Welcome back to our Nurturing Hope blog series, where we dive into each of the 7 steps of nurturing Hope, why it is important, and how it changes students’ lives. Today, we are going to dive into step 6: create a hope visual.
What is a Hope Visual?
A Hope visual is a map we create with the student that references all of the Hope work steps they have learned and provides a point of reference for their plan of success. In this Hope Visual, the student has a tangible reminder of what they learned so they know that they have the power to make tomorrow better than today and can see how.
Establishing Structure
Providing structure, predictability, and next steps for a student is key to success. Students who have experienced trauma and adversity often feel stressed by unpredictability and lack of control over their circumstances. To help combat this, our definition of Hope provides the student with a sense of agency in their situations. At the same time, Hope work creates predictable strategies they can follow to feel a sense of control in specific, healthy ways. We want to help students adjust in a healthy way to the unpredictability of life and providing a visual structure reference for students is one of the main ways we do that.
When first starting to engage with Hope strategies, it can be challenging to remember everything they learned and how to apply it. These concepts are often brand new to the student and drastically change how they see new situations. To help them adjust to these concepts and apply them, the structure of a Hope visual can be very comforting and provide a helping hand both at home and in the classroom.
Connecting Concepts
Each step of nurturing Hope we take in Hope work is related. In fact, their interconnection, as you can see from this series, is crucial for success. For example, without establishing the student’s willpower and providing pathways, goal setting isn’t helpful. Without providing problem-solving strategies, the student may get overwhelmed and lose belief in themselves to make tomorrow better. Creating a visual way for students to connect these concepts and see how they all work together helps them see those connections and strengthen themselves with it.
More in the Series…
In our next blog, we are going to talk about the final step: re-goal setting.
If you’re just joining in, be sure to read Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4 , and Step 5 to catch up!
Hope Rising SEL’s definition of Hope is making a difference in many schools and communities across the country.
If your school isn’t using My Best Me yet, we would love to help you bring Hope to your school. Our sales team is ready to answer your questions and demo My Best Me for you. Contact us to start spreading Hope in your school.