Mastering your resourceful brain, and preparing students to master theirs

Do you know anyone who often feels frustrated? Stressed? Angry? Resentful?

Welcome to modern society. We all feel that way too often.

We, and our students, would all be happier and more productive if we learned techniques to reprogram our own brains, to be able at will to change from an uncomfortable limiting mindset to one that is enjoyable, resourceful, and resilient. That’s why we all need to learn to Mindshift.

Session Descriptions

Session 1

Thinking takes place in the mind, which is why we begin with learning how to understand and control our own minds. We start with practical examples of how our minds fool us into positions of powerlessness and techniques that tap into our natural resourcefulness. We spend time reflecting on using mindshifting interventions on the daily situations faced by ourselves and our students.

Session 2

We build a conceptual understanding of how the mind operates and then explore why these techniques work: what is it about the way we all think and react to situations that allow us to redirect our thoughts to be more open and resourceful, and why aren’t we that way all the time? When do our own minds get in the way, and what can we do about it? How can we generalize the techniques from the first session to apply to more situations and be even more effective? What are the implications for students?

Session 3

Now that we know that our own minds can sabotage our abilities to succeed, but that it can also be incredibly resourceful, how can we recognize which state we are in, how do we overcome our own prejudices and predispositions, and how can we impart these skills to students so they can be more innovative, inclusive, and self-directed toward success?

Session 4

We fill in our conceptual understanding and expand our skills by diving into the different justifications we use to take actions, and how these are actually lies that our minds tell us in trying to protect us from risk, anxiety, and harm. We talk about what triggers the saboteur mindset, how we can detect when we are caught in these traps, and then the three ways of resetting the mind and how to apply them. Participants then get access to lesson plans that they can use as a basis to create their own lessons for their students, and start thinking about how they will teach or coach others to use some of these techniques.

Session 5

In this session, we explore the mindset that allows us to use the five powers of the resourceful mind, and how to use those powers to inspire ourselves and our students. We spend time on how we often judge things as good or bad, and how that triggers our saboteurs. We then discuss how to use these new capabilities and review ideas of how to teach or coach others. 

Session 6

Session 6 is the course showcase. In this session, participants will share lessons that they have created to teach Mindshifting and habits of mind to students or peers. The class will share and discuss the examples and cases created after the last session. We will role play different situations that tend to trigger one of the fight, flight, freeze, habit, or mimic reactions. We will talk about next steps in the development of a sage mindset.

At the conclusion of the course you will have completed 20 hours of Social Emotional Learning Professional Development in Mindshifting and Sensemaking.