Today we talked about risk-taking.
Risks are important in life because they help us grow.
The students decided that there are risks you should take, and ones you shouldn't. How do you know if it's a risk you should or shouldn't take?
There are physical risks (like jumping off of something high), social risks (like joining a lunch table group where you don't know everyone), and academic risks (like presenting in front of the class). Can you think of more kinds of risks at home together?
After reading the book, What Do You Do With A Chance by Kobi Yamada, students shared times when they had taken personal risks.
“There’s a step in my backyard and it’s really big. My dad
always does it on his bike and he makes it look really easy. But when I get to
it, it looks really scary and I don’t want to do it. But the second time I
tried it and it wasn’t scary anymore.” ~ Priya
“I was at a trampoline park and there’s a rock climbing
thing with a foam pit underneath it. The first time I got up there, it was too
high so I climbed back down. But the second time I climbed up I jumped and it
was really fun so I did it again.” ~ Sophia
“When I went to Southland Leisure Centre with my Mom I went
to the deep end without a life jacket and my mom was way in the back. My mom’s
boyfriend had me on his back and he dropped me and my mom had to save me. It
was scary but I did it again.” ~ Taylor
“Once I was climbing on sides of stuff and I fell backwards
on a ledge. It was pretty high up. Then for several weeks I didn’t want to do
it until this one time one of my friends did it. I wanted to join him so I
ended up doing it.” ~ Jaxton
“When it was my first time I was using a bike, I was using
it and I almost crashed but I did it and I know how to use a bike now.” ~ James
“This one time I was at Isla’s birthday and I was going up
to this thing where you need to jump off into this inflatable thing and it was
a few feet into the air and everyone was doing it but I was really scared but
then everyone told me it was fun so I jumped off and landed in the centre and
it was really fun and I did it again and again!” ~ Charlotte
“The first time I ever went swimming, I got so scared even
in the shallow end at Inglewood pool. My swimming leader told me to go to the
deep end with the life jacket and I thought that was ok but then she said take
them off and we’re going to dive in. I got pretty scared. I couldn’t do it for
years and then I went to a pool last summer and I dove into a pool and I was a
little scared before but then I did it and it was really fun.” ~ Desiree
“When I was doing swimming lessons in the summer and they
said to jump in the pool I was scared of putting my face into the water. But a
few swimming classes after I tried to do it again and it was fun!” ~ D
We will use this book as a launching point for setting some goals. Stay tuned for more information as our conversation keeps growing.
