in my own life where I can improve further. And I've decided to share this honestly with my students.

Yesterday I read the book "I'll do it" by Brian Moses to my students. It helps children to explore the idea of responsibility. We discussed the pages as we read and then we all decided an area that we need to work on to become more responsible. We posted these goals next to our photos on the goal wall (see this post for more detail). I realise that I need to get better at doing things without reminders, and take more care for my things. My specific goal for this week is to take care of my computer and my iPhone.

I think it is important for teachers to reflect upon their own lives as they teach children values. None of us are perfect, or ever will be. There is something for each of us to work on, all of the time. Perhaps this is the best lesson that children can learn about values: to continually reflect upon the way we live our lives and be prepared to make changes.

What do you think?