This week’s focus lessons

Prep: Oscar Organisation

1. Students can talk about examples of being organised.
2. Students can identify if someone is organised or not organised.
3. Students will identify a personal and class goal for displaying an organised behaviour during the week.

Year 1: Charlie’s Confident Thinking

1. Students will understand the importance of thinking in four important ways to build confidence that leads to more success in their schoolwork.

'I can do it!'

'It’s OK to make mistakes when learning something new'

'I’m proud of who I am'.

'It’s OK to tell others what I think and want'.

Year 2: Growth Mindset

1. Students will understand the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

Some people have what’s called a ‘fixed mindset’. They think that when they can’t do something it’s because they’re not smart enough and that they will never be able to do it

Other people have a ‘growth mindset’. People with a growth mindset understand that in life some things are going to be hard to do or hard to learn. They understand that learning new things requires a lot of effort and they enjoy the challenge. They don’t give up when things get hard. Instead they are persistent and keep on trying. They may reread the question, try a different strategy or ask for help.

2. Students will understand that mistakes are normal when people try new or challenging things.
3. Students will understand that when they put in effort and keep on trying to learn, for example by trying different strategies, they can grow their brain and be successful.

Year 3: Growth Mindset at Work

1. Students will understand that the brain is like a muscle that grows with effort and practice.
2. Students will understand the meaning of a ‘growth mindset’ and how it differs from a ‘fixed mindset’.

Some people believe or act as though some brains are better than others. If you have a fixed mindset, you believe that it doesn’t matter how hard you work, you just can’t get better at something. If you have a fixed mindset, you don’t want others to know that you haven’t learned something yet, so you might pretend to know things that you really haven’t learned yet. You might be afraid to try new things because you might fail. If you do decide to give something a go and you make a mistake the first time, you may feel like giving up and may not want to try again.

3. Students will be able to identify positive ways of thinking that support a ‘growth mindset’.

Everyone has a brain! Your intelligence and abilities can grow if you challenge yourself and exercise your brain by trying new things and doing your best all the time. You may not always succeed at first, but you can’t give up. You will make mistakes, but you must keep trying and learning from your mistakes. Mistakes help your brain to grow. Every mistake is a step closer to success. Don’t say “I can’t do that”. Instead, think “I can’t do that YET”. Keep your brain growing and learning.

Year 4: Persisting When It’s Hard Yakka

1. Students will be able to state the meaning of ‘hard yakka’ (hard work).
2. Students will be able to identify those aspects of their schoolwork they find to be hard yakka.
3. Students will be able to state how the attitude of Working Tough can help them do hard yakka.
4. Students will be able to use Working Tough self-talk to help them do schoolwork they find to be hard yakka.

School has its fair share of hard yakka (hard work). This doesn’t mean school is stupid, your teacher is hopeless or you are hopeless. It just means that sometimes schoolwork is not going to be fun or exciting for some or all students. At these times, it is important to do the work anyway. You can encourage yourself with the attitude called Working Tough, which means that that in order to be successful in the long-term, you have to sometimes do schoolwork that isn’t fun and exciting.

Year 5: Be a More Confident Public Speaker

1. Students will understand that public speaking anxiety is normal.
2. Students will gain some techniques for delivering confident oral presentations.

To deliver a good talk or speech, remember:

Engage with your audience.

Use positive body language (stand up tall, make good eye contact, use hand gestures to show enthusiasm).

Relax (breathe, know that it will be alright no matter what happens).

Use cards as a guide (don’t read).

Practise, practise, practise.

1. Students will understand that the negative attitude of Needing Approval increases anxiety.

Needing Approval. Students who have this way of thinking believe that they need the approval of their classmates all the time and to be criticised or thought badly of is the worst thing in the world.

2. Students will understand that the positive attitude Being Independent helps to maintain confidence and to decrease anxiety.

Being Independent as an attitude that reduces worry and develops confidence. It means thinking that while it’s nice for people to think well of you, you will survive no matter what happens including if people laugh or think you are not very good at public speaking.

 Year 6: Down With Perfectionism

1. Students will understand the relationship between ‘perfectionism’ – the attitude of Needing to Be Perfect – and excessive anxiety.
2. Students will understand the meaning of the attitude Taking Risks and how it can help them worry less about making mistakes and to be more confident in trying new activities.
3. Students will understand the different causes of making mistakes.

Sometimes, it may seem that teachers and/or parents expect our work to be mistake-free and perfect. This is a lot of pressure. Or we may have decided on our own that we need to do things perfectly as a way of proving that we are worthwhile and valuable. However, when we demand perfectionism, the opposite occurs. We often experience so much worry and low confidence that our work is not as good as it could be. Accepting the reality of making mistakes and not always being perfect is an attitude called Taking Risks. Risk-takers are generally happier and more confident because they accept themselves as not being perfect and simply strive to do their best and enjoy themselves along the way.