Owen's eCourse-see videos and sign up

My new and exciting eCourse, Gratitude: A Way of Teaching, just started, but it is not too late to sign up. Check out the links below to see a few short and fun videos about the course and then sign up at the link below.

Owen's eCourse videos

Sign up for the eCourse Gratitude; A Way of Teaching

ANXIOUS YOUTH? HOW A PURPOSEFUL LIFE HELPS LESSEN ANXIETY

Guest blog

By Laura Garrison-Brook

Anxiety in our world is on the rise. According to Robert Leahy, Ph.D., a clinical professor of psychology at Weill-Cornell University Medical School, the average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950’s.

Decade by decade, anxiety is increasing. Youth are particularly vulnerable here. The rise in anxiety stems from a variety of sources, but a key two serve as a double whammy. These days youth have less real relationships and more online connections. Both of these fuel unhappiness. Positive, strong relationships have been proven to be one of the greatest predictors of happiness. It’s ironic, but connecting with people online has been shown to feed a sense of isolation. Pictures of parties and get-togethers that we weren’t invited to make us feel sad and unpopular.

How can purpose help with anxiety?

Purpose shifts our focus from me-centered to we-centered. People who struggle with anxiety are often caught in a rumination rut. The more that we think a negative thought, the more we wire our brains to continue thinking in this way. By doing something purposeful, we shift from focusing relentlessly on ourselves to focusing on how we can benefit the world. This has a big impact. Studies have shown that people get a greater boost in happiness giving help than they do in receiving help.

Purpose helps build our social relationships. There is nothing more powerful than being connected to a group of people who have shared values and goals. By figuring out who we are and what we are good at, we can connect with others who have similar interests. These rich and robust relationships help to diffuse isolation and anxiety.

Purpose boosts our sense of competence. Purpose is the intersection of what we love to do, what we are good at and what the world needs. Aristotle said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” This knowledge guides how we show up in life. Knowing that we can make a meaningful contribution to the world is tremendously grounding. For anxious youth, this can be a balm to the soul. 

Purpose shifts our self-esteem from dependent to independent. Dependent self-esteem is like a yo-yo. If we have a bad hair day, it goes down. If we get invited to the party, it goes up. Even when things are going our way, anxiety persists. Outside factors determine whether we feel good about ourselves or not. Dependent self-esteem is like being stuck in the passenger seat of our own lives. We feel powerless.

When we know what our purpose is, it is like discovering our personal compass. We figure out where we need to go and start taking steps to get there. This shifts our self-esteem from dependent to independent. With independent self-esteem, we measure our self-worth against our own progress. Even if we initially fail in our efforts (which would put us in a tailspin with dependent self-esteem where we compare ourselves to others), with a purposeful attitude, as long as we are learning, it’s ok. We know that we are making progress towards our goal and that is what counts. This puts us in the driver’s seat. We are in control – and with this sense of control, our anxiety goes down. 

Purpose is the closest thing to a silver bullet for what ails youth. The National Institute of Mental Health shares that about 30% of girls and 20% of boys--totaling 6.3 million teens--have had an anxiety disorder. These are just the ones who have been diagnosed. Experts believe the number to be much larger than this, since many others do not seek help. 

By discovering our purpose, we can shift from isolation to connection. From boredom to engagement. From self-doubt to competence. From disengagement to being an authentic contributor to the world. These are just a few of the ways that purpose creates well-being and lessens anxiety in us.

Want to learn more about how to find your purpose? Discovering My Purpose is a nonprofit organization that can help. Go to www.DiscoveringMyPurpose.org

My New eCourse-Gratitude a Way of Teaching

My new eCourse, offered through Gratefulness.org, about using gratitude in education is now live to sign up for. Here is a brief description:

This five-session eCourse will include practical, research-based activities and a new gratitude curriculum shared by educator and author, Owen Griffith. Owen’s book, Gratitude: A Way of Teaching, will offer structure to help guide the course as we create opportunities for educators to explore gratitude as a way to improve class culture; academic and social success for students; and satisfaction and resilience in students and educators alike. We will start a network of educators using gratitude and answer the following questions:

• How can gratitude transform our schools, classrooms, and our lives?
• How do we challenge the culture of complaining and replace it with gratitude?
• What are the barriers to implementing gratitude in our classrooms and lives?
• How can we cultivate balance in our classrooms and our lives with mindfulness?
• What can we do to prevent burnout and instill resilience?
• How can we replace materialism and entitlement with gratitude and altruism?
• How can we spread gratitude to the community?

The class doesn't start until March, 2018, but please check out this link and feel free to share it:
https://learn.gratefulness.org/product/gratitude-way-teaching/.

PERSPECTIVE TAKING AND GRATITUDE WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP?

PERSPECTIVE TAKING AND GRATITUDE WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP?

By Owen M. Griffith and Wendy Baron

“Seek first understand, then to be understood.”

Stephen Covey
7 Habits of Highly Successful People

---

Why Perspective Taking? 

All too often, we hear stories of hate crimes and communities being torn apart by violence.  Underneath are attitudes of intolerance for others’ differences, such as race, culture, language, gender identity, etc.  Let’s change the odds! We educators can impact the next generation by cultivating tolerance and respect for diversity in perspective and ways of being.  And, we can even do it through our daily instruction to meet content standard expectations. Take a look at these two 6^th grade ELA standards in terms of their cognitive, social, and emotional demands:
Students will engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly while respecting diverse perspectives.

and

Students will review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.

Without direct, explicit instruction and cultivation of perspective-taking skills and attitudes, in addition to emotional and social skills of collaboration and active listening, students would not be successful in meeting these standards.

What is Perspective-Taking?

Perspective taking is the ability to take another’s viewpoint into account and to try to perceive another’s thoughts, feelings, or motivations. Simply put, perspective taking may be understood as “the cognitive capacity to consider the world from another individual’s viewpoint” (Galinsky, et al, 2008).  In order to truly be respectful of another’s perspective, we must also be aware of our own thoughts and feelings about that perspective, so that implicit bias is noticed, and openness and respect is chosen.  Respecting diverse perspectives requires self-awareness and self-regulation as foundational competencies

To be able to step outside our own small, circumscribed viewpoint is truly liberating. This is one of the most significant aspects of being human. Perspective-taking has many other benefits also. When we develop perspective-taking, a pro-social ability, we are more likely to reach out and help others. As educators, this can fundamentally change the way we teach our students, interact with parents, and collaborate with colleagues. A prosocial learning environment, where there is kindness, caring, and respect is optimal for students and educators to thrive.  Perspective taking is vitally important in establishing strong relationships, the cornerstone of healthy school and classroom environments.

Gratitude Fosters Perspective Taking

Gratitude as a practice is a call to action to be a caring individual, cultivates clarity of mind, moves us away from wants and worries, builds our capacity for forgiveness, grows generosity, and helps us respond to difficult situations constructively and with perspective[1].

Teachers and school leaders can use gratitude as an avenue to perspective taking.   We can begin by integrating appreciations in our staff meetings and PLCs to cultivate gratitude for one another as colleagues.  During the process, we begin to understand each other as human beings—with different thoughts and feelings. As gratitude increases, our relationships deepen, and collaboration and respect for one another increases.

Seeing schooling from the student’s viewpoint can provide us insights into how students are thinking and feeling. As educators, we can use students’ perspective to inform our lesson planning and instruction and create optimal learning environments where students are safe—physically, emotionally, and intellectually, engaged and motivated with culturally responsive practices, and where differences are understood, welcomed, and celebrated!

In the midst of teaching a lesson, an educator can take a moment to consider the perspectives of the students.  It might be that taking a few deep breaths to refocus and recalibrate while students are engaged in a task will provide insights that enable adaptations to the lesson that better address their emerging academic, emotional, and social needs.

Empathy, Respect, and Perspective-Taking

Many of our students come to school having experienced some type of trauma or stress. Students with four or more ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) have a greater tendency to act in ways that are disruptive to class and be struggling to regulate their emotions and behavior. Instead of asking what is wrong with a particular student, we could instead inquire about what has happened to that child.  Understanding the underlying causes of misbehavior strengthens our ability to be compassionate, and empathetic when addressing the behavior.  Gaining perspective softens us, resulting in greater generosity and respect for differences.

Developing empathy, respect and perspective-taking opens up opportunities to understand the wide range of students and their learning needs, and become more committed to doing whatever it takes to support all students in being successful academically, socially, and emotionally.

Perspective-Taking Activities

Here are some activities to increase perspective-taking for educators, mentors, and students:

·        Think about a time when you were able to clearly see another’s viewpoint, like traveling to another country. Then, consider how that changed your perspective.

·        Listen to students, colleagues, and mentors. Take time to ask probing questions about others frame of reference. What is their background? What are they passionate about?

·        After teaching a challenging lesson, let a student explain the lesson again to the class in their own words. Watch how the student’s perspective affects the manner in which they explain the lesson.

·        Sit at a student’s desk and really see from their perspective.

·        Think about something someone did for you recently. Then, look at the situation from their perspective by thinking about what the “cost” was for their action. Did they give up time or spend some money to help you? Then, reach out and thank them in person or write them a meaningful note.

·        Ask students to explore a scenario from multiple perspectives. Discuss the various perspectives, and invite students to share changes in their thoughts, feelings, and judgments about different people in the scenario at the beginning and at the end of the exercise.

·        Tell stories like “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” shared below, exploring how different perspectives add up to a better vision of a situation and more effective solutions to problems.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

One way to communicate the idea of perspective-taking to educators and students is to tell the fable of “The Blind Men and the Elephant.” In this story, six blind men surround an elephant, each feeling a different part of the animal. One man feels the side of the elephant and concludes it is a wall. Another feels a tusk and thinks it is a spear. Still, a different man feels the tail and proclaims that this is a rope.

Then, the men step back from the elephant, communicate their thoughts and listen to each other, putting together the idea that they all have one part of an elephant. The six blind men must use perspective-taking to open themselves up to this solution. Individually, they are limited in what they “see.” When collaborating with educators or working with students, we must remember that there are times when we only see one part of a situation. As this story illustrates, perspective-taking inspires collaboration, which in turn brings about a more complete picture of a situation with new solutions emerging as people explore other viewpoints.

Perspective-taking involves perception and interpretation. In the case of the blind men and the elephant, alone, they were unable to figure out the mystery, yet, together, they could see the big picture.

Likewise, for students and educators, as we cultivate our capacity for perspective-taking we open ourselves up to infinite possibilities of how we might learn from and support one another to see beyond our own narrow perspective.  For that, we can be truly grateful.

[1] Greater Good Science Center, Expanding Gratitude

Owen M. Griffith is an educator, consultant, and author, who wrote, Gratitude: A Way of Teaching. With generous funding from the Greater Good Science Center and working in collaboration with the New Teacher Center, Owen has been creating articles to help educators implement gratitude successfully in the classroom.

Wendy Baron, MA, is co-founder and Chief Officer, Social and Emotional Learning at New Teacher Center.  Wendy is a teacher, coach, author, researcher, and champion for optimal learning environments where students and educators can thrive.

Last weekend, I was on the Dr. Marquita Blades' Radio Show. It was a fun learning experience. Check it out when you get a chance at this link:

Owen's Radio Show

5 Steps to Reducing Teacher Burnout

Recently, ASCD published my blog, 5 Steps to Reducing Teacher Burnout. Here is link to the article and below is a copy of that article also.

http://inservice.ascd.org/5-steps-to-reducing-teacher-burnout/

Teaching is a challenging profession. With all the demands on a teacher’s time and energy, it is easy to lose the enthusiasm that brought us into the classroom. The situation does not seem to be getting any easier with new requirements added to our load, including standardized testing, dealing with changing curriculum, and inadequate pay.

“Why did I ever want to be a teacher?” That question can come up whether we are a first year teacher or we have been teaching twenty years. We all face burnout, sometimes on a daily basis. Most of the time, we can pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off, and go back to the drawing board to try another strategy to find success with our students.

But, an accumulation of little and big frustrations may make it more and more difficult to feel like we are willingness to try again. At times, we may ask, “Is there hope? Can we regain our enthusiasm about teaching and feel rejuvenated on a regular basis, not just after summer break?”

Yes, we can become revitalized and help others keep growing through the roller coaster ride of the school year by becoming aware of what leads to burn-out and then becoming more resilient as we add some of the following tools to our teacher’s tool-kit.

What is “Burn-Out?”

According to a top burn-out researcher, Carol Maslach, “Burn-out is more than feeling blue. It is a chronic state of being out of sync at work and can be a significant problem for educators. People feel constantly overwhelmed, stressed, and exhausted. Teachers may try to get away from it for a while, but when they come back, it is as bad as ever…Burn-out is loss of enthusiasm. The original passion to teacher has faded or gone away completely. Teaching feels like a burden and a chore. Instead of doing their best, they do the bare minimum.” Here are my 5 steps to reducing teacher burnout.

Step #1. Reach out for Help

Even though burn-out makes us feel isolated, we are not alone. Reach out to mentors, trusted colleagues, administrators, counselors, and friends to start getting help and support, and don’t be afraid to get professional help. We can help others who are experiencing the same thing and create networks of colleagues and friends. A study by Figley (2012) shows that we can heal from “compassion fatigue” before it becomes full burn-out.

Step #2. Be Grateful-Look for the Positive

Research (Emmons, Froh, Bono) shows that practicing gratitude helps restore our energy. Gratitude is much more than a pleasant emotion; it is a potent action. Start to practice gratitude: write a gratitude letter to a colleague, or make a gratitude list about things in your classroom and life. Do it on a daily basis for two weeks and watch your classroom become brighter. Here’s an article about implementing gratitude in the classroom:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/gratitude-powerful-tool-for-classroom-owen-griffith

Step #3 Develop a Growth Mindset

Research by Dr. Carol Dweck affirms that applying growth mindset activities helps teachers avoid burnout and also helps students achieve in the classroom. Dweck tells us that praising the process versus praising intelligence “may involve commending effort, strategies, focus, persistence in the face of difficulty, and willingness to take on challenges.” She gives some helpful examples in this article:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids1/

Step #4 Help Others

In the classroom and in the world, when we help others in big and small ways, we are helping ourselves stay rejuvenated all year. By partaking in altruistic actions, we open ourselves to the profound joy of giving freely as we focus on others and not on ourselves. Write or call a parent and tell them something about their student that you are proud of. Find a student that is struggling and sincerely complement them for something they are doing well. Altruistic giving has been shown to increase positive neurotransmitters in the giver, receiver, and anyone observing the act of giving. People who volunteer or care for others consistently are happier and less depressed. In her book, Raising Happiness, Dr. Christine Carter writes about the “Helper’s High” we get when we give of ourselves. http://www.christinecarter.com/book/about-the-book/

Step #5 Have Fun in the Classroom

Humor is a powerful way to stay fresh and rejuvenated throughout the long school year. Although life can be serious, we can temper that with a sense of humor about situations in the classrooms. We can learn to laugh at ourselves in stressful situations and keep some balance and positive perspective.

Sometimes when I am in survival mode, I forget that teaching can be fun. So, I start every day off with a riddle. Not only is this fun, but it helps students think outside the box. Sharing jokes, brief stories, brain teasers, etc., only takes a minute and can easily be aligned to the day’s topic. Make time to connect with students, like standing at the door at the beginning and ending of class and simply shaking their hand and telling them something you appreciate about them.

Get Through the School Year with a Smile

These suggestions may seem daunting, but we don’t have to try everything at once. Take some time to reflect this summer and make a plan to try the easiest of these tips to get unstuck and feel refreshed. Then, try something else from the list to revitalize and keep out of burn-out mode. If something doesn’t work, remember that one mistake is not a failure but a step in learning. Keep trying and reach out for help. We can do this! We can get through the year with a smile.

Owen will be on a Radio Show

I am excited about a radio show I will be on this Sunday, 12-17-17, at 5 PM. If you have chance, check it out.

Thanksgiving Gratitude Guest Blog by Dr. Stephen L. Sokolow

Gratitude is a way of thinking, feeling, acting, and being. It is a powerful force that affects us both as givers and receivers. We long remember expressions of gratitude. Imagine what it would be like to live in a world without gratitude! Imagine what relationships would be like without feelings and expressions of gratitude. Regardless of our feelings and sensitivities, we can choose to become more grateful. We can choose to express gratitude more often to more people in ways large and small, for in large measure gratitude is a matter of choice. We each decide what we are grateful for. We each decide to whom or to what we are grateful and under what circumstances we will express it.

Are we grateful to parents, children, teachers, friends, colleagues, business associates, and those who enrich our lives and light our way? Are we grateful for obstacles and adversaries? Are we grateful for challenges and opportunities? Are we grateful for second chances? Are we grateful for health, for a job, for the opportunity to earn a living, for humor and laughter, for the opportunity to help others? For air, water, sunlight, and the natural world? Are we grateful for life? And to whom or to what are we grateful?

Each of us decides where we will focus the energy of gratitude. We can focus on others, events, a higher power, or something more amorphous—Lady Luck, for example. We can do so silently in our hearts and minds, or we can express ourselves in a discernible way. I’m grateful that our country has a national holiday devoted to giving thanks. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. In our family we have a tradition of going around the table after our Thanksgiving feast and sharing what we are especially thankful for. This year I expressed gratitude for our two grandchildren, Gabrielle and Sebastien, who are a continual source of joy and delight. Next I focused on another source of family joy: our son Brian’s recent marriage to Barbara Grinspan. My devoted wife Laney and I are delighted that Barb has joined our family as a new daughter.

This brings to mind something else for which I’m especially thankful. Brian’s full name is Brian L. Sokolow. Where did the “L.” come from? I was 33 when Brian was born. Laney and I selected Lee as Brian’s middle name to honor my mentor, Professor Lee Olson. Brian is now 33 and during this past Thanksgiving Lee Olson was in hospice care. It was clear that he was in the last stage of his life and had only days or, at most, weeks to live. So around the Thanksgiving table I expressed my gratitude for the blessing that Lee Olson has been and is to me and to our entire family. Lee knew that he was dying. He asked me and my son Brian Lee to speak at the celebration of his life. When he passed on a few weeks later, it was our honor to do so. It was a time for the ultimate expression of gratitude.

Lee had been a guiding light in my life for 42 years. Over the years our relationship had evolved from the formal ones of master’s advisor, intern advisor, and doctoral advisor, to a dear friend who was like a second father to me. Lee Olson was a blessing in my life and I told him so. He was an uncommonly good and wise man. His influence on my professional, personal, and spiritual growth was profound and enduring. In many ways, by example, he taught me how to live and, ultimately, how to die. Despite his failing health and imminent death, he maintained his good sense of humor, focus on others, and gratitude toward life. In fact, before his health began to deteriorate he was planning a seminar on the power of gratitude for the members of his retirement community. Lee Olson had an Attitude of Gratitude.

Some people have the vision and ability to light the way for others. What made Lee Olson so special is that he could do it for so many people in countless ways. I once told him that I was deeply indebted to him for all the things he did to enhance my life but that I felt frustrated because I couldn’t think of a way to adequately repay him. To which he responded, “Repay me by passing it along to as many people in as many ways as you can.” In the spirit of all great teachers, he challenged me to follow his example and share the principles he lived and taught.

Forty-two years ago this remarkable man entered my life. Call it good fortune, karma, synchronicity, grace, or a blessing. The entire trajectory of my life was positively affected by this extraordinary man.

Dr. Stephen L. Sokolow, a former superintendent of schools, is currently co-authoring a series of books on the spiritual principles of leadership. He is also a founding partner and executive director of the Center for Empowered Leadership.

Oprah and Brother David Steindl-Rast on GRATITUDE

Oprah recently posted a powerful video about Gratitude where she is talking to author David Steindl-Rast. Check here to view it: video.

Gratitude – A Double Gift

Debbie Silver, Ed.D.

          Recently a superintendent confided in me that as a principal he inherited a school with a negative school culture. Desperate to shift the climate, he purchased wrist counters for every adult on campus. He instructed them to click their counters each time they made a positive comment to a student.  At the end of each week teachers and staff met together to share results. Within a few months, the number of positive affirmations were noticeably increased, and the attitudes of both teachers and faculty remarkably improved.  

          I shared with him that every year I taught, I wrote at least one letter to each of my students describing my favorite things about them and listing the qualities I would most likely remember about them. Writing those letters proved to be a gift not only for their recipients but for me as well.  

          Many students later told me the letter they got was the first time an adult had taken the time to write positive things about them. I had phone calls from parents telling me they framed their child’s letter. (One dad even tried to use his son’s letter in a custody hearing as evidence that he was a good parent).

          Though I taught as many as 200 students in a year, I made the time to continue my practice. For me writing was a natural way to express my appreciation for the time we spent together. Three decades later I still occasionally hear from former students who tell me they still have their letters and how much it meant to them then and now.  

          When I began writing letters I did it as a means for me to convey the gratitude I felt for the people who were such a big part of my life. I knew they enjoyed reading them, and I was glad to commit the time and effort to give them that small gift.

          Often, I noticed improved behavior from kids shortly after they read their letters. I considered that bonus serendipitous, but I came to understand the letter writing enterprise was not only impacting students in positive ways, it was having an advantageous effect on me.

         

          Composing a thank-you note to a student often compelled me to shift my focus from being piqued at their current misbehavior to considering the unique qualities of that child. Reflecting on the kid’s positive attributes never failed to lift my spirits and help me “reframe” my appreciation for them. My gift to them turned out to be an even greater gift to me.

          I’ve always enjoyed writing, so this activity had great appeal for me.  It’s certainly not the only way to express their gratitude to students.  Each teacher must figure out their preferred way to connect with their charges. There are many ways to do it, and my style is just one of many.  However, I am frequently asked for an example of what one of my letters might say, so here is one:

SAMPLE STUDENT LETTER

May 20, 1991

Dear Yolanda,

    It has been a delight to have you in my class this year.  You literally brighten the room when you walk in with your twinkling eyes and your infectious smile. I admire how you use your sense of humor and your excellent observational skills to help keep things calm for all those around you. You have developed the ability to sense what needs to be said and when to say it.  Because of your skills, I have a feeling you are going to end up in a profession that deals with helping people (teaching, maybe?).

    When I look back on this year I will remember you standing up for Kathy when no one else would.  I will think about how courageous you were when you came to me and confessed about the “you-know-what.”   I’ll smile every time I recall you bounding excitedly in the door calling, “I’m here, did I miss anything?” And I will never forget your many acts of kindness to me and to those around you.

Thanks for being such a shining star!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Silver

          I often wonder how much we could improve school cultures by engaging the adults in the act of communicating our gratitude to each other as well as to our students.  I realize that not everyone feels comfortable writing to each other, but a simple grateful statement expressed on a regular basis can uplift both the giver and the recipient.  Even an unsigned note in a teacher’s box can uplift their spirits for an entire day. Perhaps it’s time to shift our attention from all that is wrong with our schools and start giving thanks for what’s right. Expressing gratitude has rewards for both the giver and the receiver.

Dr. Debbie Silver is a humorist and learning consultant with over 30 years experience as a teacher, staff development facilitator, and university professor. As a classroom teacher, Debbie won numerous awards, including the 1990 Louisiana Teacher of the Year award. She speaks worldwide on issues involving education and is a passionate advocate for students and teachers.  She is the author of four bestselling books including, DeliberateOptimism: Reclaiming the Joy in Teaching and Teaching Kids to Thrive: Essential Skills for Success.