Hello everyone!
We also continued with self-awareness in SEL, discussing about how emotions are linked to thoughts and behaviors, and viceversa. We described some situations and students practice with their own examples. They could learn how important is to identify our thoughts in order to manage our emotions. We also reflected about helpful and unhelpful behaviors related to emotions. It is very encouraging to realize students are starting to use this vocabulary (feelings, self-control, self-esteem, etc.) in their daily lives at school and transferring into other situations, not only at SEL class.
The main theme at school during this last month was tolerance and
diversity. I would like to you to reflect about what means sharing a big part
of your life in an international community. Being apart of the motherland can
bring several challenges and sometimes discomfort, however we can’t forget the
huge positive impact that living abroad, surrounded by people from different
cultural backgrounds, have on our students. They are being educated in a multicultural
environment, which leads to more open-minded and tolerant future citizens. This
is one of our aims as school, to teach future citizens ready to live and
interact in a rapid changing multicultural world, where diversity is one of the
main characteristics. That’s why our UN International Day is one of our major
school events. It illustrates clearly our commitment with the principles of
respect and appreciation of the differences.
Part of SEL lessons was connected to the joy of diversity. Students
discussed about their cultural differences and, at the same time, their common
points. They understood that, even if they are coming from different countries,
all of them share a common place and goals. Some of them prepared interesting
countries presentations both for the class time and UN International Day event.
We also continued with self-awareness in SEL, discussing about how emotions are linked to thoughts and behaviors, and viceversa. We described some situations and students practice with their own examples. They could learn how important is to identify our thoughts in order to manage our emotions. We also reflected about helpful and unhelpful behaviors related to emotions. It is very encouraging to realize students are starting to use this vocabulary (feelings, self-control, self-esteem, etc.) in their daily lives at school and transferring into other situations, not only at SEL class.
Thanks one more time for your feedback and suggestions during this first
term. I really appreciate your trust and cooperation, and I hope this can be
constant in the future. I wish a successful exam period for the students and a
great holiday for everyone.
Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.
Stephen R. Covey
Stephen R. Covey