I need to plan on taking the VIA. This would be good info.
I had never heard of the VIA Institute before and plan to explore that more to potentially use it with my students in future activities. I know how important know your stengths and weaknesses can be in all areas of life.
Comment on john busi's post: I agree John, pushing through to solve a challenge can empower others to do the same. To be followed up with encouragement and revisit the learner on their accomplishment status.
I always try to leverage a strength to solve a problem, afterward I always try to keep the motivation up in people to continue but therein lines the problem. This aspect of teh course was interesting as it had you break down the core values and let you see where you fit in.
Knowing your personality strengths can lead to appreciating yourself and working on goals for the future.
I plan on using the exercise at the beginning of an assignment asking students to close their eyes and focus on their breathing/strengths.
I will be following this particular activity daily:
Challenge myself to practice the strength every day for one week. Also selecting a role model that posses a strength that I wish to develop.
I plan on putting VIA to use with my upcoming classes as well as introducing and sharing the Mindful Pause Exercise.
I have taken the VIA and had it as part of my class requirements for years
This is the first I heard of the VIA Institute on Character. I plan on connecting my colleagues who are doing research on moral injury with our military/veteran student population. I believe there are some valuable relationships to be explored. Also, I particularly like the exercise - close eyes, breathe, the focus on a strength...I will apply this in both my home and work environments. Finally, I am trained in LEGO Serious Play - I think it would be a great activity to "build" out each of the virtues/character traits as part of our "warm-up" sessions.
I intend to have my students take the VIA character strength survey so they can identify their strengths and can use those to their advantage throughout their education.
We are so used to focusing on our own (and others') weaknesses, it is refreshing to observe, focus on, and discover our strengths AND apply them.
I think this is something important to all teachers, especially the virtues.
Again, some great suggestions for identifying and building character strengths.
I made a table of the 6 Virtues and 24 Strengths for ease of recall. I might even post this on my mirror so I can focus on 1-2 as I start my day.
