Step Into My Sessions: Pairing Important Feelings

Feeling happy & determined cross country skiing with my fam last week!

Last week, I was blessed to get some time with family at a friend’s cabin in Soda Springs, and was doubly blessed by having several days of beautiful “bluebird” weather to continue my efforts at cross country skiing.

We’ve been talking here lately about building resilience. Well, sports offer us MANY opportunities to build our resilience! While in the above pic I look pretty happy, no one took a photo of my fall, where I didn’t look quite so positive. Okay, it was actually 2 falls, since I fell/slid downhill more, as I was getting up. Fortunately, determination took over, and I strode on, not to fall again. Well, at least on this trip.

Many emotions seem to naturally pair well together, and one of my favorite combinations is “discouraged” and “determined.” Our students can learn so much from exploring these two feelings, that often occur closely together.

My tip this week involves animations that really portray these feelings. Watch them, decide which students you work with would like them, and, go for it! Freeze frame the animations, and encourage students to identify thoughts or feelings, like I did with Soar, by Alyce Tzue:

Another favorite animation that I’ve recommended before that’s great for this activity is Scrambled, by Polder Animation. But I want to make sure you are aware of a recent find – One Small Step, by TAIKO Studios.​

​What great illustrations contrasting the depth of discouragement and the strength of determination!

Remember, once we have shown our students great examples of characters struggling and overcoming obstacles, they are often more willing to reflect on their own, similar experiences. Like these students:

When our students recognize feelings like determined and discouraged and share/discuss these situations, they learn more about these critical aspects of our shared, human experience. And that’s so important for them today, and always!

Experiment with these videos, and let me know how it goes…

Happy resilience building through great animations!