Skip to main content

A Kindness Institute And "Practice Makes Perseverance"


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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts On Remote Learning and This Crazy World We Are In

As we conclude this first week of online learning, I want to give my thoughts about how things are going and the implications of all this. It is never easy to make major life adjustments like this on the fly. Personally, I had to make the move to online learning while also taking two graduate classes online and while having my entire family home. Talk about a challenge! I would love to hear from some of you in the comments about how you are adjusting. I have been so incredibly impressed with the flexibility all of my students have shown through this transition to online learning. I know that this has to be incredibly hard for your senior year to be ending this way and you have all stepped up to the plate. The quality and depth of your words on the discussions board posts, as well as your effort on your 90-second speeches, have been terrific. I know this online learning thing isn’t easy, but trust me you are gaining valuable skills along the way. Namely, flexibility, time-management,...

Mastering Your Fear

Over winter break, I read an article by Brandon Webb titled, “How to Master Your Fear Like a Navy Seal.” He began by discussing a situation in combat in which soldiers were literally facing down an enemy in a stressful situation. Of course, while I found it interesting, I figured it only applied to life-threatening or truly terrifying situations. However, as I continued reading, I began to see many applications in my life. Fear can come in many forms: it can come when faced with a life or death situation or it can come in the form of crippling anxiety, stress, depression, and worry. I find myself ruled by the fear of the latter set of circumstances. The article discusses how to control the inner monologue of our minds to not be ruled by fear but to use it in a positive way. Webb writes, “Whatever it is, you’ll deal with it in its time and place. Meanwhile, don’t let it swim around inside your head!” He also noted that our body language can give away our fear if we let it. In other...

Habits of Success

In a moment of vulnerability, I would like to explore the idea of self-belief. This has not always come easy to me. Self-doubt so easily creeps into our minds on a daily basis and can cripple our productivity. When we believe the lies about ourselves, it is difficult to move from the impossible to the probable. Rather than thinking about ourselves as not talented enough, not athletic enough, not smart enough, we should focus on our strengths and developing the right habits. I have always been fascinated by grit and persistence, which I will blog more about later. However, I recently came across a tweet by author and motivational speaker, Jon Gordon . Gordon speaks in great detail about positivity and using our strengths to propel us forward. As you can see from the screenshot include in this post, Gordon speaks to those habits we can control rather than the arbitrary skill that is assigned to each of us by the world. Even if you don’t have the most skill, you can be on time, ...