Reflect & Create
Engaging video creation activities designed to help learners develop emotional skills, reflect on classroom experiences, and navigate their emotions. Seamlessly integrate these projects with Reflect check-ins for deeper social-emotional growth.
Emotional skills
It’s not always easy to know how to support friends, especially when they are having a hard time. Watch how Moria reaches out to the Feelings Monster in the video, then create a video responding to these questions:
What did she do to make space for the Feelings Monster’s emotions?
How could you tell she was really listening to her friend?
If a friend of yours is disappointed, how do you try to help them?
Use this topic to introduce active listening skills to your class. You can collect data on what different students noticed about how Moria was a good friend to the Feelings Monster and notice how many of those things were active listening skills. For example; she checked to make sure sitting together was ok, asked them how they were feeling, listened carefully, and didn’t interrupt. Go over these skills with your students and help them understand how active listening is not only good for their learning, but good for their friendships!
Our emotions are constantly changing - and that's ok! We don't always enjoy them, sometimes they are uncomfortable. Uncomfortable emotions can be an opportunity to learn or a sign that something needs to change. Sometimes we need help when we're experiencing uncomfortable emotions. Asking for help isn't always easy, but it's totally normal to need help sometimes!
What would you say to a friend who was shy about asking for help? Share a video pretending to encourage a friend who is dealing with a lot of uncomfortable emotions to talk to a trusted adult.
Use this activity before having students respond to a Reflect check-in. Regular opportunities to reflect help establish a community where it's ok to share your uncomfortable emotions. This role-playing activity can help students develop empathy and feel comfortable being honest about their challenges.
Kindness is how we show that we care about someone's feelings and needs. We usually think about being kind to others, but it's also important to be kind to ourselves!
Have you ever been upset with yourself over a mistake you made? Forgiving ourselves when we make a mistake is important – we can't learn from mistakes if we're afraid to try again!
Share about how a mistake you've made has helped you learn. How did treating yourself kindly when you made the mistake help?
Use this topic to jumpstart conversations about growth mindset or accepting feedback. It could be a helpful warm-up for a writing workshop where students edit one another's work. Setting students up to accept and mobilize feedback without feeling down about themselves is vital to establishing grit.
Follow up with a Reflect check-in to see which students are handling feedback well and which students may need support in processing or delivering feedback.
We all make mistakes, and sometimes our mistakes will impact others in a negative way. When we've had a negative impact on someone, it's important to apologize to maintain our relationship and move forward. Apology can be broken down into the following 5 steps:
1. Say what you did that was wrong
2. Say you are sorry for doing it
3. Say how you will fix it
4. Ask for forgiveness
5. Give the other person time to feel better and accept the apology
Imagine you've hurt the Feelings Monster's feelings. You'll first have to make up a story in your mind of how this happened.
Record a video sharing how you would apologize so you can stay friends and move forward?
This can help set expectations for your classroom at the beginning of the year or after a break. Encourage students to get creative about it, how did they hurt the monster's feelings? Has that ever happened to them? How did they feel? What do they want to hear from someone who is apologizing to them?
Gratitude means being filled with appreciation. We can show gratitude about good things – big or small! Being grateful can help us feel better and build stronger relationships.
Before you respond to this prompt, take a minute to notice things around you that are meaningful to you. Next, share three things you are grateful for:
1. something in nature
2. something in your community
3. something about yourself
What do you do to show your gratitude for those things?
Use this topic to jumpstart a regular gratitude practice! Research shows that a regular gratitude practice can help reduce anxiety and depression, improve relationships, and even have physical health benefits. Having a quick gratitude journaling session is a great use of "in-between" times or warm-up exercise. Use Reflect check-ins regularly to see for yourself if the gratitude practice is working!
Being specific about our emotions can help us understand what we need and share our needs with others. That's why there are so many emotion words! Having the right words to express yourself can help make finding solutions and working as a team easier.
Name as many emotion words as you can in one minute. How many words can you think of? Have you felt all those emotions before?
Use this activity before using Reflect in the classroom. Then, after using Reflect for a few weeks or months, revisit this activity and see how many emotion words students can list. Use their expanded vocabulary to jumpstart a conversation about how expressing emotions clearly can help make navigating challenges easier for your entire life!
Our classroom
Starting a new school year can come with a lot of emotions. You can feel excited to see your friends, anxious about new challenges, ambitious about your goals, and tired from the change in routine – all at the same time!
To start the school year off strong, let’s focus on some of the great things about you!
Share in a video your response to the question: What did you do during the break that you are the most proud of? It might be something new that you tried, a way that you helped out in your community, or any type of accomplishment.
What does it feel like to be proud of yourself?
Use this topic to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. You could begin with a Reflect check-in to see how everyone is feeling about the adjustment to being back in the classroom, and follow up with another Reflect check-in to see how positive thinking about oneself can improve your mood!
The Feelings Monster has set 3 goals for themselves this year:
- Be a better team player
- Improve their math grades
- Be more confident
Choose one of the Feelings Monster's goals and record a video explaining to the Feelings Monster how you think they should work towards it.
Some questions to think about:
- What strategies should they use?
- How will they know they are getting closer to
Use this topic before having students write their own goals. It can jumpstart their understanding of why goals are important and what types of goals they could consider, as well as get them thinking about how working towards a goal is an ongoing effort. Often, we write down or set goals mentally, but don't follow through. Having students recognize that problem through role play can help them recognize it in themselves!
Follow up with the question "Which emotion will you use to approach your next big challenge?" in Reflect to help students approach their goals with intention!
Empathy is understanding and sharing the feelings someone else is experiencing. It can help us to be good friends and to build strong communities. How do you show empathy in your class?
Share about a time when someone showed you empathy. How did it make you feel that they understood your emotions? What did they do to show they understood?
Use this activity as a warm-up for topics that can be difficult to learn about and process, like colonization, war, or even discussing a loss in your own community. Explain to students that empathy is a strength, and that even though it doesn't exactly feel good, having empathy means that they are good listeners. Being a good listener can help others heal and help forge a path forward with understanding. Using a Reflect check-in after difficult topics can help students let you know if they are uncomfortable or need extra support or time to process.
Feeling included means being glad to be part of the group. Being able to spend time with others and contribute in our community is vital to mental health.
Record a video explaining what you do to make sure our classroom is inclusive. How do you contribute to our community? How do you help others contribute? How does it make you feel when you support someone else?
How would you make the world a more inclusive place?
Use this topic before reading All the way to the Top by Annette Bay Pimentel, or another book about activists working toward a more inclusive world.
Follow up with a Reflect check-in to see how learning about this important work made your students feel.
We are always growing new skills, especially when dealing with something new or challenging. Doing challenging things helps us grow stronger mentally and physically.
Think of something that was challenging for you the first time, but now you love it!
What steps helped you start enjoying the activity?
Draw a picture of the challenging activity, then record a video describing your picture and what steps helped you get more comfortable doing that activity.
Use this topic before a lesson that will probably be a challenge! Helping students understand that challenges are a part of the path to excellence can keep them motivated and set them up to encourage each other through complicated tasks.
Follow your lesson with a Reflect check-in to learn how students managed their emotions through that challenge.
Pleasent emotions
Inspiration can strike at any time!
Being inspired means being filled with courage or purpose. You could be inspired with the purpose of getting a scholarship, creating an art project, standing up to a bully, or a million other things!
Record a video sharing a time you've felt inspired. What were you inspired to do? Why?
Use this as an introductory activity before reading an inspiring story or to help students brainstorm before writing about something that inspires them. Follow up with a Reflect check-in, how did the activity and story make students feel?
Ambition is the desire for success! Feeling ambitious means you have a strong wish to do things – especially things that could bring you honor or achievements.
Take a moment to think about your goals for this year and write three of them down.
Next, pretend you are feeling really ambitious today. That means you are motivated to work towards your goals and take action. Mimicking the Felings Monster might help you get in the mood!
Record a video explaining how you would lay out a perfect day of working towards your goals. You've already completed the first step – you're in an ambitious mood! What actions would you take to be closer to your goals by the end of the day?
Use this:
- As a warm-up before writing goals more formally.
- To set an ambitious tone for a challenge – perhaps your class is competing against other classes in some way, how does being ambitious support teamwork?
- To inspire students before giving them time to work on their individual goals.
Following the full lesson with a Reflect check-in about goals can help students to solidify their intentions and stay motivated.
Creative thinking can help us with all areas of our lives; it is especially important for problem solving. You don't have to be an artist or musician to be creative. Creativity is using your imagination or original ideas. Let's do a quick creativity booster!
This is a partner activity!
Take turns closing your eyes and drawing an animal, plant, or vehicle while your partner counts to 10. Don't tell your partner what you were trying to draw!
Next, trade drawings. On your individual device, record a video presenting your partner's drawing and what you think it is. What do you see? Why?
Finally, take some time to respond to your partner's video – were they right? Do you understand their perspective?
Use this activity before starting a creative writing project. Helping students to understand that creativity takes many forms can make them feel more comfortable using their imagination and build excitement for the activity to come.
Optimism is a sense of hopefulness and belief that things will turn out well. Being optimistic can have positive mental and physical health impacts!
This is a partner activity!
First, look up the antonym of optimism. What is the word? What does it mean?
Next, take a look at the picture above these instructions. Decide who will be on team "Half Empty" and who will be on team "Half Full."
Finally, record a short debate from your team's perspective. Below are a few sentence starters to help.
I think the glass is half empty because ____.
The glass must be half full because ____.
In my opinion ____.
Use this:
- As a warm-up before talking, reading, or writing about different perspectives.
- To introduce optimism to the class and establish a classroom ecosystem of being optimistic (after the activity you can talk to students about which attitude you think is more helpful and why).
- Or even before a lesson on fractions – are they both technically right?
Unpleasent emotions
Our emotions are constantly changing - and that's ok! We don't always enjoy them, sometimes they are uncomfortable. Uncomfortable emotions can be an opportunity to learn or a sign that something needs to change. Some uncomfortable emotions are lonely, hurt, stressed, exhausted, or jealous. Record a video about a time you've learned from an uncomfortable emotion. What emotion were you feeling? What did you learn from that experience?
Use this topic to jumpstart a conversation about growth mindset. How can students turn discomfort into a learning opportunity? Did they try something new even though they were nervous? That's growth mindset! Did they take a break and then try again when they were feeling stressed? That's growth mindset! Provide your own video reflection as an example for best results.
Follow up with a Reflect check-in about the lesson. How are students feeling after sharing their experience and learning?
We all feel stressed sometimes, it's uncomfortable but totally natural. Stress is supposed to help us take action - but dealing with stress long term isn't healthy.
Imagine you are giving advice to a friend who is under a lot of stress. What strategies would you suggest to them? Have you ever tried that strategy? Did it work?
Like all skills, noticing stress and using strategies to relieve it takes practice. Use this topic before an assessment to help students practice and remember their stress management strategies.
This role-playing activity can help students develop empathy and feel comfortable being honest about their challenges. Build onto this activity by having students respond to one another and learn new strategies from their peers.
Anger is an uncomfortable emotion everyone experiences – it’s totally normal! Being angry isn’t fun and can sometimes hurt the people around you. What are some strategies for coping when you feel angry?
Share a strategy you use to calm down when you feel angry. What do you do? Does it always work? If it doesn't work, what do you try next?
Use this topic when there's been conflict in your class to jumpstart solution-oriented thinking! It can help initiate an important conversation without making students feel called out.
Tense times in the classroom are a great time to use Reflect check-ins. Gain insights on which students may need more support and what kinds of solutions may work in your class by providing opportunities for students to privately share their feelings with you.
If you're feeling skeptical, that means you are not convinced or doubtful about something. It's often smart to be skeptical, like when you're reading about something online, or if someone you don't trust is making a promise.
If we're skeptical about your own abilities, it can get in the way. For example, if you are skeptical that you can do well on a math test, it can make you feel defeated before you even try.
Think of something that isn't easy for you. Are you skeptical about your ability to do it? What would you say to a friend who is doubtful about their own ability? Write down a few things you might say to encourage them.
Now, record a video reflecting on if you support and encourage yourself the same way you support your friends. When you're skeptical about your own abilities, do you tell yourself you can do it? Do you practice to build your skills and confidence? What can you do in the future to be a better friend to yourself?
Use this:
- As a warm-up before a challenging lesson to support students in encouraging themselves.
or
- To learn about healthy skepticism prior to a lesson that requires internet searches and evaluating skills.
Apathy is a lack of caring or interest. Some days we just aren't in the mood or have too much on our mind to care about what's going on around us. We might be feeling apathetic. Everyone experiences off days but getting stuck in a feeling of apathy isn't good for you or the community.
This is a partner activity!
Dr. Jane Goodall, one of the most notable scientists and conservationists in the world, once said, "The greatest danger to our future is apathy."
Take a minute to discuss what you think this quote means with a friend. If your teacher gives enough time, you could look up Dr. Goodall to learn more about her. Why do you think she said that apathy is dangerous? What do you think she is worried about for our future? What do you think she wants people to take an interest in?
>Next, go back to your individual device and record a video about what you think Dr. Jane Goodall's quote means.
Use this:
- As a warm-up before talking about environmental topics like biodiversity or climate change.
- To jumpstart a conversation about the importance of youth in big issues and the impact they can have.