Dandan’s story — Habit makes change happen

Facing Dandan, the teachers encountered the same problem: she gets distracted too much. Playing with erasers, drinking water, running in and out… Gentle or harsh methods such as reminders, demands and criticisms were tried, but none of them worked well.

Maths teacher Xia Xue, facing these problems, invited Dandan to join the program.

The same problem persisted when the program first started: Dandan was getting distracted in class playing with dolls and sending random emojis, etc.. Compared to the other kids, Danny always seemed to be in trouble. While Xia Xue felt frustrated and worried about whether the program was really useful to children, some changes were quietly happening.

In a maths class, as Xia Xue was starting the class by reviewing the last lesson of mathematical knowledge as usual, she casually asked Dandan if she remembered the content of the habit class. Surprisingly and delightfully, the child not only remembered it, but also expressed it coherently and clearly. This gave Xia Xue great encouragement. This shows that children can really understand and be interested in the principles of habit formation through the Habit Development Education Program.

The effects of habits continued long after the program ended. When the teacher asked Dandan about the three rules she should follow before class, she could answer them quickly: “eyes to the screen, buttocks glued to the stool, listen carefully.” When confronted with problems, Dandan learned to raise her hand. Behaviours such as playing with erasers was also rare.

With the hope that children can gain more strength in learning, Xia Xue and Dandan joined the program. And the program has in turn realised their hopes.

（知行者成长营中，夏雪老师陆续收到了丹丹送给她的画）

Today, in Dandan and her teachers’ classrooms, the Habit Development Education Program’s impact is still being felt. The three rules before class can be quickly answered by the children, once the teacher mentioned : “eyes to the screen, buttocks glued to the stool, listen carefully”. Encountering problems, children learned to raise their hands; behaviours such as getting distracted via playing with erasers were also rarely seen. With the hope that children can gain more strength in learning, Xia Xue and Jia Hui joined the Habit Development Education Program. Now, they have realized their hopes and self actualisation through this program.

Junjie’s story —  The magic worked

Junjie is a shy boy in junior high school. When he asks questions in class, he always pauses for a few seconds before answering them slowly. But he caught on so quickly to the principle of habit that he got the idea behind it in a few sentences.

After the discussion of principles, it’s time to co-create habits.

“Junjie, what habits are you going to develop?” I asked him.

“Reciting English words and taking reading notes.” Junjie said without thinking.

“What’s the use of having these habits?” I continued.

He hesitated for a moment and said, “It can improve my academic performance.”

“What’s the point of improving your grades? Junjie, what do you want to be in the future?” I asked again.

“Well…” He lowered his head and, after a long silence, whispered, “I… I don’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter, when I was at your age, I also didn’t know what I wanted to do in the future. But it’s important to find your future goals, so you can work toward them now and you’ll get there someday. “I reassured.

“But…… but…… I really want to be a teacher, but I’m too stupid. I don’t think I can do it. “Junjie lowered his head again.

Hearing that the child had the idea of becoming a teacher, I was perked up. Capturing the spark of children’s interest and then lighting it, isn’t that what us educators do? Afterwards, we talked about specific subjects in the teaching profession. I was surprised to find that Junjie became interested in the history of the Soviet Union because of a game with the Cold War as the story background. When it came to the Soviet Union, words flowed out of him naturally: Lenin, Stalin, The Second World War, weapons, etc.. I followed his ideas, and finally determined our common habit training goal, that is to read the “General History of Russia”. To ensure the validity of reading, I made an agreement with him to read a short section every day and keep a reading log. In order to lighten the load, the log structure is very simple. It simply records the “reading content”, “reading gain” and “reading confusions”.

Generally speaking, the first week sees the most positive response. I did not expect that Junjie had not kept a reading log. So I had a chat with him:

He stammered, “Ms, I can’t write well.”

“What part of the reading log do you find difficult to write? We can simplify things according to the principle of habit.” I consulted with him.

“Teacher, I just can’t write well. When I write, I forget.” Junjie was a little embarrassed.

Knowing Junjie’s difficulty, I suggested that he change the way of keeping logs to recording voice messages every day. Since he is afraid of writing, he should just bypass it.

From the second week, Junjie began to follow through by voice messages, while I still used text. After sending voice messages for three days, perhaps inspired by my texts, Junjie began to journal. At first, he wrote twenty or thirty words a day. Afterwards, he often wrote two or three hundred words. The more he wrote, the more excited he got. His content became even more rich so than his teacher myself. And the reading questions he posed after the journal became more in-depth, such as “If the United States and the Soviet Union were enemies, why did the United States also have communists?” “Does science really know no borders?”. Learning that the Soviet authorities embellished history, Junjie had a deeper understanding of the saying that “all history is contemporary history”. He also noticed that in the Cold War game he had played, developed by an American firm, had a tendency to deliberately discredit the Soviet Union.

As Junjie’s interest in Soviet history grew, he became more active in reading and journaling. Even on the New Year’s eve at 11 pm, he still did not forget to send that day’s reading log.

Yao’s Story — The power of persistance

Yao is a very sensible child. She listens carefully in class and finishes her homework on time after class. When I first became her English teacher, I tried to invite her to participate in the Habit Development Education Program.

The first stage of the program is more about the learning some theories about habits. Yao maintainsed her usual way of listening to the lectures. But as the course progresses, Yao, who was usually quiet, became more and more active. Not only did answer questions, she also took the initiative to ask questions and share her own opinions. She sometimes played the role of a young lady, encouraging and helping the little girls who were in the same class together.

After the first stage, Yao and I decided to work together to develop a habit. “Is there any habit that will be good for you in the long run?” Faced with my question, Yao suggested that she want to stick to the habit of reading. In order to urge the child to keep the habit, I decided to fill out the punch-in card together to develop my own good habits.

In the daily punch-in session, Yao became a little role model for everyone. Except for the New Year’s holiday, she punched in in the group every day. Sometimes even I forgot to do it, but upon seeing Yao’s persistence, I would remember and made it up feeling a bit ashamed.

In just a few months into the program, Yao became more confident and willing to express, and also a little teacher and a little role model, inspiring everyone to make progress together. Although the first stagtage of the Habit Development Education ended, and there were no material rewards for points or prizes, YaoYao still punches in in the group from time to time to share her reading notes.

Why can Yao persist? I think it is the process of habit formation that brings self-confidence to the child and makes her see the value of sticking to the habit. And the power brought by this habit can take her to a higher and broader platform in the future.