We have been looking at further ways to go deeper with character strengths. One of the ways is for students to recognise when they might over or under use a strength and to know some strategies for returning to the optimal use of the strength.

Students were able to develop a clear picture of what the strength looks like in detail by first exploring what a strength might look like, sound like or feel like when it is being used to the optimum.

A discussion was led around  the “darker sides” of the strength whereby the annoying, or frustrating traits were shared. For example, someone shared overusing the strength of humour is annoying as students may not know when to stop and is becoming disruptive, or underusing the strength of gratitude may mean someone else feels undervalued.

Students then created their own continuum and develop a cartoon-like character and descriptions of all three parts of the strength. There was a lot of energy in the room as they shared their ideas.

Later they reflected in two ways. The first was how they could now chat to a friend who may be underusing or overusing a strength that may be causing some tension, in a non-offensive way. The second was to develop some strategies for getting back to the optimal use of the strength such as self-talk and actions.

Although this was done in Y6 it is completely transferable to any age. You can use this slidedeck for ideas on how to explore something similar in your own classrooms.

Ryan Niemiec’s new book and podcast also has some great examples of this too.