MYSELF
lesson 3:
grow the zone
Lesson Summary
In this lesson, students explore the concept of stepping out of their comfort zone and into their growth zone, where learning and personal growth happens. Students learn it is normal to feel afraid or worried when they step out of their comfort zone and “Three Brave Steps” teaches students practical tools to positively manage these feelings. Together with their teacher, students identify and have a go at something they currently cannot do that is outside of their comfort zone. This helps students to understand that the more frequently they enter their growth zone and take on new challenges, the more they can own their growth zone. This means they can feel confident and ready to embrace future challenges, in both their friendships and life.
Purpose
Purpose: Students understand they have their comfort, fear, growth and panic zone. By understanding the steps they can take to manage their fear and panic zones, they are able to step into their growth zone and take on new challenges.
Process
Time Needed: 25 to 30 minutes
Activity: Video (5 mins)
Intro: Own The Zone (5 mins)
Activity: Three Brave Steps (5- 10 mins)
Activity: From “I Can’t” to “I’m Learning”.
Debrief and Reflection (5 mins)
Materials & downloads
For this lesson, you will need the following:
Optional: Plain Paper
Optional: Coloured pens or pencils
Optional: Student workbook / notebook
Activity - video
Teacher Instructions:
As a class, watch the video together.
Debrief the video: We saw in that video Master Shifu telling Po that if all we do is stay in our comfort zones and never go beyond what we can currently do, we don’t grow. Through the everyday journey beyond his comfort zone, not only did Po become the best version of himself, he also began to discover true purpose and meaning in his life. Just like Po, we want to become the best versions of ourselves and that means we need to step beyond our comfort zone!
After watching the video, ask students to share different ideas of activities, skills, hobbies or tasks they once did not know how to do and now enjoy.
Optional: Students can make a mind map and write their ideas down.
Intro
Lesson Intro – (5 Mins)
Everything in our comfort zone - from the friends we have and play with to the sports and activities we enjoy doing - was all new to us once! When we try new things, we learn and grow and our comfort zone, the zone where we feel safe and happy, gets bigger. We are going to explore the different zones we have and how we can move out of our comfort zone and into our growth zone.
Use the “Own the Zone” resource to explain the different zones students can experience on a daily basis.
Comfort Zone – This is the zone where we feel safe and happy. We do things that are familiar, such as interacting with our close friends and family members, playing our favourite game or eating foods we already know we like.
Fear Zone - This zone is where we are faced with something new, different or challenging and we feel scared, worried or nervous.
Grow Zone – This is where we start trying something new, such as learning how to do a new activity, task or behaviour. This zone is a little uncomfortable and where learning and change happens. We might make mistakes or get it wrong but we are resilient and keep trying.
Panic Zone – This is where the new activity, challenge or task feels too much or too big right now. We may feel overwhelmed or upset.
Key points to explain:
Feeling fear is normal - it’s like a guard dog trying to keep us safe! Fear tries to protect us even when the challenge or situation is safe - a bit like a dog barking when it’s just the postman or a family member at the door.
Resilience means trying again when things are hard, bouncing back if we fail, and noticing how we improve. Sometimes we may not get it right the first time and that’s okay, what is important is that we don’t give up and we keep working at it.
When we repeatedly try new things, our Comfort Zone grows. That’s how we change and learn. The bigger our comfort zone gets, the happier and more confident we feel. We feel excited to try even more new things as we know how fun it can be when we successfully learn a new skill, activity or task.
Activity: three brave steps
Teacher Script: When we step out of our comfort zone, we might feel nervous, scared, or worried. That’s normal. Even adults feel that way!
Being in our Fear Zone and feeling nervous, scared or worried is normal and shouldn’t stop us from trying something new, we need to be brave!. We can use these feelings as a way of knowing we are on our way to our growth zone!
Bravery = trying something even when it feels scary.
Resilience = keeping going when it’s hard, and learning from our mistakes.
It’s important to know what to do to help us manage these feelings, so we can take action and move into our growth zone.
Teacher Instructions:
Go through each part of Three Brave Steps as a class. Give students time to practice each step.
Optional: Teacher can expand the steps to include and reinforce additional strategies students may also be familiar with.
Step 1: Brave Breaths
This is where we use our breathing to calm our body and mind when we feel nervous or fearful.
Demonstrate: Breathe in slowly for 4 counts, hold for 1 count, breathe out for 4 counts.
Practise together as a class 2–3 times.
Step 2: Brave Thoughts
This is where we use encouraging and positive self-talk to help us try and learn new things. This positive self-talk helps us to manage our feelings. We can use phrases such as “I can give it a go,” or “I can learn from my mistakes and try again,” or “It’s okay if I don’t get it right the first time, I can have another go.” Encourage students to say their brave thoughts out loud (either as a class or individually) to increase their confidence.
Teacher to model examples of how thoughts can change feelings: Instead of saying: “I can’t do this,” we can say: “I can’t do this yet, but I am going to try.”
As a class, come up with three different positive thoughts and say them out loud as a class.
Step 3: Brave Actions
This is where we take a small step toward the challenge. We might ask a question, share an idea, or attempt a new skill. To move into our growth zone, we have to be brave and take action. Once we take the first step, the next step feels a little bit easier. The next feels a little bit easier again and the more steps we take, the braver we feel! Emphasise that even one small action counts as success.
Debrief: Share with the students that by practicing these three steps, we can reduce the chance of us moving into the “Panic Zone” as we are able to manage our feelings in a healthy and positive way.
Activity: From “I can’t” to “I’m learning” (10-15 minutes)
Teacher Instructions:
1. As a class, make a mind map on the class whiteboard of things the students can’t yet do in class.
Below are some examples to get started if they’re stuck:
Balance on one foot with their eyes closed for 20 seconds.
Draw a picture of a house / garden / animal with their non-dominant hand.
Talk to someone who isn’t their best or closest friend.
Spell a difficult word or a word with more than 5 letters.
Read two sentences from a book out loud.
2. Next, choose one challenge to complete as a class.
Remind the students that it’s about giving this challenge a go , even if it seems scary or they are nervous, and not about being perfect or getting it right on the first attempt. This is how we move from our comfort zones to our growth zone!
3. After you have chosen a challenge, ask each student to practice doing either a Brave Breath or saying a Brave Thought to get them ready to attempt the challenge.
Optional: Ask students to pair and share with their table partner or person next to them which brave step they have chosen and then ask them to do the step they have chosen.
4. As a class, complete the chosen challenge.
Teacher Tip: Completing the chosen challenge can be done in an “I Do, We Do, You Do” format to maximise engagement and participation.
I Do: The teacher models what stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new looks like. Choose an example from the board and have a go!
We Do: Now, the teacher and students have a go at the challenge together.
You Do: Now, encourage the students to try again, this time on their own. Encourage students to be resilient and keep trying as they improve their skills.
Repeat this process either by completing another challenge together as a class, or asking students to choose another challenge to attempt independently.
Once the students have completed their challenges, come back together as a class and encourage students to notice how they felt before, during, and after the activity. It is important to praise students for the effort they have put in to attempt something new, as opposed to achieving a specific outcome.
Use the following prompt questions to support the discussion:
“What did you notice about your feelings before you started?”
“Even if you made a mistake, what did you learn?”
“How can you use what you have learnt today to step into your growth zone again?”
Debrief:
In this activity, students were challenged to identify and then take on a task or activity they have not previously been able to do. By taking students through the process of attempting something unfamiliar, they learn that they can do something they may have once believed to be too difficult or scary.
Lesson Debrief:
In this lesson, students have identified the different zones we experience as we learn and grow. To be our very best, we have to challenge ourselves and live at the edge of our comfort zone and be ready to try new things, learn new skills and face our fears. Being brave and moving from our comfort zone to our growth zone also helps other people to be brave and have a go too!
