Happy Grades will show what happens when students stop chasing good grades and all the procrastination, boredom, and burnout in the process, and start a different approach to success in school. Parents and educators are on to the fact that old lessons on time management, study skills, and organization just aren’t cutting it anymore. Happy Grades is a new approach to showing students how to succeed without trading in on their happiness, interests, or peace of mind.
With writing prompts in each section, you’ll learn how students:
- Create meaningful habits
- Use curiosity to stay engaged and tackle big tasks
- Improve motivation, focus, and memory
- Increase happiness and resilience
- Connect with peers, improve relationships, and be accountable
- Challenge the myths about success to cultivate personal values
Innehållsförteckning
Contents
List of Figures or Tables…v
Preface…vii
Introduction…1
The Secret…3
Fill Your Own Cup…5
Ways to Use the Four Pillars for Yourself…7
Fill Your Own Cup Worksheet…9
Understanding the Teenage Brain…12
Executive Functions…13
Brain Dumps and Working Memory…13
The Key Differences in the Teenage Brain and Executive Functions…15
How to Work with These Differences…18
Release Expectations…22
Section 1: Get Peaceful…25
Get Peaceful Pep Talk…27
The Problem with Delaying Joy…27
How I Learned to Cultivate Joy…29
Focus on Your Own Happiness First: the Get Peaceful Audit…31
Building and Sticking with Meaningful Habits…33
Declutter Your Stuff and Your Mind…37
Section 2: Get Playful…43
Get Playful Pep Talk…45
Exchange Worry for Curiosity…46
Ask Questions…47
Take Microsteps…49
Focus on Your Own Happiness First: the Get Playful Audit…51
Avoid Problem Pressing…52
Be Unavailable for Boredom…58
Section 3: Get Sense-itive…63
Get Sense-itive Pep Talk…65
Tap into Your Emotions…66
The RAIN and HEAL Processes…66
Tap into the Power of Physical Senses…69
Focus on Your Own Happiness First: the
Get Sense-itive Audit…72
Tap into Your Emotions…73
Tap into the Power of Your Physical Senses…78
Section 4: Get Social…85
Get Social Pep Talk…87
It’s All about Regulation…88
Co-regulating with Other Parents and Educators…90
Focus on Your Own Happiness First: the Get Social Audit…92
Getting Social for Introverts: Connection at Home…93
Getting Social for Extroverts – Connection outside of the Home…96
Section 5: Get Countercultural…103
Get Countercultural Pep Talk…105
Messages about Success…106
Focus on Your Own Happiness First: the Get Countercultural Audit…109
The Myth of Dream It, Do It…110
The Myth of Happiness Is a Byproduct of Success…115
Wrap Up & Resources…123
Conclusion…125
Look for Hope…126
We Weren’t Designed to Do This Alone…127
Downloads…128
Section Resources for a Deeper Dive and Support….129
Section 1: Get Peaceful…129
Section 2: Get Playful…131
Section 3: Get Sense-itive…133
Section 4: Get Social…135
Section 5: Get Countercultural…136
Bibliography…138
Glossary…143
Acknowledgements…146
About the Author…148
Om författaren
Tricia Underwood, M.A.T., is a joy-centered executive functioning specialist, entrepreneur, in the most creative sense of the word, and writer. She has been an inclusion teacher and professional development facilitator in public, private, and charter schools for 20 years. Tricia now brings her unique teaching/coaching blend to students, parents, and educators outside of those traditional classroom walls. She loves to learn, read, and write about the art and science of the pursuit of joy. Her interest lies in how to use that to help students become mindfully productive in reaching meaningful goals for themselves. When she’s not helping clients and brainstorming her next book projects, she has as much fun as she can manage with friends and family in Atlanta, reading all the fiction and personal development books, and taking her clumsy dog on walks. You can find out more at triciaunderwood.com.