DYS Homeroom

Worrying is described as a chain of negative thoughts about bad things that might happen in the future. Worrying is a normal part of existence. Many of us worry about the future. Excessive worry, however, can lead to physical problems such as headaches, depression, weakened immune system, increased blood pressure, and more. For this reason, it is good to realize if your worrying has become an ineffective habit, and if so, what to do about it. Facts: -Around 1/3 of U.S. adults experience some kind of anxiety disorder -Less than half get professional treatment -Anxiety has two coping paths: worry and avoidance -Research shows people think worrying is helpful for coping (nope!), uncontrollable (the brain is a runaway train), and worrying should be suppressed (which actually makes it worse) Characteristics of excessive worrying: -Usually doesn’t provide any solutions for vague fears -Approaches problems from a position of fear and anxiety -Makes it difficult to fall asleep -Causes you ...

  “Asynchronous” is a fancy word for “out of sync.” It’s not good or bad to be this way. It’s simply one way to experience the world. As a general rule, young people who are gifted experience uneven development across different domains of living. To illustrate this, if you imagine an average five year old you know, they probably talk, think, move, act, and handle their emotions like a typical five year old. Students who are gifted, however, are often experiencing “asynchronous” development. This five year old might act like a three year old, read like a ten year old, move like a five year old, and do math like a seven year old. That’s a lot of age ranges packed inside of one body! It’s important to understand your own asynchronous development so you can understand misunderstandings that may arise within yourself and between others. Things like: “I can envision the type of music I want to play. I can hear it in my head. I am frustrated because my hands aren’t big enough, and I can’t...

The discussion this week around the topic of friendship was insightful and engaging. Every homeroom has a different chemistry, and it's an absolute honor to connect students in this online space! This week we focused on making friends in an online environment. Of course, these skills are transferable to other relationships as well. We started off with a list of common questions about friendship. One item on the list we narrowed in on involved being friends with students who are different ages. Students who are gifted in particular seem to thrive at making friends much older than and much younger than them. We talked about why that might be.   Then we moved on to 12 tips for keeping and making friends using a slide-slow with ideas from "The Gifted Teens Survival Guide."   Here's a summary regarding the tips:  1. Reach out.  2. Get involved.  3. Let people know you are interested in their lives.  4. Work on being a good listener.  5. Let people...

Everyone needs to belong. Everyone wants to feel unique. What do we do about this paradox? This week students discussed social psychology and group dynamics. As an answer to the above conundrum, we started by setting an intention this year to aim for “optimal distinctiveness” (see definition below). "The solution is to be the same and different at the same time. Marilynn Brewer calls it the principle of optimal distinctiveness: we look for ways to fit in and stand out. A popular way to achieve optimal distinctiveness is to join a unique group. Being part of a group with shared interests, identities, goals, values, skills, characteristics, or experiences gives us a sense of connection and belonging. At the same time, being part of a group that is clearly distinct from other groups gives us a sense of uniqueness. Studies show that people identify more strongly with individuals and groups that share unique similarities. The more rare a group, value, interest, skill, or experience is...