ISHCMC Food for Thought

Dear all,

Hope you all had a wonderful vacation and are re-energized and ready for Semester 2. 

As promised, there were no food for thoughts during the vacation although there were moments when I had to restrain myself.

Thought that I might share a three part food for thought today to get you inspired for your return to school. Each part will take you between 3 and 10 minutes to read or view.

During the vacation I was re- reading Martin Seligman's book, Flourish, which has a great chapter about positive education. His work and the foundation of our mission regardiing our achievement culture and the use of choice words links very well with this article from Mindshift, What Believing in the Possibilities Can Do For Learning and Teaching (approximately a 10 minute read)

Extract:
"This “open” placebo research is the realm of positive psychology, mindfulness, studies on kindness and so forth. That is, powerful, positive beliefs openly transmitted to others result in positive thinking, brighter attitudes, a greater sense of well-being and other indicators of a more alert, resilient, and balanced individual. While it’s difficult to track the corresponding brain changes, we can be sure that a student exhibiting these qualities is NOT in a flight or fight, stressful mode. Rather, the brain is freed to invent, solve and investigate."

This short video illustrates how empowered students can express themselves in very powerful ways. ( 4 minutes)

And last but not least. You might be wondering why during the vacation when you have more time to sleep that you feel more alert and energized to do more things. Here is a great TED ED video, The Benefits of a Good Nights Sleep, ( 6 minutes)  that I will share with parents and that you could share with students who stay up too late working or playing games.

All my best wishes to you all for a Happy and Healthy 2015,

Yours as always,
Adrian