Gossip

https://youtu.be/AdwVxK9YECo

 

Character Ads

Note: We are happy to provide poster boards and markers for supplies!

Contribution

This month’s “C” from the 7 C's of Resilience was Contribution. When you make a contribution, it means you're giving something away — whether it's your money, your possessions, or your time.

A contribution can take many forms. Some contributions are measurable, like a $10 donation to the Salvation Army. Others are less tangible. When a student raises her/his hand in class to ask a question, s/he's making a contribution, because the answer to her/his question enriches the other students' learning experience.

During the month of November, IHMS students have made amazing contributions to their school, homes, and community:

·      IHMS students rocked the food drive collecting over 7,488 food items

·      They have worked hard in their position on a team sport

·      They have shared thoughts during pair/share

·      They’ve given input or completed their part during a class project

·      They have helped a family member with chores

·      And they were a good friend 

The 8^th grade ELA Honors students through the project “Find Your Voice” made a difference in their community through some of the following:

·      Raising money for animal shelters, disaster relief, orphanages/foster care by doing bake sale or car washes

·      Picking up trash in parks

·      Collected items for refugees and women’s shelters

·      Visited assisted residents in living centers

See email for links to student “Find Your Voice” videos (due to student confidentiality / parent permissions).

Classroom Discussion:

1.     What have you learned about yourselves from volunteering?

2.     How can your voice make a difference in your community?

3.     What are some things that you can do to volunteer in your community?

Examples- they can push themselves harder, confidence, feels good to give, more willing to ask for help, their actions are important, gratitude….

Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti

For Unity Day this year, we want to highlight acts of kindness here at Indian Hills.

We have provided sticky notes / colored squares for each student in your class. Please use felt markers or black/blue ink to have each student respond to the following prompts (based on grade level). NO NAMES!

6th Grade

What is something kind that YOU can do here at Indian Hills?

7th Grade

What is something kind that someone else has done FOR YOU here at Indian Hills?

8th Grade

What is something kind that YOU have SEEN here at Indian Hills?

Please review each square for appropriateness after your students complete the activity. Afterward, please bring your 2nd period squares to the Counseling Center sometime October 24th.

Keep an eye out for our completed bulletin boards. Here are some samples of how it will (hopefully) look.

What is Bullying?

http://www.pacer.org/bullying/video/player.asp?video=89&local=true

Awkward is the New Awesome!

Please show the following video from Kid President: https://youtu.be/OoHdwUEfBts (3:33).


Ask the class to raise their hand if they have ever felt different or like they didn't fit in. (everyone should raise their hands)

Say:  Look around. We have all felt like we didn't fit in at some point.

Discussion questions:

1. How do we get over feeling different and awkward, so that we can get to know new people and make friends?
2. How could you "step up your friend game" here at Indian Hills?
3. What has worked for you in the past to get to know someone?
4. List some ideas as a class of things that you can do to make new friends this year. (examples: sit by someone new at lunch, say hi in the hallway, help someone find their class, play a game/sport with someone new, join an after school activity, ask someone what their favorite movie is, hold the door for someone, etc...)

CHALLENGE: Meet and talk to one new person today!

Disagreeing Respectfully

 April 24

Here's the link to the video on slide 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghk-nDJB3Tk.

How To Ask For What You Need

April 10

Purpose: Help students understand how to ask for what they need and gain control of their emotions. When they view things through a clear lens, they can ask for what they need without sounding angry, blaming or sad.

Time: 20 minutes

Steps:

1.     Today we are going to learn how to ask for what we need. 

      Examples: Ask a teacher for homework missed. Ask mom for permission to do something on the weekend. Ask a friend about __________.

2.     Read from the PowerPoint

a.     Have students read the first slide with bullet points about asking for what you need.

b.     We will use the acronym LENS to remember the steps to asking for what you need.

                                               i.     LOOK the person in the eye. Eye contact helps to engage the person and opens communication. Once you have eye contact you know the person is focused and listening.

                                             ii.     The next step is to EXPLAIN the situation. Giving detailed information is important in communication because it helps the other person understand the entire situation. Their decision about your need may change based on the details.

                                            iii.     Ask for what you NEED. It is important to know exactly what you need before starting the conversation Think ahead of time.

                                            iv.     SMILE. Smiling is important to create a friendly and positive environment which may affect the person’s response.

c.     Using these four steps - LENS - we should begin to feel confident to to ask for what we need.

3.     Explain that we all have different lenses in which we view the world. These lens change the way that we view the world, a situation, a problem or a relationship. It will also affect how we ask for what we need.

4.     There are four different lenses that I would like to talk about today: Angry lens, blaming or denying lens, sad lens and clear lens.

a.     Angry Lens: this lens make you think, “How can they do that to me? It’s not fair!”

b.     Blaming or denying lens: Here you are thinking, "It wasn’t my fault! He made me do it!”

c.     Sad lens: This lens makes you feel like you aren’t good enough. It makes you think, “I’m not good at anything. I can’t do anything right!”

d.     Clear lens: This is the lens that saves us. This lens helps us keep an open mind. It says, “I’m a good person, I am human. Sometimes we make mistakes, but it’s okay!

5.     Discuss that when you are asking others for things, it’s best to use a clear lens. Others are more receptive when you are not angry, blaming, or sad. Explain that using a clear lens is being assertive (not passive or aggressive).

6.     Finally, now that we have learned how to use our LENS and keep a CLEAR LENS we need to remember to fix the color of the lens to clear when asking for what we need.  

Lesson Adapted by Draper Park Middle School

Respect

March 27

Ask students: What does RESPECT mean?


Here is the dictionary definition:

noun

1.

 a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

verb

1.

 admire (someone or something) deeply, as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements.

Examples: 

I respect my friend's opinion even though it is different from my own.

Respect is treating people the way you want to be treated, or better.

Class Discussion:   

During the discussion, write down things that the students suggest as ways to show respect. Separate into what respect LOOKS like versus what it SOUNDS like.

1. What are some synonyms for RESPECT?
2. Why is acting respectful important?
3. What does respect LOOK like?
4. What does respect SOUND like?
5. How do you show respect to others?
1. Parents/family
2. Teachers
3. Other students at school

Examples:

Saying thank you, making eye contact, holding the door open for others, expressing appreciation, saying I'm sorry (sincerely), helping someone, listening without interrupting, not talking back, following rules, being kind, including others, cooperating with others for a project, etc...

7 Additional Ways to Show You're All About RESPECT:
R - Recognize that everyone is different.
E - Empathy is to listen and connect
S - Self-Monitor, think first
P - Personal space, give a little room
E - Earn trust through your actions
C - Cheer on others and their success
T - Treat everyone as an equal

To end, show a clip of the following video - it's long, so cut it at 2:58 when it shows the Jackie Robinson quote.

https://youtu.be/AImeG0Nk1p8

Resilience

March 13

Please show the following video about building resiliency.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Stop the video at 4:01 (right after the strong teen girl is drawn)

Discussion Options:

1. Copy the handout for each student
2. Show PPT with questions and have students individually answer on paper.
3. Show PPT with questions and discuss as a class.

All options were attached to the email with this link.

Credit: Author Alyson Reid-Larade talks about Towards and Away Coping Strategies and how your decisions can help create your Better Future. See the website for the upcoming book "How To Be Your Own Hero - The Teenager's Toolkit For Building Self-Esteem" at www.byoh.ca.

Friendship Soup

Feb 6

https://youtu.be/H7w7yXkJTu0 (3:31)
 or
http://www.schooltube.com/video/629136899d5f41599f3a/Video%20Lesson%20-%20Friendship%20Soup  (3:31)


Friendship Soup Recipe:
2 sticks Kindness
1 gallon Goofiness
3 cups Having fun
3 pints Honesty
1 teaspoon Arguments (sticky)
3 tablespoons Respect
1 1/2 cups Safety
1 cup Trust

Are these good ingredients?

What would you add or change to the recipe?
How could sticky arguments improve a friendship?

Let's talk about some of those "sticky arguments" that come with Friendship Soup.

Choose a few of the scenarios below and discuss with the class how you could resolve the situation in a positive way:

1. You find out that your friend has been telling people stories about you that aren't true.
2. Your friend keeps saying or doing things that hurt your feelings.
3. Two or more of your friends are arguing with each other. They want you to choose between them, but you don't want to lose either of them as your friend.
4. Your friend wants to spend more time with you than you want to spend with him/her. You like this friend, but you also want to be able to hang out with other friends.
5. Your friend invites you to go to an activity but then calls back an hour later to cancel. You find out later that your friend went to the activity with someone else.

Credit: http://www.goodcharacter.com/BCBC/Friendship.html and www.theNEDshow.com/lessonplans

Personal Responsibility

Jan 23

Post on board or say: "You are either part of the problem or part of the solution."

Ask:  Have you heard this saying before?

Explain that this lesson provides students with an opportunity to think about their own attitudes and behaviors and to consider how they can be "part of the problem" but also how they are/can be "part of the solution."

Distribute the self-reflection handout (emailed separately)

Explain that because this is a personal self-reflection, no one will be asked to share individual responses; encourage students to be as honest as possible. At the end of the activity there will be a general discussion but no personal details and no handouts will be collected.

Allow time for students to complete the handout.

General Discussion:

1. Were you surprised by any of your answers? Why do you think you were surprised?
2. Do you think that you will try to change any of your attitudes or behaviors based on your self-reflection? Explain your thinking.
3. If you were satisfied with some or all of your answers, what kinds of things will you do to continue being "part of the solution?"

Optional Activity:

Distribute post card (or index card) to each student. Have them write their name on one side of the card. On the other side of the card, ask the students to write one or two actions that they hope to accomplish in the next month. Tell the students that you will collect the cards and will give them to the students in one month. The cards will serve as a reminder of what the students hope to accomplish.


Credit: http://www.partnersagainsthate.org 

Empathy

Jan 9

Developing Empathy

Activities

Can you think of a time—maybe during an argument with a friend or when the boy or girl you liked hurt your feelings—when you wished that someone understood how you felt? When we try to relate to what another person is going through, we’re being empathetic.

Do you think you’re an empathetic person? We're going to read 5 questions as a class. You should silently reflect whether your answer would be yes or no, with “yes” if it describes something you do or “no” if you don’t do what is described. (the 5 questions are being emailed separately, and also listed below)

1. I often think about other people's feelings.
2. I don't make fun of other people because I can imagine what it feels like to be in their shoes.
3. I listen to others about what they're going through.
4. I try to understand other people's point of view.
5. I'm aware that not everyone reacts to situations the same way I do. 

If you answered mostly “yes,” you probably do a good job of showing empathy toward other people. The statements you answered “no” to are things you could do to be more empathetic.

• One way you can try to imagine what it feels like being in someone else’s shoes is to ask yourself, “How would I feel in this situation?” How else can you try to understand how others feel?
• When you listen to others, making eye contact, not interrupting the speaker, and asking follow-up questions can show that you’re making a genuine effort to understand what they’re going through. What other behaviors might show someone that you are being an empathetic listener?
• What can you do to be more aware of other people’s feelings? For instance, when you talk to your friends, how many “you” questions do you ask compared to the number of “I” statements you make?  (Explain, or give examples...)

Now you are going to practice what you’ve learned about being empathetic. Discuss as a class or pass out character cards for pair-sharing... (emailed separately) If working in pairs, students will be completing the rest of the activity as this character, so take some time to think about how he or she would feel in the given situation.

• Pair up with a classmate (be sure your partner’s character card is different from yours; if you have the same character, you need to pair up with someone else). As your character, tell your partner about your situation. Your partner should practice being empathetic as s/he is listening to your story. Then, switch roles: practice being empathetic as your partner, as his/her character, tells you what s/he is experiencing.
• With your partner, discuss how s/he showed empathy toward you, how it made you feel and what you wish s/he had done differently. Use statements like, “I could tell you were really listening to me because you maintained eye contact with me during the entire conversation, and that made me feel like you care.”

Everyone in the class should now stand. Go around the room, sharing something you learned about practicing empathy, sitting after you share. If someone else shares your thought, sit down. Continue around the room until everyone is sitting.

As a class, discuss how you can follow the behaviors suggested to show empathy toward others.

Link for Empathy questions if you want to project it:
http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/are%20you%20empathetic.pdf 



credit: http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/developing-empathy-middle-grades