West Leadership Weekly Round Up: October 8th - 12th

Hi all!

Last week went by rather fast as we started our Healthy Relationships unit!

Monday and Tuesday we spent our class time checking our grades, discussing goals for the week, and then having our Today I Choose lesson. Students watched a video and had a discussion about the power of positive thinking and how we really do have the choice to decide how we see the world and consequently, how we behave. The most important part of these days were students sharing with each other how they've been able to overcome negative thinking and self-talk and what strategies they have used to either create or maintain a positive outlook on life. Some of the ideas suggested included talking to people you can trust, reaching out when your upset or need something, surrounding yourself with positive people, build regular healthy habits, avoid situations that cause you stress / make you uncomfortable, and make time to focus on just you. All were helpful and great suggestions for students to choose to be happy. 

Wednesday and Thursday we began our discussion on healthy and unhealthy relationships - what they look like, how they affect us, and what you we can do to make them better. From there we did a little self reflection by completing our Sphere of Influence activity. Students thought about how people influence them and impact their day to day lives and listed them in various categories to represent their life. This always leads to a conversation about trust and how the behaviors of healthy/unhealthy relationships determine how much trust we give others. Students often share how they know many people (as seen by their lists), but trust very few. Of the people we know, it is typically the balanced and healthy relationships in which we display the most trust.

Friday we wrapped up the week by completing our Social and Emotional Learning surveys and having our fishbowl questions. Students complete the surveys twice per year, once at the start and once at the end. The fishbowl questions continue to get better - more creative and oftentimes more relatable to content we are discussing in class so that was also good to see. Overall a fast and furious week here. Next week we have another busy one next week with parent teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday! Stay tuned! -Ben