TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 9 & 10
1.

Mental health issues, body image,

coping with stress and school
and study problems are the main
concerns for young people of your
age nationally. Rank them in order of
importance for yourself and explain
your reasons. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

4.

Little childrens emotions are very simple, such as glad, mad, sad. For your age group,
emotions are more complex (more than one emotion happening). For example, you
may be very excited about what you are doing but scared of what might go wrong.
From the List of Emotions B select five pairs of emotions which often happen together
and the situations involved. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

5.

For your age group, emotions can

also strengthen to become more
intense. With a friend describe five
situations which can cause your
emotions to increase in intensity
from mild to very strong. List the
emotions as they become more
intense; for example, happy,
delighted, thrilled. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

9.

Describe a time you have seen

one of your friends upset. What
were their wants, needs, emotions
and body language and what did
you say and do to assist him/
her to reduce the intensity of his/
her emotions and find a suitable
outcome to his/her problem. Which
Habits of Mind are best to use to do
this?

2.

3.

Social and emotional distress tends to

increase as young people enter their
mid-teens to early twenties. Why do
you think this happens and what skills
do you think you need to develop
to cope with this situation capably?
Which Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

From the List of

Emotions B in the
Professional Practice
Support Resources
section of the website,
what are five emotions
which you think you
need to keep under
control in order to act
and learn positively
and your reasons why.
Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do
this?

6.

Describe four sets of three emotions which grow in intensity, for example,
edgy, agitated, frantic. What self-calming strategies do you or could you
use to slow your emotions becoming more intense? Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

7.

Stronger emotions are felt

in conflict and disagreement
situations. While it is important for
you to recognise and understand
your own emotions, it is important
that you have empathy for the
needs and feelings of the others
involved. Describe a time you have
done this well and what you did.
Which Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

10.

8.

For a conflict situation

you have been involved in
describe the other persons
wants, needs, emotions and
their intensity and the body
language they showed.
How were your own wants,
needs, emotions and
intensity similar? Which
Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

From doing the VIA Character Strengths survey at www.viacharacter.

org , what are your signature strengths, which we will also call your
super powers? Name another three Character Strengths you would like
to develop and why. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

11.

When you experience intense and complex emotions, as

we all do, describe the positive things you could do using
your signature strengths to calm yourself and who do you
could turn to for support? Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

13.

With two friends discuss the relative

effectiveness of each Character Strength in your
lives and come up with your top six for young
people of your age group and your reasons why.
Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

14.

12.

Describe how each of your super powers

contributes to your ability to set ISMART goals
and to feel socially confident and capable in
your life. Which Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

Find other students in your class who have some of the

same super powers as you and discuss and describe
how you both could and do use them to live a purposeful
life. List three things you could do for each strength.
Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 9 & 10
15.

Ask your family to do the VIA

Character Strengths survey and
then discuss how each of you
can use each of your individual
super powers to benefit your
family. Which ones did you have in
common? Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

18.

Behaving ethically means that you consider if what you do is fair to others,
safe, legal, makes you feel ok afterwards and it the right thing to do for you.
Describe a time you behaved ethically. Which Habits of Mind are best to use
to do this?

20.

24.

26.

Use the Positive, Negatives,

Effects, Decision Thinking Tool
from the website to analyse the
following ethical dilemma: A
friend confides in you that she
is self-harming and makes you
promise to keep it secret. You
are worried about her; do you
break your promise and tell a
trusted adult or say nothing?
Which Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?
You are to lead a group of
students who are to organise
a talent quest for the whole
school. When assembling
your group, what mix of super
powers do you think are
essential to have in the group to
be successful in achieving your
goal. Describe your reasons.
Which Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

Positive or optimistic
thinking is when you look
for what is and could go
right with what you are
looking at. Describe three
situations when you have
seen others or yourself
think like this. Which
Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

27.

16.

Write a short story about how

a person used several of their
super powers to overcome a
challenge or setback which
confronted him/her. The story
can be about a real life event or
fictional. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

17.

For a famous person in the

public eye, describe what
you think are their personal
super powers and why. Are
there any other Character
Strengths which would
benefit them developing?
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

19.

An ethical dilemma is when

you have two choices, and
by not doing one means
you feel you have done
something unethical and
wrong. For example, to
keep the confidence of your
friend you have to lie to your
teacher. Describe an ethical
dilemma you have had.
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

23.

Set three learning goals for

this term on page 23; look
at page 20 21 for ideas.
Complete a Goal Action
Plan for each of them and
describe how you can use
your super powers to help
you achieve each of them.
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

21.

With a friend discuss what you

think would be the five super
powers of an effective and
inspiring leader in the community
and your reasons for choosing
each of them? Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

22.

Your personal attributes (such

as determination), talents and
signature strengths equip you
with the social capability to thrive,
strive and flourish in society.
Describe how you can use
them together to overcome the
challenge of being left out of your
friendship group at a lunchtime.
Which Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

25.

Negative or pessimist thinking is when you look for what is and could go
wrong with what you are looking at. Describe three situations when you
have seen others or yourself think like this. Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

Research has indicated that

optimistic thinkers enjoy
better health, live longer, cope
with difficult situations more
comfortably and experience
less depressive thoughts in
their lives. Describe a person
you know who you believe is an
optimistic thinker and why you
think so. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

28.

Research has also indicated

pessimistic thinkers are not as
healthy, dont cope well with difficult
situations and are more likely to
experience depressive thoughts.
Describe a person you know who
you believe is a pessimistic thinker
and why you think so. What are
three things they can do to become
an optimistic thinker? Which Habits
of Mind are best to use to do this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 9 & 10
29.

32.

35.

Always be on the lookout for traps

that can draw you into thinking
pessimistically, such as blaming
someone else for a situation you find
yourself in. Think hard to describe
three other thinking traps you can
fall into (hint google thinking
fallacies). Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

Positive self-talk is telling yourself

to hang in there when things get
tough to push through by lifting your
efforts. With a friend, discuss and
describe what positive self-talk you
could use when you find yourself
not taking responsibility for what you
think, say and do, blaming others
for the situation you are in and over
reacting to something. Which Habits
of Mind are best to use to do this?

The most effective way to get your

message across is to use assertive
language, such as; when you mess
around immaturely at parties, I feel
embarrassed, so please dont do it
tonight when we go out. Describe
a time you have used assertive
language and what you said. Which
Habits of Mind are best to use to do
this?

30.

With a friend discuss and describe what you do when an unexpected

problem occurs and you dont know what to do to solve it. What
do you do? Look at the Thinking Tools on the website for strategies
to organise your thinking; which ones do you like? Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

31.

The Problem, Issue, Options, Effects, Solution Thinking Tool is an

effective problem solving strategy. With a friend use it to analyse and
solve the following problem. One your friends has told you that she
has been making herself sick after eating and you can see she looks
sick and is losing a lot of weight. You dont know what to do. What
do you do? Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

33.

With two friends

discuss the problem
that a member of your
peer group is texting
hurtful things about
others as a joke, but
has now gone way too
far and it has turned
into bullying. Select
a Thinking Tool from
the website to solve it
together. Which Habits
of Mind are best to use
to do this?

36.

There are three parts to using assertive language. 1. When ... Say
your concern 2. I feel ... Say your emotion 3. So ... Say what you
would like to happen. With a friend describe three examples of
assertive language you can use. Which Habits of Mind are best to
use to do this?

37.

A sign of strength is to apologise when you have done the

wrong thing by someone else. To do so properly, say what
you did, describe the hurt it caused to them, say what you
really meant to do, say how you feel now, describe what
you will do to make it right and say sorry. Use these steps to
write an apology letter to someone you have done the wrong
thing by. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

39.

Describe in what ways your

relationships differ with friends, with
family and with teachers. Name three
skills you need to make each of these
relationships work well? Which Habits
of Mind are best to use to do this?

40.

38.

34.

There are times when you need

to express your concerns and
needs to other people. You can
use aggressive, assertive or
submissive language. With two
friends discuss and describe
what each of them mean by
providing three examples of
each. (Aggressive - punishing
and intensifies others emotions.
Assertive - respectful and to the
point. Submissive disinterested
and giving up.) Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

Ask your family about what assertive things

they said and did when faced with difficult
decisions in the past. Describe some
situations you think they would have to have
done this for and what Character Strengths
they would have used. Which Habits of Mind
are best to use to do this?

Stress is a normal part of life as your emotions become more

intense and are caused by a wide range of things. With two
friends describe five things which can cause stress, how they
have changed since you were in Years 7 and 8 and strategies you
could or do use to calm yourself. Which Habits of Mind are best
to use to do this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 9 & 10
41.

While challenges can be causes of

stress, they can also provide you with
opportunities to use your super powers,
positive self-talk and growth mindsets to
overcome them. Describe a time you have
done this well and the positive emotions
you experienced as a result. Which Habits
of Mind are best to use to do this?

44.

There are many coping strategies to calm

yourself down, such as going for a walk,
ride, run, doing a mindfulness activity
from the website and meditating. It is
important to have a number of them and
not just rely on one. What are your five
most effective coping strategies? Which
Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

46.

With two friends describe five

interpersonal skills and five character
strengths that you believe are essential for
a group to be effective in achieving what
they set out to do. Give your reasons for
choosing each of them. Which Habits of
Mind are best to use to do this?

42.

With a friend, discuss and

describe what positive selftalk you could use when
you find yourself mindreading that you know
exactly what others are
thinking about you and only
looking for what is wrong,
not right, with something
and what can go wrong.
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

43.

45.

Look at the Relaxation Techniques and Square Breathing

on pages 168 and 78, and at home for the next few nights,
practise using each of them; describe how each of them
calmed you and the emotions you felt. Your teacher may wish
to try one as a whole class activity. Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

47.

Different situations you find yourself in need a number of people

with different skills to help you. With a friend describe the types
of situations your friends could help you with, things your family
could help you with and things your teachers could help you
with. How have they changed since years 7 and 8? Which
Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

When you have

interpersonal problems
and conflicts with friends,
family or teachers what
are three strategies
you do or could use
to overcome them?
Which of your signature
strengths work well for
you in these situations.
Which Habits of Mind are
best to use to do this?

48.

With two friends investigate each of the websites below to identify what areas you can seek help from them should
you need it. Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?
headspace: www.headspace.org.au
eheadspace: www.eheadspace.org.au
ReachOut: au.reachout.com
Youth beyondblue: www.youthbeyondblue.com
Kids Helpline: www.kidshelpline.com.au
Bully Stoppers: www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/students.aspx

49.

Seeking help when you have problems and showing empathy

to support others when they ask you for help are signs of
strength. With a friend describe what you would say to seek
help for three different problems you were experiencing. What
would you say for three different problems others asked you
for help with? Which Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

50.

With a friend, discuss and describe what

positive self-talk you could use when
you find yourself feeling precious,
thinking everyone is against you and over
exaggerating how bad the situation is. Which
Habits of Mind are best to use to do this?

TM

Resilience Builders
YEARS 9 & 10
EXTENSION RESILIENCE BUILDERS
The following Resilience Builders are designed to help you use all of the things you have learnt to overcome ten different
situations and events.
For each resilience builder describe:

Three emotions you could experience and what emotions they could intensify to.

Two sets of mixed emotions you could experience.

The three most suitable Character Strengths you could use to help you and why.

Two things you could do to show empathy for the needs and feelings of others involved.

Two examples of positive self-talk you could use and describe a strategy to solve the problem.

Two examples of assertive language you could use and two strategies you could use to calm yourself down.

Two people you could ask for help and what you would say.

Two Habits of Mind which are best to use to do this.

1.

You have been applying for part-time jobs for the last three months with no luck and are starting to feel sorry for yourself.
Then two employers contact you on the same day each offering you a job. What do you do?

2.

Billy has been going out with his girlfriend for six months and a few of his mates tell him that she has been with another
boy at school. What are Billys needs, wants and feelings and what can his friends do to show empathy?

3.

Your parents drive you and a friend to a party, where you promised them there was no alcohol. When they come to pick
you and your friend up from the party to take you home your friend is really drunk.

4.

One of your friends received an A for an assignment which you really worked hard on and only received a C. Her older
sister did the same assignment five years ago and your friend just copied it.

5.

Your younger brother in Year 7 is a negative thinker always seems to look for what is wrong in everything he looks at
and what can go wrong with it. He also blames other people when he finds himself in difficult situations. What strategies
could you use to assist him to become an optimistic thinker and who could you seek help from to achieve this?

6.

Zane is really finding it difficult to get started on an assignment which is due in at the end of the week because he is on
Facebook for hours every night. He changes screens when his parents visit his room. Instead of asking his teacher for
help he pretends he is going okay.

7.

A number of Years 9 and 10 boys are pushing younger students around and making life at school really difficult for them.
You dont think this is fair, but if you speak up against them there could be a fight and you dont want to get into trouble.
What do you do to solve the problem?

8.

One of your friends tells her home life is violent and she is scared for her safety. She is becoming more and more
depressed about whats happening and told you she is having suicidal thoughts. How can you show empathy and who
should you assist her to seek help from?

9.

Ella is an excellent athlete and spends much of her spare time training for the upcoming State titles. She hasnt gone to
any parties or social gathering for months. Her friends dont understand the demands on her and their teasing in person,
texting and posts on Facebook are approaching bullying. What can she do?

10. It has been really hot weather and your friendship group has been going to each others homes for a swim nearly every
night. Harry and Lily are the only ones who never get into the pool in their swimming gear and always wear T-shirts and
baggy pants when they do. Harry and Lily arent happy with their body image. What strategies and people could help
them and what could you do to show empathy.
Acknowledgement and thanks to Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne: Building Resilience: Social &
Emotional Learning Materials