TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 11 & 12
1.

With two friends brainstorm to come with eight things which can be positive and
eight things which can be stressful and challenging about being in the senior
years of school. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

3.

With a friend, from the List of Emotions

B from the Professional Practice
Support Resources section of the
website what are five emotions you
think you will experience and what
stronger emotions each of them could
intensify to should they not be managed
properly. Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

7.

4.

Describe what skills and

strengths you would gain
from the positive things you
brainstormed and what
competencies you would
need to build to overcome the
stressful and challenging things.
Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

6.

For each of the five most

important Character
Strengths you chose to be
successful, describe three
positive emotions you would
show for each of them. Which
Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

8.

People with fixed mindsets tend to set performance goals; they

believe their potential can be measured. People with growth
mindsets tend to set learning goals; they believe through
sustained effort they can achieve mastery. Set three learning goals
for this term in the Personal Learning Goals section. Complete a
Goal Action Plan for each of them. Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

2.

For each of your

brainstormed list use the
Positives, Negatives, Effects,
Decision Thinking Tool to
describe the intensity of your
emotions and the mixed
emotions you could feel and
whether the consequences
would be short or long term.
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

5.

With a friend discuss

what you think are the five
most important Character
Strengths you need to be
successful in your senior
years of schooling to
enjoy the journey and your
reasons for choosing them.
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

With a friend use the Learning Jigsaw

Thinking Tool from the website to
describe five behaviours and the body
language you would show for each of the
five Character Strengths to be successful
as a senior. Summarise you thoughts in
the Class section. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

11.

9.

From the Positive Descriptors List in the

Professional Practice Support Resources
section of the website, with a friend,
choose the ten most important ones you
think are essential to being a successful
senior student and why. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

10.

To learn about ISMART targets

read page 10 from your planner/
wellbeing journal and from the
Professional Practice Support
Resources section of the
website use Goals, Targets and
Strategies Plan to analyse and
break up three of your goals for
this year. Look at pages 20-21
for ideas. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

13.

With a friend share a strategy you have used to overcome something that you usually
procrastinate on and how it made you feel. Together come up with ten things you
regularly put off doing and what you can do to overcome procrastination for each of
them. Read page 90. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

Achieving your goals requires you using

positive self-talk to maintain your focus
to keep lifting your efforts to overcome
challenges. Positive self-talk is continually
encouraging yourself to push on to learn
what you need to learn. Read page 36
in your planner/wellbeing journal and
describe five memory coding techniques
you will use to embed learning in your
memory. Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

12.

From the website

use the Time
Understandings
Thinking Tool
for three days to
investigate where
you use your time for
the areas described
in the tool. Any
things surprise you
as time wasters?
And if so, what could
you do to reduce
them? Read page
28. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use
to do this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 11 & 12
14.

With a friend discuss and describe five examples

assertive and positive self-talk you can use to
overcome procrastination. How would growth
mindsets assist you to beat procrastination?
Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

16.

From the website (Thinking

Tools) or in your planners/
wellbeing journal use Musts
and Options to prioritise
what are Must dos in your
life and what you like to do,
Options, and when they
occur. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

19.

Compile a Things to do list

containing Must dos and
Should dos every night
for five school days in a
row. Use your super powers
to make it work. Was it an
effective strategy and why?
Describe how you can build
this strategy as a growth
mindset habit. Which Habits
of Mind are best to use to
do this?

15.

Describe five things you can do to follow through on your

prioritising using your super powers. Describe which
Character Strengths would be most helpful to tap into to
help you to achieve this. Read page 26. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

17.

Look at the Sample Study Timetable

for ideas. From what you learnt from
Time Understandings and Musts
and Options, either in your planners/
wellbeing journal or from Professional
Practice Support Resources
section of the website, complete a
Personal Timetable with the number of
suggested study sessions. Read page
30. Which Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

18.

With two friends,

brainstorm ten things you
should do during your
holiday breaks. You can
use the CAP: Consider
All Possibilities Thinking
Tool to assist you. Read
Holidays on page 116 for
ideas. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to
do this?

20.

Optimistic thinkers look for what is

right in what they are doing to inspire
themselves to generate and seek new
strategies to try and persist with to
overcome challenges. They use positive
self-talk. Describe three times you have
changed your thinking and approaches
to overcome a challenge or setback;
how did you feel? Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

21.

Negative thinkers look

for what is wrong in what
they are doing and with a
fixed mindset keep doing
the same things and
eventually give up. They
use negative self-talk.
Describe a time you have
been in this position and
how did it feel? What are
two things you could have
done to turn the situation
around? Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to
do this?

22.

Logical self-talk is when you talk yourself through each of the steps you need
to take to accomplish what you set out to do. With a friend describe three
situations where logical self-talk would really benefit your progress. For one of
them define each of the steps. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

23.

Read the focuses

from pages 96-106
to gain an idea of
positive and logical
self-talk you can
use to be your
best in exams/
assessment.
Describe five things
you will start doing.
Which Habits of
Mind are best to
use to do this?

24.

You are learning to

drive about now.
Describe both the
positive and logical
self-talk you would
use when you are
about to practise
driving the car with
an adult with you for
support and legal
reasons. Which
Habits of Mind are
best to use to do
this?

25.

You are going on

your first date with
a special friend.
Describe the positive
self-talk would you
use the day before
the date and then
minutes before you
meet for the date.
Does positive self-talk
change over time?
How? Which Habits
of Mind are best to
use to do this?

26.

With two friends

discuss and describe
what you would say
to encourage and
support your friends
to use positive selftalk and their super
powers to overcome
times they are really
under pressure and
feeling stressed.
Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do
this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 11 & 12
27.

31.

To support friends you need to be

an active receiver, not a transmitter;
focus on their words and body
language, not your thoughts.
Listening to others concerns with
your eyes, your ears and your heart
takes practice. With two friends
practise your active listening by each
of you sharing concerns and worries
you have. Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?
Describe your five best coping
strategies you use to assist yourself
and your friends to reduce the
effects of stressful situations.
How do you or could you use
your signature strengths to your
advantage to cope with challenges
and setbacks. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

28.

At home ask your family to share what they do when things dont go
the way they want them to do and strategies they use when listening
to others worries. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

29.

With a friend revisit your

brainstorming list of stressful
things that you thought could
happen as a senior this year.
Rank them in order of intensity
and add any others that you
have thought of since you made
up your list. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

32.

With a friend discuss and describe five

different ways youve observed friends,
family and other people cope with stress.
Do the strategies vary from person to
person? Do they look at the situation
through their super powers? Which
Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

30.

With a friend discuss and

describe five stressors,
why they stress you and
the actions and coping
strategies you have used
or could use to reduce
their effect on you. Which
Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

33.

Describe a time
when you have
observed a
friend not cope
with stress and
consequently
gave up on
striving to
achieve his/
her goals. What
are three things
you did or could
do to provide
proactive
support for this
person? Which
Habits of Mind
are best to use
to do this?

34.

A positive strategy that works is when you cant be with a friend who is not coping with
stress and you want to boost their wellbeing bank, is to send them supporting texts. Be
careful to ensure they are positive in nature so victim mentalities arent created in your
friend. Describe five positive texts you could send. Which Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

35.

Some coping strategies focus on doing positive things to overcome the issue, such as
setting short term goals to achieve or trying new strategies to solve the problem; this is
having growth mindsets. Describe a time you have you done this well. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

36.

Some coping strategies

that dont work focus on
either using the same
strategies over and
over again or distracting
yourself from the issue
by doing entertaining
things. Describe a time
you have fallen into this
trap. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to
do this?

39.

Relaxation Techniques and Square Breathing are meditation methods to calm your inner self. After doing them
describe your emotions, their intensity and how calm you felt. Be proactive and investigate three other forms of
meditation such as yoga. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

37.

Your friend has important final

exams coming up but his parttime job is taking up too much
of his time for him to study
effectively for them. He feels
very stressed and doesnt
know what to do. With a friend
describe a step by step coping
strategy for your friend could
use to overcome his problem.
Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

38.

When you feel under pressure it

benefits your wellbeing to use selfcalming techniques to relax yourself. At
home read the Relaxation Techniques
on page 169 and try each of them for
twenty minutes. Square Breathing on
page 78 is a very effective self-calming
activity that you can do anywhere and
at anytime and no one knows you are
using it; practise it for ten minutes now.
Which Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 11 & 12
40.

Having empathy for the

needs and feelings of others
and communicating that
you understand and accept
these things, builds both
your and others wellbeing.
Describe three times you
have done this well and
three times someone has
done this effectively for you.
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

43.

When you are out socialising

and alcohol/drugs are involved,
there may well be occasions
when you need to be assertive
in your words and know how
to seek help. With two friends
describe three times you have
found yourself in these situations
and assertive language you did
or could have used to express
yourself clearly. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

41.

When you find yourself in situations

where you have to stand up for what
you believe is fair, there are three
types of language you can use. 1.
Aggressive - punishing, threatening
and hostile. 2. Assertive - firm, clear
and non-threatening. 3. Submissive
disinterested, giving up and
indirect. Describe a time when you
have used or heard each of these
types of language. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

44.

At a party your friends are

putting pressure on you to drink
more and more, but you have
an early start next morning with
your driving instructor and need
to be.00. With a friend describe
three assertive statements you
can make to clearly, respectfully
and firmly get your message
across to your friends. Which
Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

46.

With two friends investigate each of the websites below to

identify what areas you can seek help from them should you
need it. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?
headspace: www.headspace.org.au
eheadspace: www.eheadspace.org.au
ReachOut: au.reachout.com
Youth beyondblue: www.youthbeyondblue.com
Kids Helpline: www.kidshelpline.com.au

48.

The Positives, Negatives, Effects,

Decisions is an effective problem
solving strategy. With two friends
use it to brainstorm options for the
following scenario. Your parents
have been picked up and wont
be home till late. Your mates come
around and put pressure on you to
take your parents car for a drive;
what do you say and do? Which
Habits of Mind are best to use to
do this?

49.

47.

42.

Assertive language is the

most respectful and effective
way to say what you need to
say. There are three parts to
using it. 1. When ... Say your
concern 2. I feel ... Say your
emotion 3. So ... Say what
you would like to happen.
With a friend describe
three examples of assertive
language you can use. Which
Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

45.

When things are not going

well in life, a sign of strength
is to use your super powers
to seek help. With a friend
describe three things your
friends can help you with,
three your family can and
three your teachers can.
Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

The Problem, Issue, Options, Effects, Solution

Thinking Tool is an effective problem solving
strategy. With two friend use it to analyse
the following problem. Billy is turning 18 and
his mates want to take him out drinking. He
doesnt want to get drunk and have to look
after his drunk mates; what does he say and
do? Which Habits of Mind are best to use to
do this?

There may well will be times

when you are out and medical
help is needed for friends who
have hurt themselves or are
ill through excessive drinking.
With two friends discuss and
describe five things you would
do for such a situation. Ask
your teacher for all threes to
share their thoughts. Which
Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

50.

Drinking and driving is a sure

way to seriously hurt or kill
yourself or someone else;
dont even consider it. With a
friend discuss and describe
five Character Strengths you
would need to tap into and
assertive language you would
use if you are pressured to
get into a car with a drinking
driver. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 11 & 12
EXTENSION RESILIENCE BUILDERS
The following Resilience Builders are designed to help you use all of the things you have learnt to overcome ten different
situations and events.
For each resilience builder describe:

The five most suitable Character Strengths you could use to help you to overcome challenges.

Two things you could do to show empathy for the needs and feelings of others involved.

Two examples of positive self-talk you could use and describe a strategy to solve the problem.

Two examples of assertive language you could use and two strategies you could use to calm yourself down.

Two people you could ask for help and what you would say.

Two Habits of Mind which are best to use to do this.

1.

The most pressing concerns for young people in your age group are school and study, including prioritising, time
management, learning effectively, completing learning tasks and coping with and overcoming stressful challenges. You
are really struggling coming to grips with whats required of you, what can you do?

2.

Goals and Targets provide you with the emotional energy to push on and build growth mindsets. Read page 10 in your
planner/Wellbeing journal and with a friend brainstorm five learning goals; for example, I will summarise my daily Cornel
notes using a Thinking Tool. Then for one of them use Goals, Targets and Strategies Plan from the Professional Practice
Support Resources section of the website to break it up into achievable steps.

3.

Maggie is working long hours in her part-time job, training for and playing two sports and finding time to study difficult.
She is not sleeping well, not eating healthy and never seems to have time for herself. What can she do? (Hint read
pages 165 to 167)

4.

Too often young people your age are asked, what do you want to become when you leave school? A far better
question to be asked is, how do you want to live when you leave school? Answering this question prompts you to look
at your needs, wants and lifestyle choices. Write a fifty word answer for yourself.

5.

You are finding difficulty in understanding the concepts in three of your classes and you are struggling to see any
positives in what you are doing. Read page 50. Collect all of your teachers timetables and put their free periods on your
own Personal Timetable. What should you do next?

6.

Growth mindsets enable you to try new strategies when your usual ones dont work in solving a problem and keep on
doing this till one works. Growth mindsets also underpin personal strengths such as determination and persistence.
With two friends go through the Thinking Tools on the website and select five new strategies which you will start using.

7.

Archie has his exams coming up and is focusing very hard on using positive self-talk and Character Strengths to maintain
his emotional energy. Describe three examples of positive self-talk he can use a week before his exams, a day before
and an hour before. Which five Character Strengths do you think will benefit his efforts most?

8.

Joel confided in you that he is not coping with the rigours of senior school, that he has broken up with his girlfriend of a
year and as a coping strategy is drinking heavily every night in an effort to reduce his depressive feelings. With a friend
describe what you could do to show empathy to Joel and suggest other coping strategies he could try.

9.

You go to a party with a group of your friends and told your parents you would not drink and be home by midnight. At
11.30pm your friends decide go to another party and give you a hard time when you say you dont want to go. What
could you say and do?

10. At lunchtime you and your friends go to one of the groups homes and her parents arent home. AA few of the girls start
drinking and putting pressure on the rest of the group to join in and skip school for the afternoon. Other students turn up
after being texted with more alcohol. What do you do?
Acknowledgement and thanks to Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne: Building Resilience: Social &
Emotional Learning Materials