Confidence and Competence

Our heroes have been gaining more confidence in completing their tasks, beginning with setting goals and believing that they will meet those goals. They demonstrate confidence in finding solutions to their needs independently, through collaboration, or doing research, reminding each other 3B4G. Their confidence remains even in the midst of mistakes, encouraging one another to try again. In an incident during recess, one hero was playing with another hero’s squishy ball with water beads inside, when the ball ripped open, leaving water beads all over the floor. Immediately, all the heroes stopped what they were playing and started picking up all the water beads to help, then one hero instantly grabbed tape to fix the ball, while some heroes comforted the other hero who was sad about her broken toy, including the hero who broke the toy. After apologizing several times, this hero kept repeating to himself that he learned from his mistake, and even reminded others to be careful with playing with the ball. He remained confident that his mistake, no matter how grave it may seem at the moment with water beads all around him, his friend crying, and all his friends trying to clean up his mess. This was an amazing demonstration of confidence under pressure.

Even during storytime, the heroes proved their confidence in learning from their mistakes in reading our Military Special Forces: Choose your own Adventure book. At the end of the mission as Navy Seals, through the choices they made, the story ended narrating their failure in capturing the enemy. The mission ended with a hope that “others would succeed where we have failed.” But the heroes did not easily accept failure as the end game. They immediately suggested getting on another truck, plane, or boat. They believed they could try again and succeed in the mission!

Our heroes’ confidence paves the way to gaining competence in their learning. They are well-experienced in tracking their own academic progress through their badge books and core skills programs. They discuss their performance levels and goals with others, especially to celebrate their accomplishments. Another amazing sight to behold is how every hero encourages another hero to meet their goals, never pointing out their own accomplishments, comparing themselves, or competing against one another. When a hero completes a level in math or reading, or even close to meeting their goals, they celebrate the accomplishment, regardless of how small it may seem. A hero who completes level 4 in a program is honored by all the heroes, even those who are in level 10. Never would you hear a hero say, “I already passed that level,” instead the heroes would be seen hugging and jumping with joy for that one hero’s accomplishment.

Competence is also demonstrated through the heroes’ perseverance in engaging in strategies they have tried and new strategies that challenge them. Through their badge books and core skills programs, the heroes are able to create a sense of where they are, where they are going, and what to do next. Their competence in learning stems from a growth mindset with an understanding that they are more than able to improve their own learning. Our heroes recognize mistakes as part of their learning process and believe that they only fail if they give up. And they have resolved to never give up. Regardless of scenarios and situations and challenges we talk about during discussions, our heroes remain adamant about their decision to never give up.

Our special guest speaker this week for our Hero Talk is our very own Middles School Hero, Camryn. She was very proud to show our heroes pictures, awards, and certificates that her Dad and Grandpa received while serving in the US Marine Corps. Camryn also brought her Dad’s uniforms when he served as a Marine and let the heroes try them on! She brought her Grandpa’s very special uniforms fully decorated with medals and badges. Camryn even found her Grandpa’s backpack which he used while fighting in World War II!

Learning about the different military branches has helped our heroes make their choices regarding which military branch they would like to represent as a recruiter during the exhibition.

They have made decisions amongst themselves, including giving up their choices to let others go before them or join a friend who is working alone. Independently, they resolved issues that arose with selfless hearts.

Our Week at a Glance