Our new personalized high school opened this week. We are thrilled! A focus is to ensure this new beginning includes reflection and sustainable success for each learner. How can we keep our positive momentum going all year?
The honeymoon stage of any venture, a new school year included, is a delightful time of hope and possibility. It’s the perfect time to identify and dispel limiting beliefs that sometimes sabotage success.
This week our students created masks with representations of their public selves and how they want to be seen on the outside. On the inside, they put representations of their private selves, what isn’t seen or is intentionally hidden. Then they wrote messages their “monster monkey minds” sometimes tell them that limit their success on the inside of the mask. I shared a “stinking thinking” message my mind tells me sometimes when I’m tired, so they could see that these messages pop up in all of us.
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Then we all sat along one wall and took 30 seconds to call out the messages in unison, expelling them from us. It felt a little silly, but everyone participated. Next, we wrote positive “I” statements that claimed the opposite truth for each limiting belief. “I am organized and stay caught up.” “I make friends easily.” We claimed these truths aloud in present tense as a part of our reality.
These affirmations will be woven into journal writing reflections. We will continue to shine the light on any limiting messages and replace them with affirmations and actions that move us forward. Here’s to maintaining momentum and a great school year!