CLASS OF 2017
CLASS OF 2016
As a sophomore Stephanie Brunelle, of
For Joe Scala, of East Wakefield, New
Brookfield, New Hampshire, is enrolled
Hampshire, being his best self and using
in the Optimizing Your Intelligence
the Mood Meter to get in the right
Class. In her own words, she talks about
mindset are what he finds most helpful
how the course is adding value to her
about the EL curriculum.
Brewster experience. “When I started looking at my future
“I have experienced many different aspects of emotional literacy in my two years at Brewster, and the most effective tools for me are the time management and planning strategies. This is something I have learned
and college … going inside myself and becoming emotionally aware … the best self principle helped a lot. … It’s all about the correct mindset at Brewster. If you have the correct
more about in my current OYI class. I am enrolled in six classes. I play
mindset to be the best student or the best athlete or the best friend,
on three varsity sports teams, as well as an elite lacrosse team, and
you’ll be successful at this school.
I take three dance classes and belong to the Brewster dance team. I have a very busy schedule so making sure I manage my time wisely is
“My best self is bringing a positive attitude to the day. Trying to be my
key to make all of this work. Before OYI it was hard to not be up until
best self also helped with my grades,” he said.
three in the morning doing homework, but with the class they teach you so many life skills, like how to plan every aspect of your day.
Joe recognizes the correlation between attitude and results and with an emphasis on college during the junior year he is focused on remaining
“One tool that I use the most is the Meta-Moment. Everyone gets very stressed out from time to time. I get myself stressed beyond compare with all of my extra curricular activities. The Meta-Moment helps me take a step back and relax in very stressful situations. After using the Meta-Moment so many times I don’t even realize when I’m doing it.
positive and meeting the additional challenges despite the stress that comes with the uncertainties of the college process. “How do you balance it all? It’s all about prioritizing, it’s all about mindset,” he said.
Fortunately Brewster teachers understand that the most effective learning environment is one in which all students are ready and eager
“If and when the Meta-Moment fails I turn to blue printing one of the
to engage. One tool for setting the optimal environment is the Mood
anchors where you document actions in a situation regarding differing
Meter. Depending on the mood in the room – too much high energy
opinions to help understand how each of you were feeling. This helps
to be productive or high stress levels due to upcoming exams – a
me to see both sides of the story and what went wrong and where so
teacher might ask students to chart themselves on the Mood Meter,
I can understand what to do if the situation ever arises again.
which in turn can help the teacher redirect class focus for more effective outcomes. It’s not uncommon at times to hear students refer
"I have learned that building strong relationships is key." – Stephanie Brunelle '17
“Another way that OYI
to their frame of mind as “in the green” or “in the “red.” But whatever
impacts my life is that
the mood, what matters is that students are making connections
it has had an affect on my relationships with my peers and teachers. I have learned that building strong
relationships is key. Whether the relationship is between me and one of my teachers or me and my friends. An exercise that we did was
between attitude and mindset and their accomplishments or areas needing growth.
“I will ask myself how can I direct myself to be more positive,” Joe explained. “I just kind of picture my best self. If I can’t do it right then, I can think of all the alternatives to make [my mood] better. ‘What are
make goals for three components of our life. The three components
they? Can I fix it?’ Sometimes I can’t fix it, but I have to think … ‘it’s
were academics, relationships, and hobbies. This helped me really
all about getting back up.’”
think about what is important to me in each category. I saw after making goals for my relationships – like reaching out to a new person each week – I felt more diverse in my friend groups as well as some of my best friends I felt much closer to. I have enjoyed learning about emotional literacy and am looking forward to what else we will be learning.”
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BrewsterConnections – Spring 2015
RULER