Dear Yavneh Family,

Two words that have captured our learning community's attention this year are "Flow" and "Mindset." Each has its genesis in the academic field of Psychology, and deepens our understanding of how teenagers work, grow and flourish. 

Rabbi Grebenau introduced the idea of "Mindset" to both students and faculty in our opening days of school.  Mindset is a relatively recent insight into human development that informs Education in profound ways. Based on the pioneering work of Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck, social scientists and educators have addressed the difference between "fixed mindset" and "growth mindset" ways of thinking about students and adults.  In brief, "growth mindset" practitioners (including us at Yavneh) believe that a student's intellectual abilities and coping skills can change and expand given appropriate nurturing and direction. As our students engaged in important goal-setting exercises for the year, this growth-oriented idea was at the front of our minds.

"Flow" was a key part of my introduction to our students and faculty during our beginning-of-year programming.  Growing out of research by University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on the subject of student and adult engagement (i.e., focus and work on a particular task), the primary qualities of being in a state of Flow are intense focus, loss of a sense of time, no feeling of boredom or distraction, and a real sense of accomplishment.  (Think: musician, athlete, chess player, video gamer or writer who is "in the zone.")  Flow is the result of an appropriate challenge (not too easy or too hard) paired with the right skill level (see chart).  When teachers and students are in a state of Flow, it is the optimal state to which we all aspire.

Last Friday our program focus was primarily on the rules that enable our school community to function at its best - and our students are off to a terrific start.  This week we worked on community building and cross-grade relationships that define the Yavneh Family (see below).

Yashar Koach to all our students and staff on a wonderful first full week!

Shabbat Shalom, and Go Bulldogs!!

--Dr. P