Mind in the Making workshops offered in both English and Spanish are happening throughout the Suncoast region and participants are loving every minute.
The workshops are based on Mind in the Making, a ground-breaking education book by Ellen Galinsky, which breaks down executive functions into seven essential life skills. During the sessions, facilitators– who were trained during the Mind in the Making Facilitator Institute hosted by the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and funded by The Patterson Foundation in May — share these seven essential skills with parents, educators, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Now, a special technique presented during the workshops is boosting the way people are learning how to set and achieve goals.
The technique — called WOOP — follows a Wish, Outcome, Obstacle and Plan process as part of a guided meditation at the end of every workshop module. Participants write in goal-setting books — think chimes, deep breaths, calm, and spa (without a massage or facial).
Through WOOP, you are encouraged to document all kinds of wishes and goals — both personal and professional. The four-step process is easy to do and helps you chart a path to fulfill your wishes and achieve clarity in your life. Setting specific, personal goals, along with strategies to achieve these goals, is a central part of executive functions, which allows for successful goal-driven behavior.
WOOP makes you think and reflect on how you can contribute to being a part of the outcome rather than focusing on someone else’s wish that you cannot control. Letting go of that control is a true challenge but working through a plan that is tried and true is reliable.
For instance, if I think my child should listen better, the focus is on how I will help make that wish possible by learning my child’s abilities while focusing on the outcome, potential obstacles and developing a plan to make it a reality. The challenge is making it about you and how you can contribute to making your wish a reality and not what you think the other person should be doing.
Through these trainings, we are creating learning communities of parents, early childhood practitioners, and elementary school administrators, staff and many more. “WOOPing it up” is one fun and dynamic component in the wonderful Mind in the Making workshop. To learn more or to host a workshop, contact the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading: info@gradelevelreadingsuncoast.net.
