Monthly Archives: August 2020

Kindness

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Kindness is my favourite character strength and when I surveyed our class this week, guess which character strength was, by far, the most popular? You guessed right – it was kindness.

We never forget when someone has shown kindness towards us, but research has shown that the wellbeing benefits of being kind to others is far greater than receiving kindness!

Kindness can be as easy as smiling at someone and saying hello.

One of my favourite quotes is: “In a world where you can be anything, choose kind.”

Here are some more …

 

 

Here are a few reasons for being kind:

 Being kind feels good.  Doing something for someone else really does make us feel good.  Just as running releases endorphins, so does kindness.   Make someone smile and you’ll feel better for having done so.

Kindness broadens our perspective.  In order to be kind, we have to pay attention to what is happening around us.  As we notice more things and help others, we get a glimpse of other ways of looking at things.  A broader perspective helps us to keep things in context.

Kindness softens our heart.  When we look for kind deeds, beauty, and the opportunity for kindness, we’ll find that we are more compassionate and more tolerant.  As we practice empathy, it opens our heart to others.  

Kindness brightens our world.  When we are kind to people, it makes them happy.  The more people who experience kindness from us, the more happy people will be in our lives.  When those around us are happier, our world becomes a brighter, lighter place to live.

Kindness helps people feel respected and less alone.  By recognising someone’s need for help and acting on it in a compassionate manner, it makes the recipient feel valued.  It also makes the giver feel better about themselves and more connected.

Kindness makes people want to be around us.  One of the most common responses to kindness is gratitude.  People appreciate what we’ve done for them.  Our kindness is very attractive, so they want to be around us and actually seek us out.  

Kindness bears wonderful fruit.  Kindness begets kindness, openness, health and reduces the effects of stress on our bodies and our hearts

Kindness begets kindness.  When you are kind to others, the impact of your action doesn’t stop there.  Many times the recipient of your kindness and others who see or hear about your kindness are inspired to be kinder.  The ripples of kindness are truly endless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwelE8yyY0U

Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

What is your favourite Kindness quote?

Share a kind act that you have done recently.

Share an act of kindness that inspired you to be kind to others.

Share a sneaky RAK (Random Act of Kindness) that you can do for someone else.

Grit and Growth Mindset

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GROWTH MINDSET

Most of us are famliar with the concept of the growth mindset. A growth mindset is believing in the power of yourself and your brain! We know our intellect and abilities develop when we try hard things, use the right strategies, and don’t give up. So, a growth mindset is when we know, with practice, we will get better at something.

People with a growth mindset are those who believe that smartness increases with hard work, whereas those with a fixed mindset believe that you can learn things but you can’t change your basic level of intelligence.

Science has shown that when we use a growth mindset and practise doing something, the neural pathways in our brain increase and make it easier. This picture shows the increased activity in a brain with a growth mindset.

People with a growth mindset see mistakes as an opportunity to learn whereas those with a fixed mindset have a fear of trying new things and taking risks with their learning because they’re worried about failing.

 

 

 

GRIT

Grit is similar to the growth mindset in some ways, but is more about the ability to keep working toward a goal, overcoming challenges and sticking with it even when it’s hard. A true definition of grit that grit is a personality trait that helps you keep working toward long-term goals despite setbacks or failures. Angela Duckworth is the founder of the grit theory and she defines grit as  “passion and perseverence toward long-term goals.”

Grit is a character trait that we have all needed to use to be successful during remote learning. Not only do many of our students show grit, but our parents show grit by persistently helping you with your learning and wanting the best for you. Our teachers have also shown grit by showing adaptability, determination and persistence to deliver a successful remote learning program to you, our students.

Big Life Journal suggests activities that you can do to help your child develop grit and resilience. This time of remote learning is an opportune time to assist your child to develop these life-long skills by assisting them with…

  • Finding purpose by identifying their goals
  • Interview (older) family members about times they have worked hard towards a long term goal
  • Sharing stories of famous people (eg JK Rowling, Michael Jordan)
  • Identifying stories of grit in literature (eg Dr Seuss: Oh, The Places You Will Go)
  • Ask “what’s the hard part?” and talk about how they might overcome the obstacle

 

 

How are you going to show GRIT with your remote learning this week?

Prudence

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People who are prudent think carefully and make sensible and smart choices. Prudent people plan carefully and think before they act or speak.

Prudence sits within the “Meaning” arm of the BHPS starfish and there are quite a few goals that  people who are keen to be more prudent can aspire to. These include:

  • Doing things that make a positive difference,
  • using the character strengths of positive role models and
  • helping others.

Being prudent can also mean making sensible decisions about where you can seek help if needed and knowing who you can help.

The Ant and the Grasshopper  – A lesson in prudence!

Can you think of any other fables in which the characters show prudence?

Humour

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There is a saying that laughter is the best medicine and studies have shown that sharing a laugh can reenergise the body, alleviate stress, help with positive thinking, sleep, help people to feel less worried and make everyone feel brighter.

Humour comes within the Positive Emotions arm of our PosEd model and is a great tool to use to improve how you are feeling.

You could try…..

  • Two words – tickle fight!
  • Sing a nursery rhyme, and mess up the words or change the story to include funny words.
  • Play ‘Red light/Green light’, but substitute red light for a funny word.
  • See who can make the best funny face.
  • Tell jokes.
  • Pretend you are sleeping (cue exaggerated snores) then wake up startled and give people a fright.
  • Insist that under no circumstances can you laugh or smile (reverse psychology can work a treat!)

The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors read and written by Drew Daywalt

Charlie Bit My Finger!

How cute are these pandas?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAEzpwvrveg

Walter the Farting Dog – I love the Irish accent of the narrater!

Share something that has made you laugh! It could be a book or something else that you have read, something you have watched on TV or something that someone else has done 🙂

Positive Mindsets

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Positive Mindsets during uncertain times

Recently, many of us have been weaving our way through the impact of physically distancing ourselves from others while, at the same time, suffering mentally from the fear and unknown that Covid-19 has unleashed on us.

But what if we could change our mindsets to improve how we are feeling?

I don’t suggest for a minute that we ignore the statistics, information and health messages, however, there are strategies that can be used to help us cope during these uncertain times.

Firstly, it is possible to notice something positive to come out of a negative circumstance by reframing the situation and this is certainly the case with our current predicament.  At school, for example, we are getting sick less because of the hand sanitising and increased safe hygiene practices. Households are baking more (think banana bread and sour dough!) planting vegetables and consuming less. Compassionate posts on social media which highlight the plights of others and acts of kindness are evidence of increased empathy in the world.

You can be aware of stress triggers and train your brain to take a different pathway by being mindful and engaging in a quick meditation. If, for example, watching the news is upsetting you, turn it off and do something that takes your mind in a different direction.

Now is the time to nurture quality connections with others. Through Facetime and Zoom calls it’s possible to reconnect. We have more time on our hands due to having cut back on many activities. Fostering relationships with others will contribute to your wellbeing.

Looking after your physical wellbeing through exercise such as going for a walk/run, taking up yoga or meditating will have benefits. It is also a good time to eat healthily by cooking delicious meals and caring for yourself.

So, the next time you are feeling down, accept the challenge and use a new strategy to give yourself a positive mindset.

Positive Coping

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As we grow and develop, we will encounter situations where we feel worried, nervous and sometimes even scared. Individuals deal with the demands on them by drawing on a range of coping strategies. Some strategies are more productive than others. Learning a range of positive coping skills will allow you to develop and practise skills that will enable you to cope with future changes and challenges.

Positive self-talk is a key strategy for coping with negative thoughts, emotions, and events. Resilience research shows that use of positive self-talk is associated with greater persistence in the face of challenge, whereas negative self-talk is associated with higher levels of distress and worry. Positive self-talk can be learnt or strengthened through practice.

Positive self-talk fits into the positive emotions area of the BHPS wellbeing model. I use many words to express my emotions and I can use positive thinking skills to improve how I feel.

We all have times when we feel negative emotions like sad, angry, jealous, lonely, frustrated or bored. However we all have many coping strategies, or things we do that help us to manage. We do things to calm ourselves down or to cheer ourselves up. Firstly, it’s helpful to name your emotion and speak to an adult if you don’t think you can manage your feeling on your own.

Here is a list of just some of the strategies you can use to help yourself to feel better:

  1. Practise breathing – use an exercise such as in, 2, 3, hold, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4, 5
  2. Do some exercise such as running around outside, jumping on a trampoline
  3. Read a book
  4. Listen to some of your favourite music
  5. Draw a picture
  6. Play a game
  7. Do some yoga
  8. Go on Smiling Minds and do some mindfulness
  9. Organise a play with a friend
  10. Do something that makes you laugh such as reading ajoke book or watching something funny on TV

Positive self talk means speaking kindly to yourself. You could ask yourself;  “What would you say to a friend who had this problem?” You’re likely to have some kind, supportive words which you should use when thinking about yourself.

“The Most Magnificent Thing” by Ashley Spires is a great example of a person using positive self talk to persist in the face of challenge. Have a look at this stop motion animation put together by Elmwood School in Ottawa (Canada).

I love this book about a girl looking in the mirror and seeing a version of herself that she likes.