Take this time to journal quietly on the first unused page of your journal.

After our emotional responses, it is up to us to manage our thoughts and actions.  We want our pre-frontal cortex - our human brain - to be in charge, as opposed to our reptilian or mammalian brains.

The best way to help our human brain stay in charge is to be objectively true.  When we seek out the truth, we protect our mammalian and reptilian brains from flipping our lids.

Journaling can be an excellent way to seek out objective truth.  We're going to explore and experiment with several different strategies to do this, and the first one we will use is called grounding.

Grounding is when we write down what we notice with our five senses.

On the first blank page of your journal, please write your name, the date, and the word Grounding at the top of the page.  Then, please copy these categories, leaving blank space between them to add your answers.

5 Things I See

4 Things I Feel

3 Things I Hear

2 Things I Smell

1 Thing I Taste

Google Slides:  (Direct Link)

We have discussed Courage and Bravery already.

Courage: Choosing to do the right thing.
Bravery:  Thinking before doing something you're scared of.

So what does the word Confidence mean to you?
(Today's note-taker should write the ideas on the board as we discuss.)

(Scroll down after discussion)

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Confidence:  The faith or certainty in your ability to do something and be successful.

How are Courage and Confidence different?

How do they build each other up?

How does improved Confidence benefit us in school and in life?

An Affirmation is a statement we repeat to ourselves to help us focus our attention on something we want to do, think, or feel.

Affirmations can calm us down and help us stay focused on doing the right thing (courage) and achieving our goals (confidence).  When we repeat positive affirmations about courage, it rewires and puts our human brain to work, helping us build our courage muscles.

Affirmations can help us overcome fear.  They can help us be in control of our thoughts and feelings and set our intentions in a courageous and positive way.  Affirmations build our confidence and they help us face challenges, make good choices, achieve, and succeed.

If you are nervous about speaking in front of a class, you could choose to say "I am a confident public speaker" whenever you practice your speech or presentation and then choose to say it quietly to yourself before you begin.

If you are about to play in a big game, perform in a concert, or take a big test, you could say "I'm ready and focused on doing my best."

Here is a list of possible affirmations.  Pick one, or write your own, and create an artistic representation for us to display somewhere in the school.  Write it on poster paper, represent it graphically, however you'd like.