Posts Tagged ‘Psychology Metacognition Attitude Perspective Self-Help Teenagers Life Parenting Teaching’

September 4, 2009

This was the introduction to a Psychology Lesson on Perspectives, Attitudes and Metacognition taught to 11-13 year-olds in Northern California…

Sometimes it takes only a few, well-chosen words to motivate people in a positive direction—to try to succeed, to dream and to choose to be happy.

Class started in the usual manner…each student gave me 1 of the 3 H’s…pending their comfort zone…a high-five, a handshake or a hug.

Everyone loves a good story, so we started class with one….

“I am so excited because yesterday was one of the best days of my life…mornings tend to be hectic in our household, but we all cooperated and left the house a full 4 minutes ahead of schedule! Yahoo! Then, on the way to school we talked about Greek Mythology, one of my favorite subjects… specifically Zeus…and how his father, Cronos, thought he had swallowed him, but it was actually a swaddled rock…my kids were engaged, excited and energetic and so was I! Afterschool, my daughter had her first volleyball game…every single player did an amazing job, the sets were neck and neck and the team ended up winning, even after losing the first set! It was terrific! Then my daughter scored an amazing goal in her soccer scrimmage, it was an awesome shot from far out…all while my 2 little ones were playing nicely together…the entire day was fabulous and couldn’t be better…..Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a day where everything was awesome and couldn’t be better…seventeen hands shot up like rockets…I paused and scratched my head, crinkled my nose and hesitated….wait I minute, I continued….on second thought….

Yesterday was one of the worst days of my life…..Our pond out front had algae an inch thick growing on the surface, I was worried about the fish, so I put in some algae killer last night….I woke up to find 73 goldfish, 2 koi and 3 rainbow trout floating belly-up on the surface, I felt like I was going to throw-up…I had killed every single fish….then on the way to school our car broke down…we waited for AAA for 1 ½ hours- my kids were late for school and I didn’t get to work-out or complete any of the 5 things I really needed to get done that morning….not to mention that the car is going to cost hundreds of dollars to be fixed and I have to now drive my husband’s humungous truck which doesn’t turn when you really need it to….then, to make matters worse, at my daughter’s soccer scrimmage, my 2 little boys decided to play on an adjacent baseball diamond…at the end of the game they were covered with dirt from head-to-toe…although we were really looking forward to going out to dinner as a family, no restaurant manager in their right mind would allow 2 dirt-covered boys looking like gigantic tootsie rolls into their restaurant…we’d have to go home and get them into the bathtub and I’d have to cook dinner instead, definitely not what I was planning or wanting to do. Turn to your neighbor and share a day when everything went wrong…It was a horrible day and it couldn’t get any worse.”

A boy raised his hand…”What about your daughter scoring the soccer goal?” Another student chimed in, “ Yeah, and the volleyball team winning their first game, it wasn’t all bad…there were good things that happened too.”

“But, your car did break down and if you think about that, then it was a bad day,” replied a girl in the corner of the classroom.

“Yeah, but if you think about the soccer game, then it was a great day-it depends on what you choose to think about,” another added.

Looking baffled, I questioned, “So, you’re telling me that if I think about and focus on the good things, then it was a great day, but if I think about and focus on the bad things, then it was a horrible day?”

Nods…yes’s…and even some “you-got-its!” filled the room.

“Let me get this straight, you’re telling me that my thoughts are up to me and that everyday I can choose whether or not I want it to be spectacular or horrific? I get to decide my focus and therefore my thoughts, emotions and behaviors? So, if you are unhappy, then its because you’re choosing to focus on what’s going wrong instead of what’s going right?” I said.

A resounding “Yes!” echoed throughout the classroom.

“What are you going to choose your day to be like today? Tomorrow? Two weeks from Sunday?”

“Great, happy, fantastic, spectacular, awesome.” The responses were varied but of a common theme.

I then wrote PERSPECTIVE on the whiteboard…. “Remember this word and copy it into your notebook. You students are awesome…most adults live out their lives without figuring this out and you guys understood it in 15 minutes…your perspective on your world is what really matters.” I offered.

Moral of the lesson…We are bombarded by thoughts. Successful people take the time to sift through those thoughts and decipher them. They determine whether they are helping them to be happy and achieve their dreams or sabotaging them in the quest for their desires. Happiness and success are simple results of positive PERSPECTIVES. The majority of adults don’t understand this concept…what a pleasure to be in a class of 11-13 year olds who understand the importance of metacognition- thinking about our own thinking!