MVP 2.0 - Lessons in SEL - Mental Health & Wellness

-Resiliency-

HOW TO USE THIS LESSON: The webpage below is intended to be projected for students to follow along. It includes basic instructions, definitions, etc. to guide students. Depending on your technology, you can have a student in charge of scrolling through the site, on your cues. Just have them try not to scroll past the thin purple dividers or thick colored banners until you are ready to start that next section!

You will also need to download and/or print this facilitator's guide. This document contains extra instructions, facilitator's notes, and other behind-the-scenes content necessary for the lesson.

Grade 12 - Resiliency (25-30 minutes)

Objective: You will learn about your unique strengths and how they can be used to build resilience in the face of hardship

Introduction

Our personal strengths are our unique and special gifts that we can lean on as individuals and in teams. By identifying them, leaning into them, and being able to articulate about our own personal strengths, we can build positive protector factors for MH and wellness- thus increasing our level of resilience. In our activity we will be using a listening circle to talk through some of our "defining moments".

Resilience is a positive mental health protective factor, which means that it helps us avoid or tackle mental health struggles. By definition, resilience is defined as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress—such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors.

Simply stated - it is your flexibility and ability to “bounce back”

One way to build positive protective factors in mental health resilience is to identify your own personal strengths and be able to share them with others.

By identifying, owning and leaning into our personal gifts and strengths and recalling a time when we were able to overcome adversity, we build our ability to adapt and become more resilient.

Main Activity

Defining Moments Listening Circle

Form a large circle around the room, where everyone can be easily seen and heard. You should bring a notebook and writing utensil with you.

A listening circle is a restorative practice that can be used to develop relationships and build community. It is designed to create a brace space for all voices to be heard. We are hopeful that this practice will be helpful for building and maintaining a healthy community in which ALL students feel connected and respected. Today, we will focus on personal character strengths and defining moments.

Sharing pieces of yourself in this way can be scary, but can also help us to grow and build resilience. Today, you'll all have a chance to reflect silently, but will also be encouraged to share your thoughts with your classmates. With that being said, let's make sure we can all agree to a few things about our listening circle before we begin.

Share what you feel comfortable sharing.
You can pass at any time.
Allow space for all voices to be heard, in their turn.
Speak from the "I" perspective.
Stay quiet when not talking.
Respect the privacy of those sharing. What is shared in the group will be held in confidence.

For the following activity, there will be four prompts. First, you will have time to reflect silently and write about the prompts. After about five minutes, you will come back to the listening circle to share your responses.

Defining Moment

Name one moment in time that has had a positive effect on you. Preferably, choose a moment in which you took action in some way. this moment doesn't have to be dramatic; simply any moment that has had a meaningful impact on you.

Character Strengths

List the character strengths (especially those from the Via Character Strengths List) that you used in that situation. Which character strengths did you bring forth? How did you express them?

Identity

Explore how this moment has shaped who you are. How has this moment contributed to your identity? no matter how small, how has it affected your view of yourself?

Courage, Wisdom, Humanity, or Other Virtues

Step back and view the bigger picture. Were you enacting virtues that helped you mobilize your strengths in that moment? Many individuals rally their courage in order to take action in their defining moment.

Closing

As we close today, think about how you will work to enhance, highlight, and share your personal strengths with others. Let's take a few minutes to collect our thoughts together.

When you work in teams, how can you help others identify/see/understand your areas of strength?

How might you be able to use this strength narrative when you face times of adversity in school? With peers? Family?

Looking for a little more content?

Extension Activity

Share your “You at Your Best story” with a peer, teammate, family member, loved one. Tell them about the concept of resiliency can be built by enhancing one's strengths. Share about your own defining moment and then ask them to reflect on their own. Discuss how you may use your own individual personal strengths to work together to achieve more.

Remediation Activity

Have students discuss resilience. Have them journal about one or more of the following prompts:

What is one take-away you learned about resilience?

How resilient do you feel right now?

What was a time you displayed resilience, or a time when things could have gone differently if you'd had the tools to be more resilient?

Like the lesson? Here's another on this topic:

<-- Mental Health & Wellness for Level Two

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