My Wellbeing Journal – Year 9 by learning_curve

YEAR 9 MY WELLBEING JOURNAL

EXTENDING ME

AS A PERSON AND A STUDENT Making the choice to extend your best possible self, will enable you to stretch your previous bests to grow personally and academically.

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

AS A PERSON

What is my purpose this year for making the effort to extend myself as a person? What’s in it for me? .................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................... Choosing to: • make in person relationships my priority by showing empathy and that other people matter to me. • pause, take notice, be curious, be present and talk positively to myself.

AS A STUDENT

What do I need to do this year to make myself pay attention to what I need to pay attention to learn well? .................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................... Choosing to: • be flexible in thinking to have optimism and hope for the future by setting short and long-term goals. • use grit & growth mindset to explore the unknown, make mistakes and grow academically by fixing them. Acknowledgement: Sonja Lyubomirsky & Tal Ben Shahar

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

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” Henry David Thoreau

WHAT ARE CHARACTER STRENGTHS? Adding to your Health + strengths by learning what your signature character strengths are. Character strengths are your personal best ways of looking at and doing what you do. There are 24 of them in total and you have your own personal mix of them. Discover your top strengths, called signature strengths, by doing the free Youth Survey at www.viacharacter.org Look at the strengths below before you do the survey and predict what your Signature Strengths could be. Acknowledgement and thanks to the VIA Institute. © 2014 VIA Institute. All Rights Reserved.

CREATIVITY

CURIOSITY

Thinking of novel and Your VIA productive ways to No. conceptualise and do things; includes artistic achievement, but is not limited to it.

Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.

LOVE OF LEARNING

PERSPECTIVE

Mastering new skills, Your VIA topics and bodies of No. knowledge, whether on one’s own or formally; related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows.

Being able to provide wise counsel to others; having ways of looking at the world that make sense to oneself/ others.

JUDGEMENT Your VIA No.

BRAVERY Your VIA No.

HONESTY

perseverance

Thinking things through and examining them Your VIA from all sides; not No. jumping to conclusions; being able to change one’s mind in light of evidence; weighing all evidence fairly.

Not shrinking from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain; speaking up for what’s right even if there’s opposition; acting on convictions even if unpopular; includes physical bravery, but is not limited to it.

Your VIA No.

ZEST

Speaking the truth but more broadly Your VIA presenting oneself in No. a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretence; taking responsibility for one’s feelings and actions.

Approaching life Your VIA with excitement and No. energy; not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and activated.

love

kindness

social intelligence

Valuing close relations Your VIA with others, in No. particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated; being close to people.

Doing favours and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them.

Finishing what one starts; persevering in a course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting it out the door”; taking pleasure in completing tasks.

virtues:

Your VIA No.

WISDOM

COURAGE

Your VIA No.

Being aware of the motives/feelings of others and oneself; knowing what to do to fit into different social situations; knowing what makes other people tick.

Your VIA No.

HUMANITY

“Just as we don’t realise we are breathing, we often don’t realise we are using our character strengths.” Martin Seligman

WHAT ARE CHARACTER STRENGTHS? Adding to your Health + strengths by learning what your signature character strengths are. After you have discovered your signature strengths, think of how you could use each one, for example, for gratitude, “I will thank people for what they do for me, no matter how small it may seem to be.” The shadow side of a strength is when you overuse, misuse or underuse it, for example, for Social-Intelligence, being addicted to looking at your phone non-stop. Each week you can use your strengths to do the strengths booster activities on pages 112-113.

TEAMWORK Working well as a member of a group or team; being loyal to the group; doing one’s share.

FAIRNESS Your VIA No.

forgiveness Forgiving those who have done wrong; accepting others’ shortcomings; giving people a second chance; not being vengeful.

Treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and justice; not letting feelings bias decisions about others; giving everyone a fair chance.

LEADERSHIP Your VIA No.

prudence

humility Your VIA No.

Letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves; not regarding oneself as more special than one is.

Encouraging a group of which one is a member Your VIA No. to get things done, and at the same time maintain good relations within the group; organising group activities and seeing that they happen.

Your VIA No.

Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.

APPRECIATION OF BEAUTY & EXCELLENCE

GRATITUDE

HOPE

HUMOUR

SPIRITUALITY

Expecting the best in the future and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that can be brought about.

Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people; seeing the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes.

selfregulation Regulating what one feels and does; being disciplined; controlling one’s appetites and emotions.

virtues:

Your VIA No.

JUSTICE

Your VIA Noticing and No. appreciating beauty, excellence and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

Your VIA No.

TEMPERANCE

Being aware of, and thankful for, the good things that happen; taking time to express thanks.

Your VIA No.

Having coherent beliefs about the higher purpose Your VIA and meaning of the No. universe; knowing where one fits within the larger scheme; having beliefs about the meaning of life that shape conduct and provide comfort.

TRANSCENDENCE

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

LEARNING STYLES Adding to your Accomplishment + optimism by learning about your preferred learning style. When you are learning, you are gathering information through all of your senses. Every individual prefers different degrees to which they use each of their senses to learn. 100 There are three main ways you use your senses: your eyes, called visual, your ears, called auditory and your body, called kinaesthetic. You remember:

HOW YOU LEARN

90 80 70 60

» 10% from reading » 25% from hearing » 35% from seeing » 50% from both seeing and hearing » 75% from discussing » 85% from experiencing yourself » 95% from teaching someone else

50 40 30 20 10 0

METHOD

ein

Ex D T S pe He eein iscu E ea rie xpl chin ar g ss in & n in cin aini g & g g ng g

VISUAL

AUDITORY

KINAESTHETIC

» 35% of people learn this way. » t hey learn best by seeing, picturing, reading and imagining, watching facial expressions and prefer making posters and diagrams. » they enjoy using computer design programs.

» 25% of people learn this way. » they learn best by discussing, talking, understanding things in their own words, listening for emphasis and voice tone. » they enjoy listening to and engaging in conversations. When studying » record the material on your phone and replay it when travelling. » recite it aloud. » discuss ideas with teachers and friends.

» 40% of people learn this way. » they learn best by doing things themselves, watching body language, remembering activities, meeting people. » they enjoy and prefer direct involvement. When studying » be active in all lessons. » do role plays, practical classes and problems. » be engaged and participate fully. » watch for signals through body.

When studying » r ead notes and create mental pictures. »d raw flowchart summaries. »w atch videos and DVD’s. »p ut up posters in your room.

Acknowledgement: Wade & Costa

THINKING TOOLS Adding to your Accomplishment + optimism by stretching your brain’s abilities. All academic growth comes from stretching your thinking by doing more intelligent things. Using the structure of the Thinking Tools on the website is one of those things. They will create new and strengthen existing brain pathways for your thinking to follow and develop your creative and critical thinking capabilities. In turn, this will enable you to adapt how you are thinking for differing situations and contexts. See website www.learningcurve.com.au NEED TO KNOW

What else do you need to find out about this idea?

This thinking strategy enables you to get a feel for an idea by answering a number of questions.

FIVE E’s OF LEARNING Think of an event, topic or situation individually, in small groups or as a class.

The questions are based on the Point of the Compass under:

•

Identify aspects of it that are of interest.

•

Then begin investigating the aspects using the Five E’s of Learning – Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate.

E Excited W Worried N Need to know S Suggestion

WORRIED

•

What do you think could be issues with this idea?

•

As a class, in small groups or individually, discuss and reflect on the questions in these four sections. Write your thoughts in the appropriate section.

EXCITED This Learning and Thinking Strategy provides a What do think ispathway really positive logical andyou structured to follow. about this idea?

Combine the Five E’s with a Learning Jigsaw, in which small groups investigate the different aspects of a topic. Groups then combine to gain an overall picture of the topic. This exercise is a great example of effective, authentic learning.

Alternatively, draw a compass on the board in the classroom and ask students to put their ideas on sticky notes and put them on E, W, N or S.

Thinking Tool

CONNECT, EXTEND, CHALLENGE

ENGAGE

EXPLORE

EXPLAIN

ELABORATE

Think hard to find connections with the topic and what the topic means to you.

Use your natural curiosity to decide what you would like to discover more on and explore it.

Explain the steps you followed, the thinking strategies you used and the resources that provided you with the information.

Connect all the class presentations on the topic and discuss real life situations that can be related to it. Ponder further things you wish to learn about the topic.

EVALUATE

•

• How are they connected and related to what you already know?

• What new ideas have you thought of that have stretched your thinking ?

• In what new directions has your thinking been pushed?

• What do you still have to get your mind around?

• What questions do you need to have answered?

• What was the most difficult step for you and why?

After completing a topic or lesson, individually, in small groups or as a whole class, reflect using this tool: •

• How are the ideas and information presented?

Reflect on the process and answer the following questions:

Connect - how does what was presented relate • What wasknow? the most important thing to what you already you learned and why? Extend - how have these new ideas stretched your thinking in new directions?

•

Challenge - what do you still have to learn more about? What questions do you have?

•

hen in groups of five share your thoughts and T then report back to the class.

•

Allocate one wall of the classroom for connect, another for extend and another for challenge. Write thoughts notes andpresenting? put them on • Howon didsticky you feel when the appropriate wall.

•

Discuss as a class.

CONNECT

Thinking Tool

POINTS OF THE COMPASS

EXTEND

Thinking Tool

SUGGESTION FOR MOVING FORWARD What do you think should happen with the idea from now on?

CHALLENGE

• What things did you enjoy about learning this way?

Acknowledgement: Visible Thinking

Acknowledgement: Tribes

Acknowledgement: Project Zero

“Difficulties are stepping stones to success.” Albert Einstein

WHERE ARE YOU ON THE JOURNEY OF MINDSETS? Adding to your Meaning + purpose by doing positive things to move yourself towards more growth orientated mindsets. Your brains are hard wired to perform at their best when you are feeling positive emotions. Setting goals to accomplish, gives you 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 be self-aware of your progress. People with fixed mindsets tend to set performance goals to prove their abilities. Whereas, people with growth mindsets tend to set process goals to improve their abilities.

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

FIXED AND PERMANENT ................> Mark where your mindset is now .................> GROWTH ORIENTATED

FIXED MINDSETS – about proving

GROWTH MINDSETS – about IMproving

» y ou believe “doing” new things won’t change your abilities to become your best possible self. »b rittle thinking by not making the choice to try things. » y our focus is on your performance; proving your ability. » y ou think, hard work + effort = lack of ability. What is one thing you can start doing to move yourself towards growth mindsets?

» you believe becoming your best possible self comes from “doing” new things. » resilient thinking by making the choice to stretch yourself. » your focus on the process you follow; improving your ability » you think, hard work + effort = personal and academic growth. What is one thing you can start doing to adopt more growth mindsets?

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

performance goals

process goals

» f or example, my goal is to do the questions I find easy. Avoid setting goals performance at the beginning of each term.

» for example, my goal is to stretch myself by tackling harder questions. Set three process learning goals at the beginning of each term.

Set two process goals for each of the following areas of your life: EXERCISE and HEALTHY EATING 1......................................................................................................................................................................... 2......................................................................................................................................................................... LEARNING and THINKING 1......................................................................................................................................................................... 2......................................................................................................................................................................... WELLBEING and HAPPINESS 1......................................................................................................................................................................... 2......................................................................................................................................................................... FAMILY and FRIENDS 1......................................................................................................................................................................... 2......................................................................................................................................................................... Acknowledgement: Carol Dweck

“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” Roy T. Bennett

OPTIMISM AND HOPE: What are you looking forward to doing and trying most this week to

grow your wellbeing?

GROWTH MINDSET: Creating realistic plans and then taking deliberate actions to bring them to life. MEANING + PURPOSE HAVING A PURPOSE

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS With a classmate discuss – From the VIA Strengths Survey, fill in your top strengths on the Strengths Wheel and put a copy on the fridge at home. Encourage your family to do likewise and discuss how each of you uses your strengths.

Wellbeing Reality: by understanding that having a purpose in life gives you a sense of independence, feeling you have choices and being connected to others, will enable you to be self-motivated. Many students just drift along, hoping something will jump out to give them a purpose. It doesn’t work that way. You need to create a reason for yourself to get out of bed every morning and lift your efforts to extend your best possible self to accomplish something special. Acknowledgement: Frankl & Nakanishi

Discuss with a classmate – when are times you have felt a sense of independence, choice and being connected to others? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... – what are things larger than yourself which are meaningful for you and that you would like to explore? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... Extra Thought – speak to someone you admire and ask about how important their sense of purpose is to them. Ask what it is. .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... Last Word – having a purpose is your rudder to steer your life

LEARNING GROWTH Explore and discuss – Your brain forgets what you learn very quickly if you don’t revisit it often. Spend five minutes every night reading over what you learned that day.

DETERMINATION AND CHOICE: What do you need to start or finish this week to move towards becoming who you want to become? Anyone to thank, say “sorry” to, or forgive? MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL MAZE

MY LIFE. Reflect on how you want your life to be, and the top five things that you want for yourself, that make you excited, and when you want them to happen.

HOW DID YOU FEEL THIS WEEK? GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

OPTIMISM AND HOPE: What are you looking forward to doing and trying most this week to

grow your wellbeing?

GROWTH MINDSET: Having the self-belief to stretch yourself to leave your comfort zone. POSITIVE EMOTIONS + GRATITUDE BELIEF STRENGTHS Wellbeing Reality: by using your strengths to believe in yourself as a person who matters, you will be able to recognise choices you have, build respectful relationships and give to make others’ lives richer. The greatest asset we all have is ourselves, and to become the person we wish to become, relies on us making the most of us. A great way to show self-belief is to write down daily three things you are looking forward to and three you are grateful for every day.

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS With a classmate discuss – Positive stress, called eustress, are the pumped up feelings you have from overcoming a challenge or an obstacle. What were situations when you have felt eustress, what emotions did you feel and what strengths did you use?

Acknowledgement: Bandura & Rotter

Discuss with a classmate – which of your strengths could you use to become the person you want to become and why? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... – what are five things about you that you are grateful for and why? .................................................................................... ....................................................................................

TEAMWORK WEEK

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

.................................................................................... Extra Thought – what is something you would love to attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... Last Word – the person in the mirror has what it takes to become who you want to become.

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

DETERMINATION AND CHOICE: What do you need to start or finish this week to move towards becoming who you want to become? Anyone to thank, say “sorry” to, or forgive? MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL COLOURING IN

GRATITUDE CHECK. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is. Think of, and write down, as many things that have happened today that you are thankful for, and why you are.

HOW DID YOU FEEL THIS WEEK? GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

OPTIMISM AND HOPE: What are you looking forward to doing and trying most this week to

grow your wellbeing?

GROWTH MINDSET: Being self-confident to be able to handle anxiety and fear. RELATIONSHIPS + EMPATHY GRATEFUL FOR JOMO Wellbeing Reality: by making the choice to have five positives for every negative in your life, you will be self-determined to adopt the gritty practice of JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out). Having daily timeouts from the often artificial world of social media, where there are so many fake images being posted, you will be able to look up to enjoy being around other young people who matter. The most positive feelings we have as humans is when we are achieving things together with others.

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS With a classmate discuss – Pessimistic thinkers often fall into thinking traps such as, exaggerating, over reacting, taking things too personally, being mind readers, blaming others for their mistakes and ignoring the positives. When are times you fell into thinking in these ways?

Acknowledgement: Losada & Fredrickson

Discuss with a classmate – when are times you could be gritty to turn off your phone to adopt JOMO for several hours every day? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... – what are five positive emotions you enjoy feeling when being around other young people? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... Extra Thought – be joyful to not be a slave to your phone. How could this mantra help you to do this – I am joyful to be me because I matter! .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... Last Word – be strong to use JOMO to become the person you wish to become.

STRENGTHS BOOSTER FRIENDS’ STRENGTHS With a group of friends share your strength’s wheels, identify which you have in common and what you do to use them.

DETERMINATION AND CHOICE: What do you need to start or finish this week to move towards becoming who you want to become? Anyone to thank, say “sorry” to, or forgive? MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL COLOURING IN

OTHERS’ DELIGHT. Look around the classroom and celebrate the fantastic achievements others have accomplished, and enjoy the positive emotions you feel for them for at least five minutes.

HOW DID YOU FEEL THIS WEEK? GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

OPTIMISM AND HOPE: What are you looking forward to doing and trying most this week to

grow your wellbeing?

GROWTH MINDSET: Having several peer groups to be with and share with. ACCOMPLISHMENT + OPTIMISM TIME TARGETS

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS With a classmate discuss – What ethical dilemmas do you currently have in your life? Describe two of them and the difficult choices you have to make. Which of your strengths would be best to use to think clearly?

Wellbeing Reality: by setting time targets using the following Es to complete each step of learning tasks, you will feel in control and able to focus your energies on producing a quality outcome. ENGAGE – 2 days, understand topic, dates in phone, connect with what you know? EXPLORE – 3 days, plan research, find resources. EXPLAIN – 5 days, collect information under points. Write T.E.E.L. paragraphs. ELABORATE – 7 days, use feedback to improve. EVALUATE – 9 days, discuss with family/ friends, complete final. Acknowledgement: McKnight & Kashdan

Discuss with a classmate – for a learning task you currently have, set time targets for each step using the above five Es? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... – when are times you have set time targets to complete learning tasks and what happened? .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... Extra Thought – visit the website to download the Five E’s of Learning Thinking Tool to learn how it could benefit your academic growth. .................................................................................... .................................................................................... .................................................................................... Last Word – little learning steps add up to a big learning leap.

STRENGTHS BOOSTER STRENGTHS STOCKTAKE I will journal both the positives and not so positive things about using each of the strengths in my strengths wheel and why.

DETERMINATION AND CHOICE: What do you need to start or finish this week to move towards becoming who you want to become? Anyone to thank, say “sorry” to, or forgive? MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SAT/SUN

MINDFULNESS TIME

MINDFUL COLOURING IN

PULSE. Put your fingers on your wrist to count your pulse. For five minutes concentrate on breathing slowly and deeply, while counting your pulse. What happened?

HOW DID YOU FEEL THIS WEEK? GRATITUDE: What went well that you were grateful for?

PERSONAL GROWTH. POSITIVE DESCRIPTORS Developing your Relationships + empathy by role modeling positive behaviours in your life. When the state of your wellbeing is healthy, the personal descriptors below could be used to describe you. Which ones would you like people to use when they think of you? Then practise what you would act like, look like and sound like for these descriptors.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P

accepted, accurate, adaptable, adventurous, affectionate, alert, amazing, ambitious, amusing, analytical, appreciated, appreciative, approachable, articulate, artistic, assertive, attentive, attractive, aware. balanced, beautiful, bold, brave, bright, bubbly. calm, calming, carefree, careful, caring, cautious, charming, cheerful, clever, comfortable, committed, compassionate, competent, competitive, confident, conscientious, courageous, courteous, creative, curious. daring, decisive, dedicated, definite, delightful, dependable, determined, diplomatic, disciplined, distinctive. eager, easy-going, efficient, empathetic, encouraging, energetic, entertaining, enthusiastic, expressive. fair, faithful, fabulous, fantastic, flexible, forgiving, forthright, free, fresh, friendly, fulfilled, fun-loving, funny. generous, gentle, glowing, goal-driven, good, gorgeous, grateful. happy, hard-working, helpful, hopeful, honest, humble, hysterical. idealistic, independent, imaginative, innovative, inquisitive, insightful, intelligent, interesting, intuitive, inventive. joyful, jolly, jubilant. keen, kind. level-headed, likeable, lively, logical, loveable, loved, loving, loyal. merry, motivated. neat, nice, nurturing. objective, open-minded, optimistic, orderly, organised, original, out-going. particular, passionate, patient, peaceful, people-orientated, perceptive, persistent, personable, persuasive, playful, pleasant, pleasing, polite, positive, precise, practical, predictable problem-solving, productive, punctual.

Q R

quick, quirky.

S T U V W Z

satisfied, secure, self-assured, self-disciplined, self-regulated, sensible, sensitive, settled, sharp, sincere, sociable, stable, steady stoic, strong, structured, supportive, sure, sympathetic, systematic.

radiant, rational, realistic, reasonable, receptive, refreshed, relaxed, reliable, resilient, resourceful, respectful, responsible, responsive, restrained, romantic.

tactful, task-orientated, terrific, thankful, thorough, thoughtful, thrilling, tidy, tolerant, trusting, trustworthy. unaffected, understanding. valued, versatile, visionary, vital, vivacious. warm-hearted, well-behaved, well-mannered, willing, witty, wonderful, worthy. zany. Acknowledgement: Bandura & Rotter

“Do not wish to be anything but what you are and try to be that perfectly.” St Francis de Sales

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PERSONAL GROWTH. POSITIVE SELF-TALK Developing your Positive Emotion + gratitude by practising using self-talk to overcome challenges. Positive Self-talk spurs you on to lift your efforts to learn, and try new approaches to overcome challenges and setbacks you have. This then enables you to experience uplifting positive emotions to grow your wellbeing, to become your best possible self. Following below are examples of self-talk you can use. Make up some of your own I can and I will positive self-talk statements.

Effort – I can and I will: » stay focused on lifting my efforts until I achieve what I set out to do; never giving up, never, never, never » keep pushing through, even when I’m struggling; the harder things become, the harder I try » prepare well to give myself positive opportunities to strive, thrive and flourish » put my head down at home to make myself do my homework » ask for help when I don’t understand something » accept and see mistakes and setbacks as positive things to learn from » communicate clearly to explain myself » read the question several times to work out how to best answer it » be flexible in my thinking on how I will approach challenges » not accept “just good enough” efforts from myself.

Courage – I can and I will: » speak up, even if I’m frightened » say “sorry” and make things right when I do the wrong thing by someone else » come to school even when I don’t feel like it » stand up to my friends, and lead when they want to do the wrong thing » include other students who get left out of the group » believe in the person I see in the mirror every morning; compare myself with me, no one else » not hold a grudge when someone does the wrong thing to me and forgive them » own up when I have done the wrong thing, and accept the consequences » smile and be positive when I’m under pressure and nervous » keep offering to help others, even if they may not accept it.

Initiative – I can and I will: » try new approaches when my usual ones don’t work; think creatively » apply what I have learned to new situations » organise my time by designing a Personal Timetable to make it difficult for me do the things which distract me » aim to do several acts of kindness for others every week » write down three good things that happened and I’m happy about every night » create five self-calming strategies when I am upset » look for what is right in what I look at » use assertive language when in difficult situations » create five positive coping strategies when I feel stressed » create ten different ways to ask for help at school, at home and in the community.

Self-regulation – I can and I will: » manage my impulsivity » be in charge of my feelings and my nerves » listen to others with my eyes, my ears and my heart » say “hello” to the world every morning with a smiling face » not let my emotions intensify because I am in charge of me » be aware to send positive messages through my body language » keep my cool when I realise I am becoming angry » keep my promises to others » only say positive things about others, and not spread rumours » use my strengths to stay safe.

Acknowledgement: Ryan & Deci

“I think I fail a bit less than everyone else.” Jack Nicklaus

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