As we go about our daily lives we are constantly thinking about
and interpreting the situations we find ourselves in. Our inner
voice, or 'self-talk', includes
our conscious thoughts as well as our unconscious assumptions or
beliefs.
Much of our self-talk is
reasonable (e.g. 'I'd better do some preparation for that exam', or
'I'm really looking forward to that match'). However, some of our
self-talk is negative, unrealistic or self-defeating (e.g. 'I'm
going to fail for sure', or 'I didn't play well - I'm
hopeless').
Here are some simple ideas on how you can support your students
to train their mind to perceive situations more realistically and
train their self-talk to focus on
the positives.
Lesson idea 1: The A-B-C of
self-talk
The relationship between your thoughts, feelings and behaviours
can best be explained by looking at the A-B-C of your
self-talk. Here's an example you can use with your class to
illustrate the A-B-C of self-talk.
Activating situation:
- You get your exam timetable.
Beliefs (self-talk):
- "I'm not going to be able to do this"
- "I'll fail and the whole thing will be a disaster...My parents
will be so disappointed in me"
- "I won't be able to do the course I want and then I won't be
able to get a proper job...I'll end up a loser"
Consequences (feelings and
behaviours):
- You feel stressed, panicky, butterflies in the stomach.
- You can't bring yourself to sit down and study.
- You sit down in front of the TV and eat a packet of
biscuits.
The best way for students to understand the connection between
A, B and C is to see how it applies to their own situations.
Ask your students to:
Think of a situation in the last two weeks where they have
found themselves feeling bad. For example, they may have been
feeling upset, stressed, angry, sad, depressed, embarrassed or
guilty. Briefly describe the situation in a 'stress-log', covering
the three areas - A-B-C.
Explain to students that one of the most important skills for
learning to deal with stressful situations is to identify their
self-talk - the things they say to themselves inside their mind.
The 'stress-log', covering the A, B, and C of the situation is
a useful tool to help them challenge the negative or unhelpful
aspects of their thinking, and to replace them with more reasonable
and helpful thoughts.
Lesson idea 2: WWW - What went
well?
You have all probably seen WWW often in our everyday lives - but
this WWW has nothing to do with the world wide web! This WWW stands
for What Went Well?
WWW is a great tool that you can start using with your classes
to get them into the habit of focusing on the positives of their
school day. You can also use it as a teacher as a professional
development tool to reflect on positive learning outcomes for the
day.
Where to begin?
Draw WWW in the middle of the board and
brainstorm with your class all the positives you can think of that
have happened in the last few weeks at school. It might be
difficult at first but persist until you have a fairly substantial
list.
The situations or experiences that some students classify as a
positive, may have some negative connotations for other students.
Discuss this fact with the class and explain that you are going to
accept all students suggestions for the class list. Once the class
list is formulated ask students to identify and record their own
WWW map that highlights their individual positives. The more you do
this as a class the easier it becomes.
Making it a habit
Build in the WWW activity at the end of each
lesson. Get students to record in their workbooks 2 - 3 things that
went well for them during the lesson. This list can then be used as
a reflection tool that students can go back to if they find
themselves struggling with an activity or feeling flat about a
certain activity. Looking back at what has worked previously might
give them some ideas on how they can tackle this activity to get
results!
What are the benefits?
Exercises like WWW and the
A-B-C build on what has been called the neuroplasticity of the
brain, ie its ability to grow and change into old age. Every
positive thought creates a channel in the brain. Lots of positive
thoughts create deeper, stronger channels that consequently make
positive thought easier. The same is true, of course, of negative
thought. The aim of promoting positive self talk is to build
positive pathways in the brain.
Some other lesson ideas