Beliefs Survey & Questionnaire

We continued our discussions about beliefs last week by completing a survey and a questionnaire. These tools were designed to help our YESS scholars better understand beliefs they harbor in addition to understanding how others may perceive him or her.

To complete the survey, each scholar had to ask his or her table for feedback. For instance, one of the questions asked, "What do you think are my greatest strengths?" Another question asked, "What are some areas for improvement?" I was particularly proud of the way our scholars handled this question. There was honesty, but also empathy as mentors and mentees thought carefully about how to phrase their feedback. Many were surprised by some of the beliefs they heard others hold true for them, such as, "you are really great at helping me with my math work," or, "you are really confident and calm."

5th hour acts out the survey as though they are filming each interviewee!

Though the survey took some time to complete, it was very helpful at highlight the different belief systems in our classroom. After the survey, we moved on to a questionnaire. Each scholar had to note how much they felt the statement represented their behavior and/or feelings on a scale of 1-4 (1 indicating little if any connection, 4 indicating a major connection). One example of a statement reads: To fail is terrible. Another reads: I feel personally threatened when criticized.

Nate works with his mentees to complete the survey.

7th hour works hard to complete the questionnaire.

At the end of the questionnaire, our scholars had to add up certain questions to see which of the four main categories (or more!) they fell under: feeling "powerless" or like "I can't do much about my life"; feeling as though "my worth and security are dependent on being loved"; feeling like "my worth and security depend on the approval of others"; feeling as if "my worth is dependent on my performance or achievements"; feeling as if "I trust or get too close, I'll lose control"; or feeling like "I have to be perfect" or "it is not OK to make mistakes."

So many scholars found this questionnaire enlightening. As one mentee put it, "This is totally me! I mean, I knew it, but not really. Like, it was in the back of my head but now I am aware, Miss!"

5th hour enjoys some fresh air while completing their surveys!

We also had a very special visit by Breanne, who designed our YESS lessons and curriculum. It was such a pleasure to host her in our classroom!

We will continue to explore belief systems more in the weeks to come!

Some great feedback from a mentee on a Weekly Reflection Log. "The most interesting was that I never actually thought about some of these things [in relation to our talk about belief systems]."