4 Tips to Increase Student Resiliency

By Amy McDonald

“Growing your Balloon” is one of the factors that our Kaleidoscope Connect full-color framework teaches and is represented by the color Green.

Green (the Balloon) represents each youth and their innate characteristics, natural abilities, and talents.

There are five areas we measure to determine the size – or resiliency – of the individual Balloon: Grit/Optimism, A Sense of Wonder, Gender, Positive Social Orientation, and How I Am Smart.

Within our framework, we do not ask youth, “How smart are you?” Instead we ask, “How are you smart?” By looking through this strength-based lens, we celebrate the unique talents and intelligences that every youth has.

To help youth grow their Balloons (their resiliency), here are 4 tips to support them in the development of their individual intelligences:

1. Take time to learn about the many different types of intelligences. Often we think about “being smart” as being “book smart” or “school smart,” when in reality there are many ways to be smart. In 1983, at Harvard University, Howard Gardner developed the theory of Multiple Intelligences. His theory was that measuring only IQ was too limiting. Instead, Mr. Gardner proposed eight kinds of intelligences: verbal, logical, visual, musical, naturalistic, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Edutopia provides an excellent recap of Gardner’s theory: http://edut.to/2f2efol.

2. So, how do you go about identifying how someone is smart? There are many online assessments and surveys to support youth in finding where their intelligences lie (here is just one example: http://edut.to/2fmDORH). These assessments ask a series of questions that result in a rating for each intelligence. For example, if you are a strong visual learner, your score for Visual Intelligence will be high, whereas if you are not as strong in the area of Musical Intelligence your score there will be lower.

3. Connect youth with adults who can amplify their intelligences. As we connect with youth, we cannot be everything that every youth needs. Get to know youth better – talk to them, spend time with them – and find out where their intelligences are strong. If you are strong in the same area, then engage in activities that amplify this intelligence. If you are not strong in this area, find other adults to whom you can connect to the youth. Connecting youth to more adults will thicken their Webs of Support!

4. Celebrate the unique intelligences of youth. Seeing youth through a full-color lens ensures that we focus on many aspects of that youth, including unique talents and intelligences. It takes all types of individuals to make up this wonderful world. Take time to celebrate these unique intelligences and the youth’s progress as they realize and grow them. Some ways to celebrate include:

• Inviting people to youth performances

• Recommending youth for specific activities/responsibilities because of their unique intelligences

• Sharing accomplishments of youth with others

• Giving clear and concise feedback

Contact Brightways Learning to learn more about Kaleidoscope Connect’s full-color framework.

Amy has more than two decades of experience in K-12 education, including English Language Learning, classroom teaching, Lead Teacher, and School Counselor. She has a Bachelor’s in Linguistics, a K-8 Type B Teaching Certification, and a Masters in K-12 School Counseling. She has worked in youth development since she started in education. Currently, she leads Kaleidoscope Connect events with both youth and adults in the United States and Canada. Amy provides a fresh look at youth development as she continues to work in multiple school districts and youth and tribal organizations in Alaska and outside the state.

3 Tips to Prevent or Reduce Bullying

As our Kaleidoscope Connect framework teaches, sometimes kids get labeled based only on their negative behaviors and are seen in “black and white.” Bullies are a perfect example of labeling, where we have lost focus of their positive traits and let the “bullying” define our views of those students.  

Instead, ALL kids – including bullies and those being bullied – should be seen and understood in "Full Color." That means instead of looking at what’s wrong with students, we should look at – and amplify – what’s right. 

Here are three tips to prevent or reduce bullying:

1. Assume bullies need a thicker “web of support.” The more caring and connected adults (Anchors) in the lives of youth, the stronger their webs. Instead of labeling students as bad, you (the adult) can work to understand the webs of support they live upon. You will get more traction with students by focusing on what is right and strong in their webs, and amplifying the positive in their lives.
   

2. Support bullies to see their world in Full Color. You need to have connections to bullies before you can affect their attitudes and actions. So, work to grow a relationship with a bully. When you become one of their Anchors, they will more readily accept your guidance and support. By focusing on the positive aspects of their webs, bullies will begin to see themselves in Full Color, and begin to make small adjustments to grow their webs of support. They will become more caring, empathetic, resilient, and less inclined to bully others.
   

3. Build and nurture relationships with students who are victims of bullying. If students who are bullied have strong webs of support, they will need their webs sustained (making sure the bullying does not erode their webs, or reduce their self-efficacy). If they are thinly-webbed, then they need their webs thickened by adding more Anchors to mitigate and filter the unkind words and actions. As an Anchor, you can work alongside a bullied student to filter, frame, and reduce the negative comments and/or actions. They will then be more likely to catch your strength, and add it to their own.

To learn more about the Kaleidoscope Connect’s Full Color framework, please visit our website. 

Why Kaleidoscope Connect Matters

For nearly a decade, Jennie “JenJen” McLean has been involved with Kaleidoscope Connect through our Academies that teach adults the principles and practices of Integrative Youth Development (IYD), and Phlight Clubs which are multi-day, life-changing youth development events. 

JenJen recently sat down to discuss the impact Kaleidoscope Connect has had on her and the youth in her life.  

Q: JenJen, tell me about yourself. 

A: I have lived in Fairbanks, Alaska my entire life. I knew from an early age that I liked kids and wanted to be involved in their lives. I connected with the kids. I understood their challenges and aspirations. I live to nurture young people, validate them, and make an impact on their futures.  

Q: How long have you been participating in and supporting students through Phlight Clubs? 

A: Since 2008, when I worked at Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD). My colleague and mentor, Andrea Durney, told me about an upcoming Phlight Club that the district was hosting for teens from our middle and high schools, and invited me along.  

During that first Phlight Club, my primary role was to feed and nurture the 50+ students who attended. After I saw the power of Phlight Club and how it affected the kids who attended, I became a part of the team.  

Over the next 8 years, I have attended 16 Phlight Clubs, first as an adult co-leader and then as a facilitator.  

Q: In what ways have you seen Phlight Club and the IYD principles and practices impact youth and adults in their communities? 

A: Phlight Club changes the way teens see themselves.  

Kids in YKSD live in small villages and are raised not only by parents, but also by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. Phlight Club shows them how important it is to maintain those relationships, and it deepens their sense of pride about who they are and what they are capable of. It supports them in growing family, school, and community bonds. And, from this, their self-esteem rises.  

If kids are “thinly-webbed” (lacking a strong support system), Phlight Club teaches them how to “grow their balloons” (develop resilience and self-esteem) and strengthen their webs of support by giving them the confidence to reach out to caring adults (Anchors) to connect and develop special bonds.  

I’ve witnessed quiet, reluctant, and vulnerable kids walk into a Phlight Club looking terrified. Within hours, these same kids have bonded with their peers, made friends and connected with Anchors.  

We adults are all impacted by witnessing the rapid transformation in the kids, and realizing the role that we, as adults, can play in their development. 

The mindset that teens adopt doesn’t disappear when Phlight Club ends. I see kids outside of Phlight Club on a regular basis, in various community settings. Even kids who attended years ago, still talk about their experience and how they have maintained strong connections to this day. They leave equipped with tools that propel them into adulthood.  

Q: How have you personally been affected by what you've learned through Phlight Club and Academy training. 

A: I’ve been affected both personally and professionally. It has changed me.  

Through the Academies and Phlight Clubs, a whole new world was opened for me. I learned that I, too, need a strong web of support and I gained the courage to seek Anchors and develop my leadership skills. I’ve learned that by helping kids grow their balloons, my own balloon also grows. 

Being a Phlight Club leader has reinforced and validated my nurturing skills and love for helping youth. It has provided me with a framework and setting to refine and apply my skills and see, first hand, how students’ lives are improved.  

I now arrange my entire life and my schedule around my involvement in Phlight Clubs.  

Q: What are three key or important reasons you think that a YOUTH should get involved with Phlight Club? 

A: Phlight Clubs wake kids up. They begin to understand that they are not “broken” and they learn how to build their webs of support. They develop the self-confidence and resilience they need to avoid risk-taking behaviors and to thrive. The effect on teens is permanent.  

There are so many reasons why youth should get involved, but if I had to pick three they would be:

• Surviving

• Succeeding

• Seeing themselves and others in “Full Color”: recognizing what makes them unique, resilient and successful in life.

Q: What are three key or important reasons you think that an ADULT should get involved with Phlight Club and Kaleidoscope Academies? 

A: There are so many teens in our communities who need more Anchors. Getting involved with Phlight Club not only helps improve the lives of the youth who attend, but it also teaches the adults how to effectively communicate and connect with them.  

I can’t count the number of kids I’ve Anchored over the years, but I can tell you that I have gained as much as I have given. The Academies have helped me take my knowledge of youth development to the next level. 

Three reasons to get involved are: 

• Making a measurable difference in the lives of children

• Growing family connections

• Strengthening community ties

Q: Any last words you would like to say? 

A: In my ideal world, all children would have a chance to attend at least one Phlight Club in their lives. Our youth would be much better equipped to thrive amid the constant yet unpredictable changes and challenges they face. Wouldn’t we all love to see our communities filled with kids who are healthy, happy, and productive? 

To learn more about Kaleidoscope Connect, Phlight Clubs, and Kaleidoscope Academies, please visit our website or contact Cindy Barnes at cbarnes@brightwayslearning.org.