January- Finding Your Inner Super Hero - Use Your Resources, Be Responsible

Super Powers Unite

It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.”—

Josiah Charles Stamp, English economist

This January students at PRIS are working to become more responsible and find ways to take ownership for their thinking, feelings and behaviors.  Students in Art class are creatively constructing visual artifacts of these core values.

Teaching responsibility and ownership takes a long time. A child who understands and accepts responsibility will do better in school and in life, and home is the very best place to learn it. In her online paper, “Practice What You Preach: Raising Responsible Versus Entitled Children“, Marsha B Sauls, PhD, speaks of parenting for responsibility as the flip side of parenting for entitlement. When we hold our children accountable for their actions, even if it means an uncomfortable, even painful, interaction with them, we are raising responsible children.

Want to know more?  Check it out…

• Responsibilities and Chores
• Responsibility and Values
• Responsibility Myth
• Raising Responsible Kids

November - Practicing being Grateful!

Those that take time to be grateful are proven to be happier and healthier. But just saying “Thank you” is not the only practice of Gratitude. Welcoming opportunities of adversity as a motivator to smooth out your growth edges or reflect on areas needing strength is a moment of practicing Gratitude. Stopping and slowing down your moment to fully engage in the present time is a practice of Gratitude.

Students that develop the skills needed to practice Gratitude regularly are more successful in school, manage emotions in a healthier way, have less conflict and more positive problem solving skills, and are genuinely happier and more resilient.

This November I would like to encourage you to share your Gratitude. Consider online journaling, using a Gratitude journal, practicing mindfulness or any other number of Gratitude practices that you can incorporate into your daily life. Provide the footprint that your children need to follow as you walk the path of Gratitude.  

"Thousands of years of literature talk about the benefits of cultivating gratefulness as a virtue," says University of California Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons. Throughout history, philosophers and religious leaders have extolled gratitude as a virtue integral to health and well-being. Now, through a recent movement called positive psychology, mental health professionals are taking a close look at how virtues such as gratitude can benefit our health. And they're reaping some promising results.

Benefits of Gratitude

Grateful people -- those who perceive gratitude as a permanent trait rather than a temporary state of mind -- have an edge on the not-so-grateful when it comes to health, according to Emmons' research on gratitude. "Grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, regular physical examinations," Emmons tells WebMD.

Want to know more?  Check it out…

Gratitude Health Boost

Praise of Gratitude

Greater Good

October - Use your resources and be an advocate for yourself.

October is Resourcefulness (able to deal skillfully and promptly with new situations, difficulties, etc.).

We expect students to be able to transfer skills to unfamiliar situations but have we taught them how to be resourceful? Students must be able to navigate these unfamiliar situations using critical thinking, advocating and resilience among other skills. Teachers and students will dig deeper into the layers of understanding and uncover areas of strength and needing growth.

How many of the below can you check off? (https://teachingselfadvocacy.wordpress.com/teaching-self-advocacy-skills/)

• Awareness of personal preferences, interests, strengths, and limitations.
• Ability to differentiate between wants and needs.
• Ability to make choices based on preferences, interests, wants, and needs.
• Ability to consider multiple options and to anticipate consequences for decisions.
• Ability to initiate and take action when needed.
• Ability to evaluate decisions based on the outcomes of previous decisions and to revise future decisions accordingly.
• Ability to set and work toward goals.
• Problem-solving skills.
• A striving for independence while recognizing interdependence with others.
• Ability to self-regulate behavior.
• Self-evaluation skills
• Independent performance and adjustment skills.
• Persistence.
• Ability to use communication skills such as negotiation, compromise, and persuasion to reach goals.
• Ability to assume responsibility for actions and decisions.
• Self-confidence.
• Pride.
• Creativity (such as creating other accommodations that help support the need of the students)

Teamwork and Geese!

Students in PAWS Class are learning about the "V" Formation... While teaching in Minnesota I first read “Lessons from Geese” that was largely based on the work of Milton Olson. I was the head gymnastics coach of a prominent high school and I was always looking for new activities to build teamwork.  It is truly marvelous when groups of people are in sync. People feel more supported, people take healthier risks, and people in general are more successful and happier. In the event that a challenge arises, the group offers support, needed problem solving skills and resources to reach the intended goal. There is no doubt embracing a “V” formation within our own family as well as the PRIS community might be the best strategy for having a superb school year. 

Want to know more? Check this out...
VIA Institute on Character
Teamwork
More on Teamwork

Teamwork!

September is all about Teamwork. Teamwork is the ability to come together and work efficiently as a group. There are a lot of ways to build a team but one of the most important components is to have common values and a common goal. Students need the skills to be a collaborative member of a team. The beginning of the year is a great time to refresh, refocus and revisit skills that will help students be successful when working in groups. 

Want to know more? Check this out...
Teamwork and SEL

Find your HERO!

Many of us have a hero in our life. What makes that person special to you? It could be an inner quality that shines through during a tough moment. It could be an outlook on life that defines who they are. We all have hero potential. A hero could be defined as “A person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. A person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal”. At PRIS we believe that our students have the potential to be a hero by being brave in the face of a challenge and performing an act of courage through persistence or asking for help. We believe our students have the potential to be a hero by demonstrating compassion for others at recess, problem solving with a group of friends or persevering when times are tough. There are many ways we can develop our HERO qualities. Look for the HERO in yourself and others, and speak the HERO talk! Find your HERO!

A super video about Extra Ordinary People. For the Heroes. A Pep Talk. President, K. (n.d.). For the heroes. A pep talk. [Video file].

Honesty- Make it contagious!

Honesty is a pretty important character trait. Ask a student what they think honesty is and you will come up with a number of definitions. "All children lie. Teaching children about the importance of honesty early and teaching them how to resolve situations so they don't need to rely on lying will ensure they will be honest -- most of the time," says Victoria Talwar, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at McGill University in Montreal. According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, children and adults lie for similar reasons: to get out of trouble, for personal gain, to impress or protect someone, or to be polite. 

In the end you decide if you are going to be honest or not!

Want to know more?...
A great character trait site!