January’s wellness theme is goal setting and building healthy habits. In the Den last week, students learned how to create SMART goals also known as goals that are: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. This week in the Den we will be continuing to study goal setting and how we build healthy habits successfully. Students will also learn about time management strategies to help them stay on target with goals and habits and increase their awareness of what is important to them and why, so that the motivation for their goals stay strong. Counselors and teachers encourage students to be goal setters and goal achievers as well as to build healthy habits, both in school and in life. Below are resources related to goal setting and healthy habit building.
This resource, Developing Good Habits: The Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting provides a thorough overview of smart goals and also has a section in the website on healthy habit building, creating a morning routine, specific examples of smart goals are shared, as well as several video clips highlighting goal setting strategies.
This webpage written by Courtney E. Ackerman from Positive psychology, provides goal setting information for students at each school level: elementary, middle, and high school and provides age appropriate activities associated with goal setting. Clever animated video clips provide short educational lessons. The author also recommends several books that are helpful for gaining a goal-oriented mindset at different levels of development.
For Parents:
This is a link to a great article from Parents Magazine about teaching goal setting to your children, with a focus on perseverance. The approach is a healthy one and provides tips to help parents build a goal setting, can-do- mindset in their children.
This week in the Den:
January 24, Monday before school: Please join us for a morning motivational series on developing Healthy Habits: This morning’s discussion is entitled: What is your motivation? We will look at getting to know the part of yourself who really wants to be healthy and develop good habits.
January 27th Thursday Before school 8:10 AM: Please join us for a morning motivational series on developing Healthy Habits. Today’s talk focuses on Waking up from auto pilot and becoming more intentional with our habits and goals.
Thursday during Lunch: We will explore our motivation and values for creating goals and work to build awareness and clarity about what is important to us or what is the, “Why?” behind our goals. Students will also develop one goal related to their “Why?” during this activity.
Also come by the tables outside the Den at Lunch time to link up to the online Lesson on the Smart Goal Setting Method, and have a chance to be entered into a drawing for a front of the line lunch pass. You can also discuss your smart goals with the Den staff and take away helpful tools for reaching your goals.
January 28th Friday Before school 8:10 AM: Morning motivational series on developing Healthy Habits: Our topic is about avoiding the ‘monkey mind’ or impulsiveness to do something unhelpful (like overeating) and learning instead to surf the urge, and stay on a healthy path. Please come join us!
Friday during Lunch: Please join us for a lesson on Time Management. In this lunchtime workshop learn several strategies to help you master increased control over your time so that you will have more opportunities to accomplish the things that are most important to you.
With warm regards,
The Den Counselors:
Kirsten Jensen Psy.D., Adrienne Reynolds, M.A., Counseling Interns: Bailey Adling, Madison Arne, Shayla Jordan, Jaime Pandzic,
