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Grade 6

Math students in Mrs. Brodeur's classes can now use positive and negative numbers to represent real-world contexts, understand their meaning in a real-world context, and interpret statements of inequalities...and they couldn't do that before!

Grade 7

7th grade French students are doing conversation rotations to talk about their week and their weekend plans in the target language.  

Grade 8

Social studies students chose and performed dramatic moments from Founding Fathers (the play) then debated the tension between personal liberty and collective safety!

FPA

The Tournament of Champions is underway in 6th grade physical education classes.  

by Sara Terry, MS, NCC, LPCA

School Counselor

Growth vs Fixed Mindset

This week, sixth graders participated in a Growth Mindset lesson with Mrs. Terry. This lesson consisted of understanding the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset, positive versus negative self-talk, and identified ways to grow their brains in a healthy way. 

Fixed Mindset Examples:

• "I'm not good at this. Why even try?"

• "I'm afraid I will make a mistake."

• "This is too easy."

• "This is good enough."

• "I'm the best baseball player on my team. No need for me to practice!"

Growth Mindset Examples:

• "This is challenging for me, but I will ask for help if I need it."

• "I'm going to make mistakes. That is what helps me learn."

• "This seems easy for me, how can I make this more challenging?"

• "Let me re-check my work to make sure I did my best."

• "My goal is to play D1 baseball, so I will practice every day to be an even better baseball player."

We then discussed how our thoughts affect our feelings which then affect our actions. If I have a positive attitude towards something that may be challenging, I am more likely to feel somewhat positive about the situation which will in turn allow for me to make positive decisions towards that thought. For example, if Math is a challenge for me, and I have a math test, I may think, "I'm going to fail this." That may lead to feeling nervous, anxious, and down on myself. In return, I am likely not going to be my best self while taking the test because I am telling myself I am going to fail.

On the contrary, if I tell myself, "This math test is going to be hard. I'm not good at this, but I studied so I will try my best." I will likely feel more motivated to do well even if I still feel nervous, which will allow for me to concentrate on my work and try my very best.

As a Counseling Team, we know that it is impossible to stay in the "growth mindset" or "positive mindset" realm all the time. Life is not full of rainbows and butterflies all the time, but when we are having negative thoughts or negative situations occurring around us, there are ways to cope with it and ways to reframe.  Pair all of this with rapidly developing teenage brains being pumped with hormones... of course our students may have a challenging time regulating emotions and thinking in a positive way!

Our role is to help students break the cycle of negative thoughts (when they occur) and help them reframe to feel better and act better. It's what you do with those thoughts and how you attempt to reframe to break the negative thinking cycle. 

Negative Thinking Patterns with Examples (some of them are cheesy, bare with me): 

1. All or Nothing: believing everything is either right or wrong with no exceptions; no in between Example: If I do not get an A, then I am a failure. 

2. Magnifying: letting one negative event define everything; making a big deal out of something small.  Example: I didn't score a goal in soccer, I am such an embarrassment and can't go to the next game. 

3. Personalization: taking something personally that does not actually have anything to do with you Example: The person at Starbucks didn't hold the door for me. How rude! She must not have liked me enough to hold the door.

4. Mind Reading: assuming what others are thinking or feeling Example: My teacher didn't call on me when I raised my hand. He must not like me.

5. Predicting the Future: expecting bad things to happen without giving it a chance Example: I'm going to fail my test today. I don't know any of this.

6. Stewing: going over something in your mind over and over again Example: My friend didn't say hi to me this morning. Is she mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Maybe I should text Kim and ask if she knows anything? Maybe it's because I forgot her birthday last month. I should call her. No.. maybe not.

Students concluded their growth mindset lesson by identifying ways to grow their brains. We talked about neuroplasticity, and how the small things add up to the big things. For instance, healthy snacks, music, goal-setting, and exercise allow for our brains to continue to developing in a healthy way. 

Veteran's Day at HKMS!

The announcement you've all been waiting for...

 the return of the HKMS - PTO Ski Club!