STEM Blog
This blog is set up to give STEM Academy families tools to think about learning in positive ways both in and OUT of the classroom.

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December is a great month to talk with your family about self-control.
Self-control
​I’m not just referring to resisting the urge to keep eating holiday sweets, or the desire of little kids to create long lists for of wants, but also to reflect on how to develop self-control. This character trait is both strength of heart, and strength of mind. Character lab defines self-control as controlling one's own responses so they align with short- and long-term goals. Self-control predicts academic, personal, health, and economic outcomes. The famous “marshmallow experiment” showed that preschool students who demonstrated more self-control had better academic and social outcomes decades later—including less drug use and higher SAT scores—than did those who demonstrated less self-control as young children. Check out the link
to see some examples of observing self-control, an evidenced based tool for developing self-control called WOOP, which stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan. Also there are two short videos about what the research says about self-control.


Dr. Walter Mischel talks about Self-Control from Character Lab on Vimeo.


Dr. Ethan Kross, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, talks about Self-Control from Character Lab on Vimeo.

On a personal note I am working on exercising self-control as I train for the steelhead ½ ironman in Benton Harbor, Michigan on August 13th. I’ve never done this distance of triathlon (70.3 miles) I will be working on exercising self-control as I resist the snooze button, and stick to my training plan the next 9 months.
- Mr. Chopp

Posted by Chris Chopp  On Nov 30, 2016 at 1:15 PM 65 Comments
  

“The Science of Character” The Science of Character (8 mins) explores the neuroscience and social science that proves that we can shape who we are, and who we want to be in the world.

"The Science of Character" - new 8 min film from The Moxie Institute on Vimeo.


Here is a taste from the discussion guide for (ages 10-14) For complete discussion guide, go here: SOCDiscussionGuideAges10-14.pdf

  1. Take a look at the periodic table of character strengths. What are your four strongest character strengths? (LINK: PeriodicTableCharacterStrengths.pdf)

  2. How can you use them to improve your life? How can you use them to improve your community?

  3. Now look back at the table of character strengths. What are three character strengths you'd like to develop?

  4. Pick one of the strengths you want to develop. What’s something you could do right now to bring more of that strength into your life?


Posted by Chris Chopp  On Nov 30, 2016 at 1:15 PM 22 Comments
  
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