This week’s blog covers two different topics because I did not want these topics to slip through the cracks. The two topics are not really related but so vitally important to what I am doing with my character-building curriculum for my 12th-grade English curriculum.
UCLA Establishes Kindness Institute
Yes, I will admit it, I googled “kindness” to see what articles might spark some inspiration for me this week. I was thrilled to have come across the following article about UCLA establishing a legitimate research institute to study kindness. Their goal is to research all aspects of kindness within organizations and people and determine how those characteristics can transfer to real-life applications on spreading kindness. Daniel Fessler, the appointed director of the institute, will be focused on, “...exploring how witnessing acts of remarkable kindness can cause an uplifting emotional experience that in turn motivates the observer to be kind” (Abraham). I love that the university has accepted a donation of $20 million dollars to dedicate to this kind of research to help make our world a better place. I will follow this closely to see what I can learn through their research!
Practice Makes Perseverance
Another article that struck my attention this week was written by one of my favorite authors, Angela Duckworth. She wrote an article for the organization she helped create called The Character Lab. In her latest article, Duckworth wrote about why we participate in extracurricular activities and the longterm impacts of practice in those endeavors.
Duckworth argued that “...extracurricular activities are the fertile soil in which passion and perseverance take root” (“Practice Makes Perseverance - Character Lab”). She went on to make a direct connection between the skills we learn working to master one of these skills and how it can apply the work we do on a daily basis or hope to do in the future (students, I’m talking to you!). Essentially, we learn through repetitions, intentional practice, and failing, how to persevere. She quoted a mather teacher she knows as telling his students, “Why are you learning math? Because math is hard. And in my classroom, you learn how to do hard things” (“Practice Makes Perseverance - Character Lab”). I have been grappling with how to respond to students whenever they ask me how these English assignments are going to apply in the real world. After reading this article, I have a better grasp of the purpose of all these “hard things” that we do.
"Practice Makes Perseverance" -My daughter, Josie, stuck with learning how to ride her bike without training wheels through tears, repetitions, and encouragement from mom and dad. These are skills that can carry over to other aspects of our lives.
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