Boosting Resilience with Habits of Mind
Think of resilience as a stress ball. A stress ball is resilient because it springs back to its original shape after being squeezed. Now imagine the stress ball is a student. The squeezing pressure is stress or frustration, and the Habits of Mind provide the strategies to help them spring back. In the classroom there are always times when students can benefit from easing tension. Below are 12 strategies and activities for helping students get back into optimal and productive focus for learning.
1. Personalise “Bouncing Back”
Practice the habit of Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision by telling a personal story when you failed at something, struggled or came across a hurdle. Although the road was marked with difficulty, when all was said and done, you found success.
2. Influential Videos
Engage and focus on Listening with Understanding and Empathy through inspirational videos. It can also be a great way to talk about characters, themes and events.
3. Sink or Swim Together
Grapple with Thinking Interdependently through team building activities, games, puzzles or something that develops commitment and teamwork.
4. The 3-Minute Self
When needed, take three minutes for Thinking About Your Thinking. Be aware of your thoughts, feelings and strategies you might need to utilise during class or later in the day. Let this be a time for breathing, thinking and getting yourself together.
5. Optimistic Scenario Response
In life, it is always important to focus on the bright side. Think Flexibly by turning a negative into a positive. Offer stem statements like, “Although this terrible event happened, it is important to focus on the positives, such as…”
6. Game Time Growth
Provide game time in your classroom. Chess, checkers, hacky sack, brainteasers, or even card games and tricks. Sometimes, five minutes of Striving for Accuracy on something other than schoolwork can build resilience and carry over into learning.
7. What’s Your Barometer Reading?
After receiving a poor test grade, project score, pre-assessment, or any assignment that involves “an outcome,” practice Metacognition by identifying awareness of feelings and thoughts. This elicits a gauge for recognising your students’ starting point and provides a roadmap toward building resilience.
8. Wait Out the Stressful Questions
By practicing “wait time” between questions, statements, directions or daily agendas, students are offered the opportunity to Manage Impulsivity. They can take their time to “process” and subconsciously promote resilience.
9. Stop in the Middle
Always end class or a lesson in the middle (if you can). Why? It allows students to come back next class with the habit of Remaining Open to Continuous Learning. Wanting to find out more, adding deeper thought after a day of reflection, and just leaving some curiosity (or your students in limbo) about a topic allows them to think more deeply. Plus, the opportunity of “time” allows students to bounce back and be resilient in picking up from where they left off.
10. 3-Minute Build In
Offer three minutes at the beginning of class each day. The first minute is to practice Metacognition: thinking about their thoughts, feelings and awareness of what
will be coming up in class. The second minute is for Questioning and Problem Posing: writing down any questions or problems they may have before starting class.
The third minute is for figuring out how they will Manage Impulsivity: thinking of the things that will make them impulsive and how to deal with them – or to just take some deep breaths! Maybe three other Habits of Mind might work better in your class. Always think about how those first three minutes will help in building productive behaviours and resilience.
11. Powerful Resilient Vocabulary Praise
Anywhere you see resilient behaviour taking place, make it known! Powerful statements with Habits of Mind and the word “resilient” in it makes it clear that your culture is centered on productive behaviours and overcoming hurdles.
Here’s a great example: “Everyone in class Strived for Accuracy by completing their projects with resilient attitudes and actions. All of you overcame the obstacles and roadblocks that occurred by Persisting and Managing Impulsivity.”
12. Plan “B”
All of us have our strengths and weaknesses. We all learn differently. When students fail a test, quiz or any form of assessment, offer an opportunity to recover. Ask the question, “What can you do to show that you understand this topic or content?” This is an opportunity for them to Think Flexibly in showing you they can overcome failure by providing a different way of understanding. It is always important to give students time to think about their “Plan B.”