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Parents
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Parents
Quaker Corner — Resilience By Priscilla Taylor-Williams and Lynne Brick
November 13, 2009 This edition of the Quaker Corner features resilience. The definition of resilience, from the International Resilience Project, is "...a universal capacity which allows a person, group or community to prevent, minimize or overcome the damaging effects of adversity.” Overcoming adversity is dependent on how a person interprets a negative event. We would like to share three areas where we give our students the opportunity to practice reframing events that at first appear negative. In Lower School, the classroom and special areas teachers are setting up “Peace Places.” The Peace Place is designed to fit the style of each class, with pillows or chairs or a special rug. The Peace Place becomes a special and safe place to resolve conflict. Students are trained by the adults to use problem solving techniques: clearly state the problem, brainstorm solutions, and work together to “test” a solution for a win/win outcome. This experience allows their first set of negative emotions to be “reframed” into positive problem solving. In Middle School common stressors are changes in social relationships and friendships. Students learn to manage these effectively through the experience of the Owning Up program developed by Rosalind Wiseman. Students learn to speak up for their own needs and to find positive ways to work together, even in conflict. In order to have time to work with small groups of girls and boys separately, teachers are introducing the program in the Activity period in 6th and 7th grade. The program will also be offered in 9th grade this spring. In Upper School, Spirit Week is fun, challenging and sometimes fraught with disappointment. When classes are able to work together well and laugh in spite of the long hours in each other’s company Spirit Week is truly enjoyable. This year we asked students to formally reflect on how the week serves to develop their resilience. It was clear in their responses that having resilience fosters creativity resulting in beautiful hallways and clever air-band presentations. The positive energy from this week eases the anxiety of ERBs, SATs and college applications.
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