Chapters 5 & 6 (7/17/09)

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Permalink Reply by Amy Jo Manning on July 14, 2009 at 9:01pm

Habitude #5: Courage

The thing that stood out the most to me in this chapter was: "Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable..." I think this year will be a full year of uncomfortableness!! I am feeling all kinds of emotions about it, so I guess that is a good thing!

As this year goes on, I want to remember the phrases: I am learning, I am stretching myself, my brain is getting smarter, this is sooooo good for me, my brain gets stronger every time I challenge it.

I must be running out of steam tonight...to be continued!

Permalink Reply by Stephany Messer on July 24, 2009 at 8:02pm

Habitude #5 Courage

Courage should be something the kids can connect to fairly easily. In Angela's porch pitch she says, "They just need to be willing to do the work necessary to reach their potential." (pg. 80) I think that is huge with our kids. So many of them are fine with just doing the minimum amount. It totally makes me think of the "bright" kids whose parents think they aren't being challenged. Really what's happening in many of the situations is that the child is choosing not to do the necessary work to meet the challenge. How do we get that out of those kids?

Anchor Lesson:
I'm not sure how to make this kindergarten friendly. You girls need to help me on that one.

Lesson One:
Fear is something that all kids can connect to. One important thing to accomplish during this lesson is to tell them that everyone is afraid, that's natural. But you need to move forward and continue to try. I also think that the younger kids are the more fearless they are. I just think about Griffin and how he doesn't think twice about doing something dangerous he just jumps right in. That's the one great thing about kindergarten is that you can typically get them to jump in too. It might take a while for them to warm up to your ideas but they will follow. Maybe we can find a good book to help teach this. I didn't know many of the books on the book list so I'll have to check into it. Maybe Little Quack?

Lesson Two:
For this lesson we could brainstorm things that they are afraid of. For a second list we could think of things they are afraid of at school. This could probably be done as a whole group or individually if we wanted it to be more confidential. We can encourage them to try one of the things they came up with.

Lesson Three and Four:
I struggled with both of these. I'm not sure they would work for our grade level. Two comments that I will take away (and think we should make a poster with Amy's ideas too)
-My brain is getting smarter
-My brain gets stronger every time I challenge it

Permalink Reply by Amy Jo Manning on July 18, 2009 at 9:51am

Habitude #6: Adaptability

Before I started reading I was thinking about our age group. They thrive on routine and knowing their schedule. However, in the same respect, most of them are completely flexible and resilient (sp?) as well! I like to switch things up on purpose in order for them to be more adaptable and be able to accept that change does happen on a daily basis in our lives.

I liked most of this chapter. Some things I was unsure of:

"Scamper" and do you think our kids can do Lesson 3 (Step Outside the Box)?

Permalink Reply by Stephany Messer on July 24, 2009 at 8:28pm

Habitude #6 Adaptability

Change is hard for almost everybody no matter how old you are. It requires a lot of time, effort, and uncomfortable moments. I can be flexible but for the most part I thrive on my schedule. At school I love to take on challenges and try new things as long as I can get them to fit into my comfortable box. :)

Anchor Lesson:
I liked the definition of adaptability on page 101, "When you adapt it means you change to better fit your environment or circumstance." That would be a great way to start. Sharing personal stories is something the kids can easily connect with. We need to think of some examples that we can share with the kids.

Lesson One:
Angela mentions that good learning happens when we go into the work knowing what to expect and what to look out for. I have tried to do a better job about stating my expectations from the start but I know I can improve. I think this lesson could work with our kids. I like the idea of things we noticed:
-change thinking with a better attitude
-looking at things differently
-recognize change was coming with or without my approval

Lesson Two:
I didn't really understand this myself.

Lesson Three:
I'm not sure what the kids would come up with. I'm not sure what I would come up with! You never know until you try?

Lesson Four:
I mostly enjoyed the list of ideas to kill/nurture an idea. I want to make sure I stay away from, "A good idea, but..." I'm sure that I say that to kids much more often than I would like to admit! The list of ways to nurture ideas is also something I should make a little cheat sheet for.

Lesson Five:
They might be able to do SCAMPER but we would have to guide them through each step. What do you think would be an appropriate scenario to try this out? We'd need something premeditated the first time around.