THRIVE Newsletter

Happy October! The Office of Professional Growth and Innovation (PGI) is excited to announce the inaugural issue of “Thrive.” With the opening of the 2023-2024 school year comes a new iteration of what was formerly known as the Joy Newsletter. We will use this space to deepen our collective understanding of how the science of hope may be leveraged to create conditions for students and staff to thrive.

Each edition will share insights from the field, highlight stories that showcase the science of hope across our VBCPS community, and share practical strategies we can use now to fuel our professional and personal growth.

In this Edition

• The Science of Hope

• Hope in Action: Trantwood Elementary

• A Personal Hope Practice- Creating a Hope Map

• Optimistic October from Action for Happiness
  
  

If someone shared this newsletter with you, please consider subscribing so that you will never miss an edition! Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on the Subscribe to Thrive button. Please consider sharing your hope stories and strategies with us directly or on social media by using #VBThrive.

For more information, contact the Office of Professional Growth and Innovation of Virginia Beach City Public Schools at pgi@vbschools.com or 757.263.6972.

Hope is the belief that the future can and will be better. As Chan Hellman, a leading hope scientist shared, “Hope is not a wish. Hope is about taking action to achieve goals. A wish is having a goal that we desire, but we don’t have any control or strategies to achieve it.”

Hope is a cognitive practice; it involves the intentional act of setting goals and working toward them with purpose. This framing of hope requires many of us to expand our understanding of the word. It turns out that when we combine some key ingredients, we can actually foster hope in our lives and in our community.

The three main ingredients of hope are:

• GOALS: Personal, viable goals that motivate you to take action. Our goals connect us to our beliefs about ourselves and about others.

• PATHWAYS: Roadmaps in your mind to your goal. Thinking about multiple pathways to a goal is a core skill, and it can be taught.

• AGENCY: The motivational aspect of hope. Ability to dedicate mental energy to begin and sustain the journey toward your goals.

Leadership questions to consider:

In what ways are you providing staff and/or students opportunities to set personally meaningful goals this month?

How will staff and/or students share their progress or the hurdles they are facing as they work toward their goals?

Which of the “hope ingredients” are you prioritizing right now?

Source and For Additional Reading: The Science of Hope: An OU psychologist finds that hope is more than an elusive longing for something good to happen. It can be the catalyst for positive action.

Learn more about the science of hope by viewing a recording of Building Hope for the Future with Jamie Meade, our 2022 Speaker Series presenter. Use the keyword hope to search the catalog in Frontline to register today.

Trantwood Elementary has made a year-long commitment to surfacing and celebrating the strengths of each individual in their school community. As Sean Holleran, principal, shared, “Our school community understands the value of each person and the role they play in making Trantwood Elementary School a wonderful place to learn and work. This year our staff and students are sharing their personal strengths throughout the school year to help each member of our school community know their strength makes our school stronger because they are a part of our Trantwood Elementary School Family.”

Joyann Drumm, 3rd grade teacher, is integrating hope with strengths. “My class is demonstrating how our unique strengths give us hope and build a classroom of hope.” Joyann learned about a powerful hope truth—when our reserves run low, we can literally borrow hope from those around us.

Edutopia reminds us, “First, we have to recognize that we’ll get more out of our students if they feel safe, supported, and known well in our classrooms. The time spent building community will come back to us exponentially in fewer behavior issues and better student engagement.” As students become more aware of who is in the room and recognize their classrooms as a supportive community, educators create the conditions for students to communicate openly and cooperate effectively, creating a better overall environment for each student to leverage their strengths and work towards their goals.

If you’d like to learn more about bringing the science of hope to your school, classroom, office, we invite to join the upcoming #VBThrive Book Club.

Our first book study this year is The School of Hope. The asynchronous book club delves into the psychology of hope and how it can be nurtured in schools, providing inspiration and guidance for anyone seeking to instill optimism about the future. Everyone involved in shaping the lives of students will benefit from the knowledge shared in this timely resource. Use the keyword hope to search the catalog in Frontline to register today. This book is available to all VBCPS staff in the Virtual Reference Library (internal link).

It is impossible to foresee every twist and turn of the coming school year, but that doesn’t mean we must wander aimlessly. Setting a fixed focal point, or end goal, can serve as our North Star, pointing the way and keeping us moving in the right direction. When we take time to set a goal that truly matters to us, we activate our own agency.

We invite you to schedule time and engage with goal setting. Here are steps to get started.

• Dream/Decide: What do you want to accomplish? Who do you want to become? Think about what could be and what should be.
• Define: Articulate the vision and set a goal that will help you move toward your future vision. Get intentional about the smaller decisions you will make over the course of the next few months. When we break our goals down into incremental steps, we can find small wins along the way. As you begin to define your goal, consider how will you know you are making progress.

One way to find clarity and strengthen the individual practice of goal setting is by creating a hope map. Dr. Shane Lopez, psychologist and hope researcher, created this tool as a way to incorporate the components of hope in the goal-setting process.

The steps to create your hope map are simple. All you need to get started is a piece of paper.

1. First fold your paper into thirds.
2. Start on the right side of your paper. Write your goal there. That is your destination.
3. On the far left side of your paper, write the pathways you will need to take to reach your goal. Try to identify at least 3 pathways.
4. In the middle, consider the obstacles that might get in your way, and write at least one for each pathway. We are more likely to succeed if we plan for possible obstacles.
5. Finally, around the edges of your map, record ideas to keep you motivated. Here are some questions to consider as you think about this step. Who are your supporters and encouragers? How will you measure the progress you are making? How will you celebrate along the way? What will you enjoy about the process? What strengths do you have that will help you?
   
6. Post your hope map as a reminder of not only your goal but your plan to reach it, address obstacles, and stay motivated.

To read more about how the science of hope and the hope map tool, please visit Michelle McQuaid's article, Don't Make a Wish- Try Hope Instead.

Daylight hours may start to feel shorter in October, but the Optimistic October Calendar suggests an action a day to help you find joy and thrive by focusing on the “bright side”.