This week we reflect on the ‘Love of Learning’ character strength. What is it that you, as a learner enjoy or have a yearning to learn more about? What subject or area have you felt most passionate about learning this year? Do you have an interest that you feel passionate about?

People who possess the character strength love of learning are motivated to acquire new skills or knowledge or to build on existing skills or knowledge. They feel good when they are learning new things, even though they may occasionally become frustrated when the material is challenging.

Love of Learning sits within the Engagement area of our PERMA as people with this character strength like to make the most of learning opportunities.

This week, we celebrate reconciliation. Combining the Love Of Learning theme with information about reconciliation, what is something new that you have learnt about our Frist Nations People and reconciliation, culture and/or history this week?

Finding Our Heart – A Story About the Uluru Statement for young Australians

Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

The Most Magnificent Thing

The Boy Who Loved Words

This week we focus on problem solving while using the character strength – self control. Self-control fits within the Engagement arm of our PERMA model as it helps us to make the most of our learning opportunities.

Using problem solving skills can help us to communicate and cooperate successfully with others. They help us maintain our friendships and solve problems with friends if they occur.

Having a range of problem-solving skills on board can enable us to cope with challenges we may face in the future. The World Health Organisation identifies problem-solving as a key skill for health. Problem solving is about being able to think critically and evaluate the consequences of various actions.

Restorative practices can be used to solve problems with friends (there is a page on this blog that you can refer to). With restorative practices, if a tricky friendship issue occurs, people are encouraged to think about what happened and how it made the people involved feel. They then have a restorative conversation to solve the problem.

With some problems, we might need to think hard about the problem then break the problem up into chunks. After that we can think about different ways that the problem could be solved

For most problems, you will feel proud if you manage to solve it on your own, but, of course, there will be times when you will need an adult to help you solve a problem, so don’t hesitate to ask if you are not sure.

This is a nine minute video about the Circle of Control – Instead of reacting to or worrying about conditions over which you have little or no control, proactive people focus their time and energy on things they can control.

I’m sure you’ll agree that “David” is an example of someone who finds it really hard to use self control to problem solve and make good decisions!

Always a Solution

Why do we lost control of our emotions?

Courage is being afraid of something and doing it anyway. This can apply to all aspects of life from holding a snake to telling the truth to standing up for yourself.

To practise being brave:

• Try new things, have adventures, and face your fears. This can be done in baby steps and at your own pace
• Be an upstander! This takes courage as upstanders need to take risks to support others and to do what they feel is the right thing to do for the good of the whole.
• Remember that it’s ok to do it wrong. It’s also ok to “fail” and at Barwon Heads PS we all know that mistakes are good because they help us to learn! Often we are too afraid to try out for a team or role in a play because we are afraid we will not get accepted. Failing and rejection are all part of the learning process. We have to take chances and learn from both the good and bad that results from them.

“Tomoorrow I’ll be Brave” by Jessica Hisch

Have Courage and Be Fearless

I like this clip with Kid President, it’s about being brave but it’s also “a Call to people all over the world” which fits well with Meaning (I belong to a world bigger than myself) in our PERMA model.

Rose Meets Mr Wintergarden by Bob Graham

I Am Courage – A book of Resilience by Susan Verde

Is HOPE one of your character strengths?

The character strength of hope has to do with positive expectations about the future. It involves optimistic thinking and focusing on good things to come. Hope is more than a feel-good emotion. It is an action-oriented strength involving agency, the motivation and confidence that goals can be reached, and also that many effective pathways can be devised in order to get to that desired future.

Students who are high in hope have greater academic success, stronger friendships, and demonstrate more creativity and better problem solving skills. The good news is that hope is very similar to the growth mindset in that it can be cultivated.

Hope doesn’t mean wishful thinking—as in “I hope I win the lottery.” Instead, a person who is high in hope is able to:  

• Set clear and attainable goals.
• Develop multiple strategies to reach those goals.
• Stay motivated to use the strategies to attain the goals, even when the going gets tough.

Visualising the paths to your goals will help you to achieve them and using a growth mindset will help overcome obstacles.

Another hint is to remember other successes that you and role models have achieved. There are many people who have overcome adversity to reach their goals.

It’s important that you enjoy the process of attaining your goals. If you use positive self-talk, you will be more likely to achieve your goals.

The North Star; a story of life which involves following the windy track on the journey to achieving your goals.

When a girl notices a lonely light flashing across the lake, she gathers the neighbourhood kids and all the lights they can find, to send back an answer to a boy who needs a friend.

The Little Refugee – A tru story about hope!

How to set goals in 4 easy steps

Hope by Kealy Connor Lonning

Hope can be about your wishes for yourself in the short term and long term future. It can also be about small steps of action for the good of the whole, for example, recycling things that you have used to contribute to a cleaner planet!

Think about your role models (such as scientisits, authors, environmental activists, sporting heroes) as they have managed, through small steps and persistence, to achieve their hopes!

What are your dreams and hopes?