There are only a couple of Boost sessions left for the year so we haven't started any ongoing projects. We have returned to working on social skills and group work.
Today we learned about what empathy is. We talked about how empathy is really thinking about how someone else is feeling. First we started thinking about what it would be like to be Mum, what would Mum be thinking about and feeling. It took a while, but the boys really started thinking about what Mum's take on life is. They talked about what it would feel like as Mum, driving them around to sports, thinking about work, finishing work at home, feeling frustrated when the kids aren't listening!
Then we thought about when we have done something silly that we regret. Without naming what we have all done (and everyone has something to feel regret about) we thought about what it was like for the other person. We tried to empathise with how that person would have felt or thought.
Empathy is really important, as it guides our behaviour towards others. It helps when we think of the bigger picture and how we affect how others are feeling.
We put this to the test with a game of speed chess on the giant chess board. Teams of four played chess with only ten seconds to make each move. The challenge was to think about the other team members and how your move may affect the others, and we also worked on genuinely thanking the opposition for the game.
