My Wellbeing Journal – Year 11

YEAR 11 MY WELLBEING JOURNAL

INSPIRING ME

AS A YOUNG ADULT AND SENIOR STUDENT The main purpose in senior schooling is to find a sense of purpose. When you find that, you have the motivation to do what you need to do.

NAME................................................................................................................CLASS.........................................

AS A YOUNG ADULT What type of life do I want to live? .................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................

Choosing to: • be independent and self-reliant

• be focused and ignoring short-term distractions.

Acknowledgement: Ryan & Deci

AS A SENIOR STUDENT What type of life do I want to live? .................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................

Choosing to: • be a student who learns and studies with grit • be a student who thrives on challenging myself.

Acknowledgement: Dweck & Duckworth

Strengths weeks Every five weeks, the challenge for you and your class is to use a character strength to create fun and meaningful activities to build the wellbeing of everyone’s relationships. It is a great activity to do with your family at home. There are also Wellbeing Award Certificates for each of these weeks on the website.

The order of these weeks are: Gratitude, Teamwork, Curiosity, Kindness, Leadership, Hope, Zest, Perseverance, Love of Learning and Forgiveness.

Download these activity sheets and award certificates from the Wellbeing Program/Individual Resources/ Strengths Weeks or Wellbeing Awards sections of www.learningcurve.com.au

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” Dr. Seuss

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PERMAH+ ... GROWING YOUR WELLBEING You have the choice to create and grow your own wellbeing to become the person you wish to become or not.

But if you choose to do this, it takes courage to leave your comfort zone to learn and try new, more difficult and intelligent things and then have the confidence that you will be able to do them.

Use the following to reflect on the questions below A – always, B – usually, C – sometimes, D – not yet Then set a target rating you will strive for next term.

PERMAH+

POSITIVE EMOTIONS + gratitude

What went well that you were grateful for, and how can you make them happen again for Positive Emotion + gratitude? ............................................................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................

Last Year

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term Target 4 Rating

Did your positive emotions outweigh the negatives by about 5 to 1 on most days?

Intention to focus on................................................................................

Of a night, did you write down three things that went well that you were grateful for?

Intention to focus on................................................................................

How do you think Connectedness relates to this element of wellbeing? ................................................................................................................

Any other thoughts? ................................................................................................................

PERMAH+

ENGAGEMENT + mindfulness

What went well that you were grateful for, and how can you make them happen again for Engagement + mindfulness? ............................................................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................

Last Year

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term Target 4 Rating

Did you have the mindful components of pattern, repetition and control when studying?

Intention to focus on...............................................................................

Were you mindfully engaged in challenging your best possible self on most days?

Intention to focus on...............................................................................

How do you think Competence relates to this element of wellbeing? ...............................................................................................................

Any other thoughts? ...............................................................................................................

Acknowledgement: Seligman, Peterson & Kabat Zinn

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” Helen Keller

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PERMAH+ ... GROWING YOUR WELLBEING The reason for having a growth mindset is that you can create and grow your own wellbeing, this is not because you may believe in it, but because the underlying reality is that you are capable of growth. This reality enables you to view struggles and setbacks as temporary on your way to accomplishing new things.

PERMAH+

RELATIONSHIPS + empathy

What went well that you were grateful for, and how can you make them happen again for Relationships + empathy? ............................................................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................

Last Year

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term Target 4 Rating

Did you show other people mattered to you by being kind and respectful?

Intention to focus on...............................................................................

Were you self-kind to yourself by accepting you for you and creating positive self-affirmations?

Intention to focus on...............................................................................

How do you think Connectedness relates to this element of wellbeing? ...............................................................................................................

Any other thoughts? ...............................................................................................................

PERMAH+

MEANING + purpose

What went well that you were grateful for, and how can you make them happen again for Meaning + purpose? ............................................................................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................

Last Year

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term Target 4 Rating

Were you prepared to give of yourself to make a positive difference to other peoples’ lives?

Intention to focus on...............................................................................

Did you have a strong sense of purpose to drive your efforts to deliberately practice?

Intention to focus on...............................................................................

How do you think Autonomy relates to this element of wellbeing? ...............................................................................................................

Any other thoughts? ...............................................................................................................

Acknowledgement: Seligman, Peterson & Kabat Zinn

“Nothing in the world is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo

5

ARE YOU CHALLENGING YOUR BEST POSSIBLE SELF? Adding to your Meaning + purpose through adopting a growth mindset to accept the reality that you can grow your personal and academic abilities.

One of the greatest growth orientated mindsets is believing in the Power of Yet. What you are today is different to what you’ll be tomorrow.

No one has ever got better by just getting older.

Through challenging your best possible self by attempting more difficult things using intelligent approaches, you are YET to know the full extent of what you are fully capable of. »W hat are more difficult and intelligent things you are currently doing?

1..............................................................................

2..............................................................................

Describe your current best possible self and the person you wish to become. What are three further more difficult and intelligent things you could try to challenge yourself. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................

1..............................................................................

2..............................................................................

Write yourself a short letter on what you want to accomplish and become this year through challenging your current best possible self.

3..............................................................................

TIP: look at Positive Personal Descriptors (see index) to select five that you want to show for your best possible self and the person you wish to become.

................................................................................ ................................................................................

Which of your signature strengths will you need to use most, how will you use them and why?

................................................................................ ................................................................................

TIP: Read this often to be self-determined, use grit and deliberately practise to become the person you wish to become.

Describe the qualities and strengths you like in yourself, your friends and in other people who you admire. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................

TIP: Mirror neurons copy the expressions and moods of those around you. Often, qualities and strengths you like in other people are those you like in yourself. The opposite is also true. Always try to look for qualities you like in others, no matter how few they may be.

Then work on building relationships with them through these positive qualities. Use positive self-talk to push their negative qualities out of your mind.

................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................

TIP: every third week write down an action you will do for each of your signature strengths. Then, when you spot yourself doing them, journal it in this planner.

Describe an achievement that you are very proud of, the strengths you used and the positive emotions you felt. ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................

TIP: Read this often to relive and savour the uplifting feelings you experienced.

Acknowledgement: Sonja Lyubomirsky

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” Fred Devito

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ARE YOU AWARE OF THE CONTINUUM OF MINDSETS? Adding to your Meaning + purpose through accepting the reality that you can grow to move yourself towards more growth orientated mindsets.

Your mindset comes from how self-determined you are and directly influences your motivation to grow your abilities. There are two extremes, Fixed and Growth, and most peoples’ mindsets lie somewhere in between them. For different activities your mindsets can vary on the mindset continuum. Following are indicators of fixed and growth mindsets.

OUR JOURNEY OF MINDSETS

Yes, I did it !

I WILL DO IT I CAN DO IT I’LL TRY TO DO IT HOW DO I DO IT? I WANT TO DO IT I CAN’T DO IT I WON’T DO IT

Growth – the courage mindset because you are prepared to try more difficult things. You believe it is your choice to become the person you want to become. Tests don’t tell you anything about who you are, they only guide your learning. You believe that to develop you need to challenge yourself and not accept the status quo. The kings for you are courage, choice, process and commitment to practise.

WHICH STEP HAVE YOU REACHED TODAY?

Fixed – the fear mindset because you are fearful to try new things. You believe challenging yourself is an

opportunity to fail. Tests only show your limitations, not what you are learning well. You prefer the status quo because action and effort might show your lack of ability. The kings for you are fear, performance and having no choices to change anything.

Mark where you think your mindset is in your current role as a senior student below.

fixed and permanent

growth orientated

Nothing can change, so why try.

Set performance goals.

Change will happen through doing.

Set process goals.

Your brain is hard wired to perform at its best when you are positive, not negative. Setting goals to accomplish, provides you with a reason to look to the future with optimism and hope, which is an important skill of resilience.

Goals connect you with yourself and are your anchors to self-determined progress. There are two main types of goals, performance and process, which are described below.

performance goals

process goals

» fi xed mindset about proving you are not limited » aim for things which you can do without effort » avoid setting anything which will challenge you » only the outcome matters not how you get there » there is no choice, only maintaining the status quo

» growth mindset about improving your abilities » aim for things which stretch your previous bests » see challenging yourself as the only way to grow » only the process you follow matters in learning » there are always choices to challenge the status quo

process goal Set one process goal for each of the following areas of your life: EXERCISE and HEALTHY EATING .........................................................................................................................................................................

ATTITUDES and OUTLOOKS .........................................................................................................................................................................

LEARNING and THINKING .........................................................................................................................................................................

WELLBEING and HAPPINESS .........................................................................................................................................................................

FAMILY and FRIENDS .........................................................................................................................................................................

Acknowledgement: Dweck, Ericsson, Anderson, Costa, Kallick

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, the successes and the failures.

I divide the world into the learners and the non-learners.” Benjamin Barber

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SELF-DETERMINATION:

What are you looking forward to accomplishing this week which will move you towards your goals and grow your wellbeing?

RESILIENT MINDSET:

Being able to contest negative mind chatter with positive self-talk.

HEALTH + STRENGTHS HABITS ENABLING HABITS Wellbeing Reality: through you creating strong under-pinning habits, called Keystone Habits, you will enable yourself to develop other habits which rely on those habits. Unfortunately, many senior students believe they have their acts together and don’t bother trying to develop keystone habits, such as using a home timetable and revising their notes every night.

Because they don’t possess these base habits, it is impossible for them to develop other important habits, such as prioritising, maximizing their working memory and leaving their phone in another room on flight mode while studying.

Acknowledgement: Duhigg & Wade

Discuss with a classmate – what do you think are keystone habits you need to develop to enable other important habits? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

What are keystone habits you develop to enable you to overcome the habit of too much social networking? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Further thought – what keystone habits are essential to ensure your personal and academic growth, and how could you create them? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Last Word – it’s your choice whether to allow your phone behaviours to become keystone habits.

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CURIOSITY WEEK This week enjoy making a positive difference to other peoples’ lives, by creating activities using the character strength CURIOSITY, to grow relationships with your family, friends and school community.

(Curiosity for Strengths Week worksheet and Curiosity Wellbeing Award are in Individual Resources of www.learningcurve.com.au)

WELLBEING FITNESS CHALLENGE AIMLESS WRITING. Opening Floodgates – writing anything that comes into my head for 10 minutes every morning.

GRIT AND PASSION:

RU focused on what you need to be focused on, RU asking for feedback about your mistakes, and RU fixing them by learning and applying more intelligent things?

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL COLOURING IN

GARDEN BEDS. Go outside and look at a garden bed. Don’t look for what’s wrong with it, but look for at least five things that are good about it.

CHECK IN THREE DAYS THIS WEEK ON HOW YOU FELT: GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

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SELF-DETERMINATION:

What are you looking forward to accomplishing this week which will move you towards your goals and grow your wellbeing?

RESILIENT MINDSET:

Following your moral compass to do what your mind tells you is the right thing to do for you.

ENGAGEMENT + MINDFULNESS TRUE GRIT Wellbeing Reality: through deliberately setting a longterm goal and then pursuing it with grit and sustained self-regulation, you will continually be challenging your best possible self. Grit is your passion to push through setbacks and obstacles to accomplish this goal.

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS With a classmate discuss – what messages does your inner voice send you when you need to make some decisive, yet empathetic choices about your relationships, such as telling a friend you are unhappy with them? What strengths would you need to use and what emotions would you need to be aware of?

Being able to do this will require a high level of social connectedness to work cooperatively and collaboratively with others. It takes courage to show grit because it means you don’t give in to short term pleasures, push through challenges and stand tall by using your strengths to their maximum.

Acknowledgement: Duckworth & Smith

Discuss with a classmate – when are times you have shown grit, how you felt and what you accomplished? Were they worth it? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

What are three special long-term goals you will have to show grit for to accomplish them? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Further thought – what are the reasons why you think having grit is closely associated with higher levels of achievement and success? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Last Word – only people with a true purpose show grit; what is your purpose?

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WELLBEING FITNESS CHALLENGE MATTER VIDEOS. Sharing Happiness – daily make a one or two minute video of something that matters to me and show them to my family and friends.

GRIT AND PASSION:

RU focused on what you need to be focused on, RU asking for feedback about your mistakes, and RU fixing them by learning and applying more intelligent things?

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL COLOURING IN

FORGIVE MYSELF. Think about something you did or did not do, or said or did not say, that you were upset with yourself for. Spend at least five minutes forgiving yourself and making it right for yourself.

CHECK IN THREE DAYS THIS WEEK ON HOW YOU FELT: GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

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SELF-DETERMINATION:

What are you looking forward to accomplishing this week which will move you towards your goals and grow your wellbeing?

RESILIENT MINDSET:

Learning something about yourself when things don’t go your way.

MEANING + PURPOSE NON-JUDGEMENTAL ACCEPTANCE Wellbeing Reality: through seeking first to understand other cultures and accepting that all of them have something special to contribute to our multicultural societies, you will appreciate cultural differences. Respectful social connectedness is the glue which holds our communities together.

Unfortunately, every day on news services, you seem to see many instances of people being intolerant of cultural difference. These people are missing out on a sense of community belonging through not feeling the benefits of oxytocin togetherness. Life is too short and precious to spend it continually judging others.

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS With a classmate discuss – what strategies could you use to short circuit possible violent and abusive situations in your friends’ and your relationships? When are occasions this has happened and how did these affect your relationships?

Acknowledgement: Covey & Fredrickson

Discuss with a classmate – when are times you have been culturally tolerant and times you haven’t been. Which felt better? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

What things could you do to non-judgementally accept difference in other people? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Further thought – for leadership week, when are times you have shown lead in a group to bring out the best in others? How did it feel? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Last Word – people who have courage talk about ideas, people who lack courage, talk about other people.

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WELLBEING FITNESS CHALLENGE LIFE’S TREASURE. Appreciation and Love – writing down a list of the people and things that I treasure in my life, and reading it every morning and every night.

GRIT AND PASSION:

RU focused on what you need to be focused on, RU asking for feedback about your mistakes, and RU fixing them by learning and applying more intelligent things?

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL COLOURING IN

BUILDINGS. Look at one of your school buildings and write down fifteen things that you notice about it.

CHECK IN THREE DAYS THIS WEEK ON HOW YOU FELT: GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

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SELF-DETERMINATION:

What are you looking forward to accomplishing this week which will move you towards your goals and grow your wellbeing?

RESILIENT MINDSET:

Often accepting that good enough will do, and allowing yourself breathing space.

ACCOMPLISHMENT + OPTIMISM T.E.E.L. STRUCTURE Wellbeing Reality: through accepting that there are more intelligent processes you can use in your learning and then using them, you will enable your academic growth to flourish. One of these processes is called TEEL, used for constructing paragraphs.

Title – first sentence explains meaning of paragraph.

Explanation – expand on Title sentence with thoughts and arguments.

Evidence – support for thoughts and arguments.

Argumentative essay – supporting evidence would be trends and statistics. Books, supporting evidence would be quotes from and references to the book.

Link – one or two sentences relating to Title sentence.

Acknowledgement: Papas & Wade

Discuss with a classmate – what processes and structures do you currently use to construct paragraphs? Are they effective? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

By searching the Internet, what are other intelligent ways to construct paragraphs?

Look at the TEEL thinking tool on the website. .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Further Thought – when are times that your quality investigations have been let down by poor paragraph linking and structure. How could TEEL overcome this? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

Last Word – great processes don’t work unless you do.

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FORGIVENESS WEEK This week enjoy making a positive difference to other peoples’ lives, by creating activities using the character strength FORGIVENESS, to grow relationships with your family, friends and school community.

(Forgiveness for Strengths Week worksheet and Forgiveness Wellbeing Award are in Individual Resources of www.learningcurve.com.au)

ACADEMIC RIGOUR AND REALITY Explore and discuss – consider Einstein and Edison. Their greatest achievements weren’t what they created or invented, but rather, the years and years of hard work and unswerving passion.

GRIT AND PASSION:

RU focused on what you need to be focused on, RU asking for feedback about your mistakes, and RU fixing them by learning and applying more intelligent things?

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL MAZE

DRAW MYSELF. Spend five minutes drawing a self-portrait concentrating on as much detail that you can include.

CHECK IN THREE DAYS THIS WEEK ON HOW YOU FELT: GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

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SELF-DETERMINATION WORD SEARCH Enjoy searching for the meaningful qualities, character strengths and essential ingredients to having a resilient state of wellbeing in the self-determination word search.

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ASSERTIVE

ENDORPHINS

JOMO

PURPOSE

AUTONOMY

ENGAGEMENT

JOY

REALITY

BELIEF

ETHICAL

KINDNESS

RESILIENCE

CHALLENGES

GENEROUS

LEADERSHIP

RESPECTFUL

COMPASSION

GOALS

MEANING

SAVOURING

COMPETENCE

GRATITUDE

MINDFULNESS

SEROTONIN

CONNECTEDNESS

GRIT

MINDSET

SLEEP

COPING

GROWTH

NEURONS

STRENGTHS

CORTISOL

HABITS

OXYTOCIN

TARGETS

DOPAMINE

HELP

PERMAH

TEAMWORK

EMOTIONS

HOPE

PROCRASTINATION

WELLBEING

“Living for the magic of today and understanding our place and purpose in the world.” Saying

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STRENGTHS 360 Quite often in senior schooling it is easy to feel self-conscious of how others see you. You have the choice to either make this work for you or against you. To make this a positive learning experience, do the following: Ask three or four students in your class, who know you well, to look at the 24 character strengths on pages 8 and 9, and name three or four strengths you show in living your life every day. Then ask them to give examples of what you do to make them think this. Repeat the above activity with members of your family, teachers, coaches and others who know you well.

People who know you

Your strengths they noticed

Supporting examples of what you do

Summary of strengths

“You use your strengths more effectively when you move from unconscious usage of them to conscious usage of them.” MW

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