A B Ready Code: Habits 1 and 2
Hello, and welcome back to A B Ready.com. This is the first of five short videos about the A B Ready code, a list of ten habits guaranteed to help you succeed in school.
Before we start, let’s be perfectly clear about the rock-solid foundation of A B Ready. It’s the answer to this question: “What is my job?” When I ask this question to a group of students, someone always raises his or her hand and answers, “Mr. Ballinger, your job is to help us get better grades.” Then I say, “That’s a very good and true answer. But the real answer is that my job is to respect you.” Whatever I say or do on A B Ready.com is out of respect for you. So, why should I respect you? Because you have a future. Do you know the difference between a two-year old and a twenty-two year old? Twenty-two year olds have the concept of a future. They may be in college and thinking about the career they are planning to enter, and where they would like to live, who they would like to marry, and wondering how they are going to afford their first home, and many more questions about their future. On the other hand, have you ever tried to argue with two-year olds? For example, if they see a cookie, they want it now. When you suggest that thy wait until after supper so they won’t spoil their appetite, they may have a melt-down because they don’t know what it means to wait until later. They have little idea of the future. Now, you are in the middle between being two and twenty-two, and you may or may not have given much thought about your future. The fact of the matter is that you could easily live another 75 or 85 years more. And when you think of all the wonderous changes that have happened in just your short lifetime, changes that are accelerating, well, you have so much to look forward to. So, you want to be ready for your future. You may have gifts and talents you haven’t even discovered yet. So, that’s why I respect you.
Now what’s your job? Well, your job has three parts.
Part 1:
Respect yourself. Move constructively toward your future and discover your unique gifts, talents, and your special interests.
Part 2:
Respect your classmates and fellow students. Why? Because you can learn from them as they can learn from you. Education is collaborative: that means that, working together, we can all succeed.
Part 3:
Respect your parents and your teachers. Your parents love you and your teachers want you to scceed in school. More than anything else, parents and teachers want to see you become a strong and secure adult. So, work with them. You can learn a lot from them.
Now, let’s talk about the first two habits of the A B Ready Code.
Habit #1:
Stay healthy, and get a good night’s sleep. You are in the prime of your life. Get into the habit of having a physical once every year. Ask your doctor how you can keep healthy. Know how your body works. Ask your doctor questions you may have. Read books and articles about good health. For example, here’s a book by a neuroscientist about The Teenage Brain by Frances E. Jensen, M.D. She has a boatload of ideas to help you keep your brain at peak performance. Her information about getting a good night’s sleep is only one of many topics she explains in great detail.
Habit #2:
Attend class everyday. Be on time and in your seat at the start of every class. I used to tell my students that there five days when they had to be in class because the lessons were so important that they just could not afford to miss being there. All the other days were also important because we would practice perfecting their skills and would learn new materials closely related to familiar concepts. I tried to make every lesson worth their time in class. That’s why I expected students to be in their seats at the beginning of class. Just like a basketball team at the opening tip-off, when the players on the court, ready to play from buzzer to buzzer. So, your attentive attendance in class every day is one important way to show your respect for your teacher.
So, that’s Habits 1 and 2 of the A B Ready Code. Click here for Habits 3 and 4.
