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Mastering Self-Talk

12/20/2020

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The person you talk to the most each day is...yourself, and there are five different methods in which we can use self-talk to impact our lives:
​Silent Self-Talk, Self-Speak, Self-Conversation, Self-Write, and Self-Audio. 


Silent Self-Talk: Monitor Your Thoughts
The internal thoughts you have on a daily basis are called your silent self-talk. 

How can you change negative silent self-talk?

Step 1: The most important step in changing your self-talk is to rid yourself of that little voice telling you that all this “self-talk stuff” is garbage, rubbish, baloney. You need to give  yourself permission to buy in. 

Step 2: Allow yourself to be aware of the self-talk that is working against you. 

Step 3: Immediately turn the negative self-talk around. If you find yourself saying you are always late, instantly tell yourself the opposite: “I am consistently on time!” This turnaround of self-talk will actually change how you feel. If you find your self-talk exclaiming how sad, tired, or upset you feel...change it. Immediately tell yourself you are extremely happy, you are energized, you are calm. Change the signals that are being sent to your brain. Remember, your brain doesn’t care if you are lying to it; it has no moral compass. It will just take what you consistently tell it and create that reality. 


Self-Speak: Monitor What You Say Aloud
What you say aloud affects your subconscious, so beginning to monitor your conscious, aloud self-speak is essential. Work to keep your thoughts positive!

Are you complaining? 
Complaining is basically negative visualization and it doesn’t change your circumstances: it perpetuates it. When you complain about something going on in your life, you may feel better for a little bit, but it doesn’t change your actual circumstances. 


How can you stop?
Try to reframe how you see the problem and find the value. For example, if your boss is sometimes rude and disrespectful, see that as a challenge you can grow from. The situation can be viewed as an opportunity to build patience and kindness in some tough circumstances. 



Self-Conversations: Monitor the Conversations You Have With Yourself
The art of talking with yourself aloud and hold multiple sides of a conversation is Self-Conversation. We’ve all done it, so don’t feel like you are crazy. :) Those times when you are making a decision and you say something like, “Well, I think that would be a terrible idea.” And then you say, “You are probably right about that.” ... all aloud…to yourself. Remember, you are NOT crazy. 

How can you take advantage of the skill of self-conversation? 
One way to utilize self-conversation is to have daily aloud conversations with yourself regarding beneficial topics. For example, begin each day exclaiming, “Good morning! You look like you feel great today! I bet you can handle anything that comes your way!” Then respond, “I feel great and I know today is going to be awesome!” This may seem kind of weird, but I challenge you to try it. Find a private place tomorrow morning, and just try it. You might be amazed how it makes you feel. Why is this effective? It forces you to put thoughts into words, and words have a dramatic impact on how you feel. 


Self-Write: The Power of the Written Word
Self-write is the act of creating written or typed messages to read to yourself. 

How can you implement Self-Write?
  1. Identify an area you would like to improve in.
    1. “I’m always late.” 

  2. List a few statements that explain your struggles in that area.
    1. “I do not allow myself enough time to get ready.”
    2. “I find myself to be disorganized at the last minute.”

  3. Write our reframed statements explaining how you excel in the areas you struggle with. Use the first person (“I” statements).
    1. “I am always on time or early for events. I’m excellent at time management. I plan ahead and organize all items I need well before events take place.”

  4. Post these statements on cards where you can see them, or access them, 3-4 times per day. 
Audio-Talk: Audio Files to Reprogram Your Thoughts
Audio-talk is the act of creating audio files of powerful, positive self-talk statements that you can listen to on a handheld device or computer. 

How can you create and utilize Audio-Talk?
  1. Follow the same steps as listed in Self-Writes to create positive self-talk statements addressing certain problems you are experiencing.
  2. Record yourself saying the each of the statements 2-3 times.
  3. Add music that you find appealing.
  4. Listen to the files 3-4 times/day.

HOW TO HAVE YOUR STUDENTS OR PLAYERS CREATE AND USE SELF-TALK STATEMENTS
  1. Have each individual identify 1-2 areas he/she wants to improve on the court and 1-2 areas to improve off the court--(understand that depending on what is chosen, it may overlap).
  2. Have individuals write 2-3 statements that describe their biggest challenges for each identified area
  3. Individuals should write new statements to reprogram their negative thoughts
  4. Create 2 copies of these new statements. Post one copy in their locker and one for their bathroom mirror at home. This way, if they have fairly good hygiene :),  they should be exposed to the statements at least 3-4 times per day: in the morning, during the school day/before practice, after practice, and at night. 
  5. Optional: They could create audio files of these statements and listen to them as well. Some great times to listen could include on the way to and from school or games, while they get ready in the morning, before bed, or even while sleeping. 

Remember, your brain believes what you tell it the most, so take control of your self-talk.
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Creating an Upward Spiral: Active Constructive Response in Education

11/29/2020

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Just a few days ago in one of my college-level English courses, a senior boy put me on the spot. 


[One sidenote here: whenever my students write an essay, after I grade it, I always have them go back and make revisions one more time--for a separate revision grade. Theoretically, they have been away from their writing for a bit, they now have a different lens to view their essay, and they have some feedback from me. It is usually a very beneficial process; I think it is when they actually make the most gains.] 

During this revision process, the young man called me over, pointed at his screen and excitedly asked, “Were you proud of me for this idea? I thought it was pretty good!” 
I had left a comment on his document stating that I was impressed. In that moment, I was thrust into an opportunity to apply Active Constructive Response. I replied, “I was VERY proud of you. That was a really deep idea, and you explained it really well. How did you feel when you came up with it?” 

He then lit up even more and shared a few additional pieces about his crafting process. In a way, he was reliving--and celebrating--his experience. Together we created an upward spiral. 

Our Response Matters
There are really four ways we can respond when someone shares something positive, and only one of them truly helps others to flourish and builds a positive relationship, but they all can be found in daily life. The response types include being either Passive or Active in combination with being either Destructive or Constructive. I’ll give some examples for each using my student’s situation: 
“Were you proud of me for this idea? I thought it was pretty good!”
​

Passive Destructive (The Hijacker)
Verbal: The responder ignores the event and/or changes the subject. 
Nonverbal: The responder has little to no eye contact, and/or turns away/leaves. 
Example: “What was for lunch today?” ...and walks away.

Active Destructive (The Assassin)
Verbal: The responder verbally minimizes the event and highlights the negative. 
Nonverbal: The responder gives little eye contact, shows negative facial expressions/emotions, and/or turns away. 
Example: With a firm exhale and rolling eyes… “Are you looking for a treat? There were a lot of good ideas in class. You probably spent way too much time coming up with that one.” 

Passive Constructive (The Meh…)
Verbal: The responder acknowledges the success and gives some support, but it is low energy. 
Nonverbal: The responder shows little to no emotional expression.
Example: “Yep. It was good stuff.”

Active Constructive (The Positive Charger)
Verbal: The responder shares enthusiastic and genuine interest and helps the individual relive the experience by asking more about it, their feelings, or the process. 
Nonverbal: The responder maintains eye contact and shows positive facial expressions--like smiling. 
Example: “I was VERY proud of you. That was a really deep idea, and you explained it really well. How did you feel when you came up with it?” 
The only of these that helps people flourish and enhance relationships is Active Constructive. 

Scan for Positive Events
Active Constructive response is not natural; it takes practice. Although it might be difficult at first, it is important to avoid it sounding forced and insincere. One strategy that may help is to scan for positive events as much as possible. Look for successes in others. Listen for moments of pride or joy. When you can, comment on it and ask for more information. Try to help them relive the experience. 
As educators, it is much more natural to accomplish this when a student shares a success directly with us. It makes it easy. They tell us something and then we react and ask about the situation. However, we can also use Active Constructive Responses during, and after, grading assignments, projects, or tests. While we are assessing students, we can be sure to acknowledge quality work and also include comments/questions like How did you come up with this cool thought? or I bet you felt awesome when you crafted this sentence. It takes a bit of extra time (and some practice), but it is well worth the small investment. When we are handing an assignment back to a student, we can take a moment to ask them a question 
This works with your co-workers, too. Acknowledge the great idea, the cool project, or the effective way to deal with a challenge. Both students and staff members will flourish in a Active Constructive environment, so scan-scan-scan away!

Some Positive Side-Effects of Active Constructive Response
There are a few side-effects that have been proven to occur: 
  1. People like you more
  2. People are naturally drawn to you
  3. People are more open with you
  4. Both parties increase well-being and happiness
As educational professionals, we are interacting or responding to students and adults every day, both in person and virtually. Regardless the medium, take a moment to think about how you respond. 
The big questions: 
Do you engage verbally and nonverbally? 
Do you help them relive all or part of their success? 
Does your response increase a student’s well-being? 
Does it help build a relationship?  

When we positively engage in other’s success and help them relive it, we strengthen their well-being and enhance the relationship. We create an upward spiral.

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A View from the Bottom

11/8/2020

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Although some may argue my current physical build would disagree, I was actually both a track and cross country athlete in college. I have a couple of cross country training memories that stand out the most: interestingly, they both deal with hills. Most weeks, we had at least one day of intentional hill training, and many other workouts included some mildly famous inclines--at least they were famous to our team at the time. One was titled Killer Hill, and the other was simply called The Dip. Killer Hill was a stretch of twisting gravel road that escaped upwards into a forest at a consistently increasing incline. The Dip was a 10-mile loop with a giant U-shaped mile-long dip--hence the name--neatly carved into the middle of it. (The Dip also once included a dead, bloated Hereford cow beached on the side of the road, but that is a story for another time.) Killer Hill is where we will spend our time today.

We worked out at Killer Hill many times, but there was one instance in particular that strikes me: the Tuesday I was late. Due to a scheduled meeting with a professor, I knew I was going to have to play catch-up at practice that day. I knew we were heading to Killer Hill, so I left my meeting, hustled to the locker room, quickly changed, and took off to try to catch the group before they started to attack the upward 1-mile intervals. However, when I approached the starting line, the team was reaching the peak. Soon, they would begin their recovery jog back down the hill, but that would be minutes away. My coach greeted me, and we decided it was better for me to just get going, on my own, rather than wait for the team to come back down--and then be a full rep behind. So I set myself at the start and looked at the winding trail. I felt like the finish line immediately pulled away from me like a Hollywood dolly zoom out (think that famous Jaws zoom scene but only in reverse). The finish line seemed to double. Regardless, my coach gave me the signal, and I raced off. I was able to greet my teammates about halfway up, but after they disappeared into my blindspot, I again was faced with a formidable finish line. But I kept on. Greeted by another coach at the top of the hill, I completed my rep and began my slow descent. The piston-like passing by my teammates continued as we worked up and down Killer Hill, but one thing continued to change: each time I got to the bottom of the hill, the journey to the top looked longer, steeper, and more arduous. Typically, when the team would do this workout, I would grow fatigued, but the task itself would not vary in perception. I finished the workout slightly after the team, and there was one truth: it was not enjoyable when I was alone. Shortly after, I faced The Dip. Solo. In essence, the same experiences occurred: the run seemed longer, the miles more difficult, the hills steeper, and the overall task was less pleasant. I didn’t really think much of either of these events until recently. 
​

About a year ago, I ran across some studies from the University of Virginia, and they dealt will--yep--hills. In an early study, they found that if people are looking at a hill they need to climb, and they are in a negative state of mind, they predict the hill to be 30% steeper than it really is. In a second study, researchers discovered that, when alone, a person perceives a hill to be 20% steeper compared to when standing next to a friend. Essentially, a person’s perception is reshaped by the presence of others. When I reflect on Killer Hill and The Dip, this concept was completely accurate. Without the physical and emotional influence of my teammates, the challenges looked--and felt--insurmountable. 

. . . And then I think about our classrooms and our schools. 

As administrators and educators, we can learn a lot from these findings. We can help foster a support system at the figurative “bottom of hills” with these 3 C’s: Connection, Collaboration, and Celebration. Below, I’ve included a few brief ideas in each category.

Increase Social Connection
Staff: 
Do your teachers connect beyond content?
Real strategies you can implement: 
  • Connection Spot
    • Shoutout to my admin and staff: we have a room called “The Well” where staff can go to recharge and reconnect. It has places to both conduct work and relax. Staff members have brought in items like puzzles, oil diffusers, and muscle massagers. 
  • Hallway Convos
    • Encourage staff to connect with each other in the hallway during passing time as they greet students. 
  • 10th Hour
    • Host events out of school for staff to grow healthy relationships while having fun together. Our staff calls these events 10th hour, since we have a 9-period day. 

Students:
Do your students have time to connect within or between classes? 
Real strategies you can implement: 
  • Positive Priming 
    • Taking a few minutes at the beginning of class to allow students interact and learn more about each other every day will help them learn better. You can read my full Positive Priming article here. 
  • Power Hour
    • Have one longer passing time during the day where students can grab a snack and connect. We call ours Power Hour; it occurs after 2nd hour and is 15 minutes in length. The cafeteria offers snack and drink selections for sale. 

Increase Collaboration
Staff: 
Do your staff members have time to work together? 
Real strategies you can implement: 
  • PLCs or Collaborative Teams
    • These are probably obvious strategies here, but they still are very influential. 
  • A Googly Mindset
    • Think about how you use time on staff development days. In line with what Google does, allowing time for staff to work together to solve problems or create something new--together--can be very powerful. 

Students:
Do your students have chances to work together on a regular basis? 
Real strategies you can implement: 
  • Get them Collaborating
    • Probably obvious here again, but increasing opportunities for students to work with each other will keep them from being “stranded on the bottom of the hill alone.” 
  • Virtual Connection
    • This year, I’ve had a number of students learning from home while they have been quarantined. I think this whole situation causes students to feel alone, even if they are synchronously attending online. 
      • Each day, I welcome each virtual student and pan our camera around the room so their classmates can wave and say hello. 
      • In addition, we have students FaceTime in with their classmates during group work, so they can join in conversations. 

Increase Celebration
Staff: 
Does your staff have a way to congratulate each other or express gratitude?
Real strategies you can implement: 
  • Shoutouts
    • My high school principal created a weekly Shoutout Google Form for staff to send positive messages of gratitude and congratulations. Each Thursday, he sends out a link to the Google Form, and each Sunday, he shares the results in our weekly staff newsletter. Our staff loves it and it helps breed a positive culture. 

Students:
Do your students have a way to congratulate each other or express gratitude?
Real strategies you can implement: 
  • Student Shoutouts
    • This is a very very rare concept. I just created a Google Form for my students to give each other shoutouts similar to our staff ones. I’m going to pilot it with my college prep classes over the next month and I anticipate it will enhance our classroom culture. 

When I think back to Killer Hill and The Dip, I can now appreciate how much my teammates meant to my mindset and success. An intentional support system can yield huge dividends. If we intentionally implement Connection, Collaboration, and Celebration in our schools, we undoubtedly can help our students see challenges through fresh eyes. 

​

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Do You Need a Climate Change in Your Classroom?

9/20/2020

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I think most people can agree that an openly intimidating and demeaning teaching style would be detrimental to your students...and you. (As an aside, it doesn’t work well in coaching either.) Surprisingly enough, I occasionally run into people who disagree. In both teaching and coaching, there are still folks out there who believe the aforementioned negative culture doesn’t impact classroom climate, team climate, or student performance in a negative way. But I’ll be honest--thankfully, I think the number of people riding the negativity train keeps reducing all the time. Realistically, though, there are subtle things we do, or don’t do, in our classroom that can make a huge impact. And the scary thing is that we may not even know we are doing them. My hope is to shed some light on these concepts and benefit everyone involved. The study I’m about to share with you involved students learning to juggle in PE class, but I truly believe that the same results would occur in a core classroom as well...and at all levels. 

The Study
About a year ago, my friend Troy Wineinger at the University of Kansas shared a recent study (2017) with me regarding the impact climate had on student performance at the middle school level. Here is the initial set-up: 
  • Students were separated by gender and were randomly assigned to one of two groups: C/TI climate (Caring/Task Involving) or EI climate (Ego-Involving). 
  • The C/TI climate would foster a cooperative atmosphere, treat mistakes as part of the learning process, and value effort and personal improvement. 
  • The EI climate would promote intragroup rivalry, punish mistakes, and give the majority of praise and recognition to the highest performers.
  • Cortisol levels would be measured via participant saliva samples. The samples were to be taken at the following time intervals relative to the start of the juggling session: 0, +30, +45, and +60 minutes. Why is cortisol important? Cortisol is the stress hormone. It reveals a great deal about a person’s psychobiological stress and general functioning. Heightened cortisol is linked to psychological disorders; depression; sleep disturbances; lessoned vigor, cardiovascular, and immune dysfunction; obesity; and behavioral problems. In addition, higher cortisol hinders performance academically and athletically. Yep, that’s right. Cortisol actually blocks the ability to perform at our best. In essence, cortisol is related to mental and physical health--and lower levels of cortisol are better.
  • Once students were separated into groups, the trained instructors began teaching them in isolated areas. They were either in the C/TI group or the EI group, and neither group was aware of what was happening with the other. 
  • The course took place over multiple weeks

Both the C/TI and EI instructors implemented a unique way to work with the students. 
​C/TI instructors:
  • Created a cooperative atmosphere where students were encouraged to support one another 
  • Made a genuine effort to get to know each student on an individual level
  • Treated mistakes as part of learning
  • Identified student strengths and built upon them
  • Created a supportive environment where youth were treated with kindness and respect
  • Fostered a sense of belonging to the group by promoting student-to-student connections
  • Incorporated team building into the sessions
  • Emphasized group success and how each individual plays a role in that success
  • Promoted individual improvement not based on comparison

EI instructors (Did pretty much the opposite as the C/TI instructors)
  • Promoted rivalry among students
  • Ranked them based on performance: 1 = best; 10 = worst
  • Punished mistakes by lowering a student’s ranking or taking away their juggling balls
  • Spent time getting to know each juggler, but then spent more time with the better performers while outwardly praising them much more. 
  • Instructional feedback was given by comparing individual students to the best performers

I like the varying instructors of this study because (1) each instructor group was almost the polar opposite, and (2) both instructor groups used techniques that people currently use both in the classroom and in athletics. These are representative of real teachers and coaches!

The Results
The data for the study were gathered in multiple ways: cortisol levels, performance, and student surveys (CCS--the Caring Climate Scale: a 13-item scale that measures to the extent which students feel cared for, valued, and respected). Although the students were separated by gender, results were consistent between both males and females.
  • Cortisol Levels
    • C/TI students had 2x lower cortisol levels overall. The worst readings for the EI group came between the 30- and 45-minute marks--right in the heart of the session. Interestingly, the EI groups cortisol levels lowered at the 60-minute mark. I hypothesize this was because they knew it was finally almost all over. 
  • Performance
    • C/TI students enjoyed their sessions much more, connected with peers, put forth more effort, showed grit, and achieved progress at a faster rate. Overall, they had more success and had fun while doing it. The EI students didn’t try as hard, gave up more easily, and didn’t enjoy the experience. 
  • Caring Climate Scale
    • EI students noted much higher feelings of shame, anxiety, self-consciousness, social evaluation, and lower self-confidence. The levels of anxiety in EI participants were double compared to the C/TI group; students were also 2.5x more stressed. In addition, C/TI students had twice the self-confidence. 

What can we learn from this?
I think the largest takeaway from this study is that we need to pay attention to detail when creating our classroom culture and working with our students. I’ll stick with the positive lessons here. We need to foster a supportive environment between students, really get know each student on an individual level; search for and recognize individual improvement; treat mistakes as a natural part of the process; promote collaboration and cooperation. I know, I know--that’s a lot to keep track of. But if you work to create this environment early, it is self-sustaining, and student performance will go through the roof. 

A caring climate wins...in every category. Better stress levels. Better performance. Better psychological state. Whether a teacher, coach, administrator, or parent, how you interact and what you choose to focus on matters. When students are learning or working to improve, how we interact with them--and how we promote the interaction between them--matters. 
Climate Matters!


____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hogue, Candice M., et al. "The Differential Impact of Motivational Climate on Adolescents' Psychological and Physiological Stress Responses." Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 21 Feb. 2017, pp. 118-27.

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Measuring Well-Being in Students: EPOCH

8/31/2020

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My previous post ("Well-Being Defined") covered the components that make up adult well-being: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.
​While these are applicable to all people, there is a way to better connect these concepts with our students from a developmental standpoint. Some awesome people from the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University (Margaret L. Kern, Lisbeth Benson, Elizabeth A. Steinberg, and Laurence Steinberg) created a way to measure the well-being of adolescents. Instead of PERMA, the acronym EPOCH is used: Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, Happiness. I mentioned EPOCH in a recent post, but I thought it would be helpful to go into more detail. While some of the definitions are similar to PERMA, there are some subtle differences and additions.  


The 5 Building Blocks of Student Well-Being: EPOCH

Engagement
Engagement is basically the same as the adult definition of Engagement. It is being so completely absorbed in an activity that you lose track of time--you are in flow. 

Perseverance
​Perseverance could also be called “grit.” It is the ability to keep going when you face adversity. Perseverance means you set goals, go after them despite the challenges you face, and stick to it even if it takes awhile. 

Optimism
Optimism is having both hope and confidence about the future. In general, you view things in a favorable way and when negative events happen, you see them as only temporary. 

Connectedness
Connectedness deals with relationships and feeling close to others. It involves feeling loved, supported, and valued by people in your life. 
​

Happiness
Happiness is a general feeling of joy, cheer, and contentment with life. It is important to note that you may not feel happy every moment, but you generally feel content with life. 

Can You Measure EPOCH?
Thanks to the survey created by Kern, Benson, the Steinbergs, we can definitely measure student well-being based on EPOCH. The 20-question survey asks participants to rank varying personal descriptions based on 5 categories ranging from  “not like me” to “very much like me.” Each EPOCH building block is related to 4 questions (see picture). 

How I Used the Survey
I administered the survey without much explanation to get a baseline of my students. I then started implementing a couple of strategies to enhance well-being: “What Went Well” & “Gratitudes.” (These are explained in an earlier blog post). After 25 days, we took the survey again to see growth. You can learn more about my study here: https://www.duanejourdeans.com/blog/can-teachers-actually-increase-student-well-being-in-just-a-couple-minutes-a-day-yes

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Well-Being Defined

8/10/2020

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What do I love most about positive psychology? It’s proactive. Positive psychology studies people who are flourishing, discovers why, and share strategies that can be implemented to move lives further on the positive spectrum. 

When I first started studying positive psychology, I thought everything revolved around one topic: positivity. As I learned more, I discovered that it all revolved around the ideas of well-being--it was a lot broader than just being positive or having a positive mindset. Positivity is important, but it is not the whole story--it is a piece of the story. Dr. Martin Seligman created the acronym PERMA to share the 5 major components of well-being: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. As administrators and educators, we can not only improve ourselves, but we can help our students flourish as well. 
​

Initially, it is important to identify and define each component of PERMA:

(P) Positive Emotion
This component deals with feelings like happiness, cheerfulness, joy, gratitude, and optimism. When I begin each of my classes, I try to nudge my students towards these positive emotions. When these emotions are activated, students will be more engaged and the learning centers of their brain will be activated. Studies have shown that much of the level of our positive emotion is heritable, but there are ways to raise these levels by about 15% which can have a large impact. The What Went Well exercise I mentioned in an earlier post is an example of a proven way to grow positive emotion. 

(E) Engagement
Engagement can be described as being in “flow,” where a person actually loses track of time because they are so immersed in a task. Dr. Seligman describes it as “being one with the music.” Research has shown that flow occurs when your highest strengths match your current challenge. In essence, it is important that we know our strengths...and it is important that our students are aware of their strengths. Once we understand, we can put them to use and heighten our level of engagement. In addition, we can use our signature strengths to work through difficult situations. 

(R) Relationships
The positive and healthy relationships we have are integral to our well-being. We are a connected species; the people we spend our time with have a direct impact on our ability to flourish in life. Being connected to others is not a natural skill for everyone, but there are strategies that can help us form and sustain positive relationships. 

(M) Meaning
Human beings inherently search for meaning or purpose in life. Meaning occurs when you belong to, and serve something, bigger than the self. 

(A) Accomplishment/Achievement
Accomplishment is pretty straightforward, but working through a task to the end is very rewarding. Characteristics like grit and self-discipline are highly linked to this category. 

As educators, we should work to draw out, grow, and celebrate each PERMA component in ourselves and our students. If we do, a fulfilling life will follow.
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Can Teachers Actually Increase Student Well-Being in Just a Couple Minutes a Day? [...Yes!]

7/30/2020

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During the 2019-2020 school year (before COVID 19 smacked us in the face) I decided to up my game a bit more regarding positive psychology in education, so I conducted a study in my classroom. I had been implementing a number of positive priming techniques at the beginning of classes, but I wasn’t really measuring anything to gauge impact or level of success. I decided to create a 25-day study and really measure some things. 

Who were the subjects?
I collected data from 56 high school students ranging from 9th to 12th grade. 

We didn’t use any names. I gave each student a random “secret number” that was assigned to their assessments. I didn’t know who had what number; I could only see the trend within each student number. They just had to write their number somewhere so they could put it on their assessments (and yes, a couple of students forgot their number after the first assessment, so we had to do some problem-solving). 

What did they do? 
First, I gave them a baseline test to assess their level of well-being. It is based on concepts created by Margaret L. Kern, Lisbeth Benson, Elizabeth A. Steinberg, and Laurence Steinberg of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. The assessment is intended to measure the students’ well-being regarding 5 categories: 
  • Engagement
  • Perseverance 
  • Optimism
  • Connectedness
  • Happiness
What the students did each day is pretty straightforward--during the first few minutes of class, students would complete the following research-based tasks: 
  1. What Went Well (WWW): Students wrote down three things that went well in the last 24 hours...or they could write down 1 thing that went well with three details. 
  2. Daily Gratitudes: Students would write down 3 NEW things they were grateful for each day. By the end of the 25 days, students would have a list of 75 unique things, people, ideas, places, etc., that they were grateful for. Additionally, Thursdays were “Thank You Thursdays”--students would send a “thank you” message to someone in their life. (As a side note, this was the favorite day for many of them. Most of them would send a text message to someone and would receive a message back quite quickly. Sometimes it was a parent asking, “okay...do you need money or something?” Haha! --But most of the time it was a heartfelt message of gratitude right back at the student.)
The theory behind these tasks is that they will most likely increase Optimism. Basically, I was encouraging students to think about what was good in their life...what was going well and what they were thankful for. And it did raise Optimism in my students. However, that wasn’t the only positive result. 

What were the results? 
After the 25 days were completed, students took the EPOCH assessment again. All 5 areas increased, but some more than others. 
  • Engagement: +6.8%
  • Perseverance: +3.4%
  • Optimism: +7.8%
  • Connectedness: +1.2
  • Happiness: +2.6
  • Across all categories, there was an average increase of +4.4%. 
Optimism, the target category, grew the most at nearly 8%, but close behind was Engagement almost 7%. Why? Research has shown that putting someone in a positive state can make them up to 10x more engaged in a task. By thinking positively about their life, students were most likely in a positive state to start class. 

I was very pleased with the outcome after just 25 days, and I immediately began to think about how I could modify things to impact the categories that had smaller gains. 

Would I do anything differently? 
I continue to learn more and more pretty much every day. Here are a couple of the tweaks I would make to make things even more impactful: 
  • Always include the details. After doing more recent research, the power comes from the details. Just making lists is okay, but if you can add specific details, it helps you relive the experience and cements it in your mind even more. As far as your brain is concerned, it is almost like you are experiencing it again...which is awesome!
  • Include social connection every day. By allowing the students to open up to their classmates and potentially share something they wrote down, it will most likely impact their feelings of social connection. 

What did the students say? 
A vast majority of students really enjoyed the daily activities. It became part of their routine, but one that made them feel good. Many students commented on how they were starting to notice things throughout the day that they could write down the next day. They were beginning to change the way their brain was viewing and scanning the world. There were also students that said it seemed like it was positively impacting their extracurriculars--they felt more focused and calm during competition. In essence, the students enjoyed the experience and felt it positively impacted them even beyond the classroom.


*Click here to see the official PDF describing the EPOCH categories. 

**If you are interested in the survey I used, or have any questions, just shoot me an email at duanejourdeans@gmail.com. 

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6 Strategies to Beat Procrastination

7/19/2020

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I finally tried out the video creation software Doodly to share some strategies about overcoming procrastination. (I think I was delaying my use of it).

​Recent studies show that about 70% of college students claim they struggle with procrastination on a regular basis. I think the age groups below and above have similar issues. I know I do! In the video I share 6 techniques that may help. The one that really clicks for me is #1: The 5 Minute Take-Off. I struggle with perfectionism, so sometimes I freeze up rather than start. The 5 Minute Take-Off gets me to just get going. Once I do, I typically get into flow. It is so amazing how a small technique--a small shift in mindset--can help so much.  

Here are the 6 Strategies: 
1. The 5 Minute Take-Off
2. Reward Yourself
3. Go Public
4. Use the Team Approach
5. Write It Down
6. Be Sure to Recover
​
Take a look at the video, try out some of the strategies, and let me know what works for you in the comments. 
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Positive Priming: Unlocking Student Potential

7/14/2020

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(...it can help teachers, too)

I’m hoping this post can give you a better understanding of Positive Priming: both what it is and how to implement it. However, I know it is not all-inclusive, so if you have any questions, please email me at duanejourdeans@gmail.com. During these crazy COVID times, I think it is also important to mention that Positive Priming can also be done virtually! 

The Reality
This is the challenge: as humans, we are wired to scan for the negative...for threats. So we are inherently constantly scanning our environment for what can kill us--or maybe harm us not just physically, but emotionally. This means we are really good at finding the negative. To overcome this overwhelming magnetic pull, we need to put in work to change what we focus on. Positive Priming can help. 

Where Did Positive Priming Come From? 
I think I coined the term Positive Priming around 2016 or so. I had been using the strategy for a number of years before, but I officially named it only a few years ago. However, the whole idea of the benefit of positive emotions came from North Carolina years before. Dr. Barbara Fredrickson of UNC is one of the world’s leading researchers of positivity--in fact, one of her books is titled Positivity. Within, Fredrickson shares a concept called the Positivity Ratio. Basically, if a person has a ratio of about 3 positive emotions to every 1 negative emotion, they will flourish...they will be pretty successful. Over time, there has been some debate about the ratio being 5 to 1, but I think we can all agree that anywhere between 3 and 5 will be just fine for what I’m discussing here. This concept is what led me to start thinking about Positive Priming. If I could help my students have a better positivity ratio, they might be more successful. So I researched more. Fredrickson identified 10 major positive emotions that were most impactful: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love. My focus was to attempt to ignite one or more of these emotions in my students within the first few minutes of class each day. 

What Can Positive Priming Actually Do For Your Students?
The scientifically-proven benefits of Positive Priming are many. Here are some of my favorites:
  • Helps retain information 
  • Enhances the ability to be more open, and able, to learning new things
  • 3x more creative
  • 31% more productive
  • Up to 10x more engaged
  • 23% fewer fatigue symptoms

The Basics of Positive Priming
  • The intent is to move students from a negative or neutral mental state to a positive one. 
  • I reserve about 1-4 minutes to prime students
  • I try to use a variety of priming activities, but honestly, I use a lot of video. 
  • About 25% of the time, I tie the priming activity to what we are actually doing in class, but you don’t have to. I store these ideas in my daily plans for each unit. I’m constantly scanning what I watch and read for ideas of priming activities. The other day I saw a television episode that had a brief mention/parody involving Macbeth. I immediately searched YouTube for the clip and pasted the link into my unit plan. 

A Sample Week of Positive Priming
I will say that I don’t usually follow a pattern each week anymore. I try to use some variety from day-to-day, but I do use WOW Wednesdays and Thank You Thursdays almost every week. In addition, each day I give students a small bit of time to talk about the priming activity. It is usually just like 30 seconds, but it could be more depending on how it resonates. At any rate, here is what a week of priming could look like: 
  • Monday: AWEsome Monday
    • I try to inspire Awe on Mondays, and I usually use video. Some ideas include amazing nature videos, microscopic creatures, views from space, cliff divers, or some weird animal. Essentially, I try to show them something they have never seen before, or something they have never seen in that way. 
  • Tuesday: What Went Well or WWW
    • There are two versions I use of WWW, but both are based on students writing down what went well in the last 24 hours (if you do it on a Monday, you can include the weekend). 
      • 3 things that went well
        • 1 thing that went well with 3 details
        • Experts would say that the second is more powerful because you are actually mentally reliving the experience which really brings out positive emotions a second time. In many ways, your brain is thinking you are experiencing it again. 
  • Wednesday: WOW Wednesdays
    • This past year, I implemented what I call WOW Wednesdays. This is where students were responsible for “WOW-ing” their classmates with Positive Priming. I explained all the positive emotions and gave them some “appropriateness” guidelines;  then they signed up (with a partner if they wanted) for a Wednesday during the quarter. It was a huge success! I think the largest impact revolved around the emotion of amusement. The students knew what made each other laugh, so a typical WOW Wednesday involved some Vines, a Tik Tok, or YouTube video that definitely appealed to the audience. The other benefit is, as a teacher, you don’t need to prep anything for Wednesday priming. 
  • Thursday: Thank You Thursdays
    • For this activity, we focused on gratitude. Students were asked to send a message to someone expressing gratitude. They could send a text, Snap, email, write a letter...basically any type of message they wanted. They loved it! It was a day I would let them keep their phone out on their desk because many of them got a positive message back right away from the recipient. And sometimes that message was from a parent asking them, “Okay, you must want something.” Ha!
    • You can also alternate week to week by having students write down 3 NEW things they are grateful for and keep an ongoing list. This past year, we actually did both together quite a few times and it made an excellent impact. (I did a study on it and plan to write a blog post about it soon.)
  • Friday: Funny Friday
    • My wife uses Fail Friday where she shows a funny “fail” video or picture(s), and her students really enjoy it. Sometimes I do that as well, but regardless, I try to appeal to amusement on Fridays, and it is usually a video. Sometimes I mix in a discussion of what they are looking forward to for the weekend. Anticipation is my 11th bonus emotion that primes, too. 

And There's a Bonus!

Here is the beauty of this entire post: Yes!--Positive Priming will work for your students,  but...wait for it...it will work for teachers, too. In essence, if you engage in priming activities, you will reap the benefits as well. Enjoy the videos. Laugh. Write down 3 new things you are grateful for. Do as much as you can. You don’t have to do every activity every class period, but even if you choose one hour a day to engage, you will put yourself in a positive state...and it will help bring out the best in yourself and your students. 


P.S.
In my Positive Charge workshop, I help participants collaborate and actually create multiple days of potential Positive Priming activities! 


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Positive Priming: My First Classroom Study

7/9/2020

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A number of years ago, I discovered positive psychology. After researching for just a month or so, I decided I would try to apply some concepts in my high school classroom. Specifically, I was interested in how positivity could affect student performance (in terms of grade %), so I created something I call "Positive Priming."

Basically, "Positive Priming" is intentionally trying to activate positive emotions in students at the beginning of class. It can take as little as 10 seconds, but most of my positive priming activities are around 2 minutes. (I'll create a separate post about the details of positive priming in the future, but for now, I'll just share that I simply wanted to put students in a positive state.) From a research-based standpoint, being in a positive state as opposed to a negative or neutral state enhances multiple things including engagement, creativity, and ability to learn new concepts/strategies/techniques.

I had 5 freshman English classes at the time, so I devised a plan to implement 3 different strategies and assess impact. During first quarter, there was to be "Positive Priming" to establish a baseline. Then, during second quarter, the following Priming Plan would be administered:
  • Group 1: 1 class would get nothing special...just me regular awesome teaching :)
  • Group 2: 2 classes would receive one dose of "Positive Priming" each day
  • Group 3: 2 classes would receive one dose of "Positive Priming" each day coupled with brief social connection.
After 2nd quarter, the results were promising. 
  • Group 1's grade percentage grew by about 2%
  • Group 2's grade percentage grew by about 5%
  • Group 3's grade percentage grew over 8%
My take on the results was that students benefitted the most from "Positive Priming" coupled with social interaction. Here are some examples of what they might look like: 
  1. Students would watch a brief funny video and then have about 30 seconds to talk to 1-2 other people about what they saw or something that happened to them that was similar. 
  2. Students would write about someone who is very important in their life for about 1-2 minutes. They then would share with 1-2 others if they were comfortable. 
​The next step in my study was to implement "Positive Priming" and social connection in all 5 of my classes for both third and fourth quarter. The results were even more positive: students grew by about another 5% in grade percentage. So overall, I had students who grew nearly 15% during the school year. Multiple of these students had been self-proclaimed haters of English class in the past, and now were earning grades much higher than they had in the past. In fact, many of them shared it was now their favorite class! That was exciting to hear!
After looking at the year-long results, I became curious if it affected any other measurable factors in my students--behavior came to mind beyond grade percentage. My classroom rarely has any behavior issues, but on occasion, I do have to report things to the office. I'd say maybe once or twice a quarter I have had to at least notify the office or document some type of negative behavior. During first and second quarter, I had a few instances involving mild inappropriate behavior. Second semester...zero. In fact, reported negative behavior was much lower in the 9th grade during second semester in all classes. Was it related to the "Positive Priming" and social connection in my class? Maybe...maybe not. But specifically in my class, performance was up and negative behavior was down.
​Sounds like a great combo to me!

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