High Performance Learning Impact

Each day we are born again. What we do today matters most” - Lord Buddha

Hello everyone, my name is Sophia from GEMS Royal Dubai School and I’m going to be talking to you about a few High Performance Learning

(HPL) skills I have recently demonstrated and applied in my learning during remote learning

Over the next few weeks, I will be, with great pride and pleasure, going to writing to you about a few HPL focuses, which are made up of VAA and ACP skills, I have showcased in my learning. To start my journey through writing, I will begin with the VAA skill of resilience.

In the early weeks of my online lessons, I was required to use this skill as I had to adapt to the new circumstances and changes of my regular school life. Due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, my dreams of having fun with my friends, spending time with my amazing teachers and enjoying my lessons in the comfort of my own classroom, during my last term at Royal Dubai School (RDS), were shattered. However, I realized that change is something that is inevitable but it is something that you can overcome. Therefore, this is precisely what I did. Whilst overcoming these changes, I was caught up in many challenges, which I faced confidently. During this process, I learnt the life skill of resilience. From that time on, I have been able to cope with differences and challenges as well as recover from them swiftly and with ease. This is a great definition of resilience and in the end, I was, and still am, proud to call myself a resilient learner.

Now something that everyone needs to realize, is that nothing comes easy. Everything needs skill, knowledge and even experience. This is why I go by the phrase, “Practice makes perfect”. To master the skill of resilience, or for that matter any skill, you need to practice and showcase it in various ways without giving up. To support you whilst you’re doing this, I have a few tips and tricks to help you along the way. Starting off with resilience, firstly, look at any situation in a different perspective. Say you are or were once in my situation where you had to adapt to changes that you didn’t expect, try to think of the situation from a positive perspective. Now I am certain most of you are currently in my shoes therefore you are probably stuck at home unable to carry on with the majority of your everyday lives. But that shouldn’t let negative emotion flow within your body. You should think of this time in a positive manner even though there may be some cons. Ask yourself, what are the positives of the situation. My list includes: more quality time spent with my family, plenty of time to discover myself as an individual, becoming technology-smarter by the day, time to mentally prepare myself for changes and challenges in the future and so on. By doing this, you will show resilience by overcoming these changes and settling or adapting to a new-normal life. 

Next, have a performance mindset. If you have performance mindset, you are open to new ideas and this is key to be able to live the best life possible whilst under the current circumstances. In my situation, I had to have a performance mindset because I had to be open and adapt to the new ideas of learning which is now remote learning. Having a performance mindset and looking at situations in different perspectives has helped me abundantly to accept change positively and I hope you too follow these tips as you gradually learn and master the skill resilience. 

Now that I have walked you down the path of resilience, I genuinely hope you use this skill as a part of your daily life in every way you possibly can. I believe this skill with definitely have a positive impact on you and the people around you. To finish off with this week’s write, I have a short quote to keep you motivated and encourage you to keep going. As you may already know, Michael Jordan is a former basketball player and has had many moments of great success. “I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying”. This quote is by him and I have a little voice in my head that repeats his words when I need it the most. That’s partly why I am the person who I am today. I have and will always try my hardest to get back on my feet whenever I am thrown off of them. I will never give in.