September 30th

Students continued with the communication unit. Today, they learned about and compared a hammer to destructive and constructive communication techniques. A class note page was provided to the students to write notes on.

September 29th

We started on the Communication unit today and started with learning the differences between child-like, parent-like and adult-like communication styles. They also watched three clips from "The Emperor's New Groove" and had to identify the three types of communication shown in the movie clips.

September 28th

Students had a sub today and learned about values. Nothing was due today.

September 24th

Students had a mid-term test today on the Independent Living Skills unit. We discussed this test on Tuesday and what they would be tested on and needed to study. We will start the communication unit on Monday.

September 23rd

Students watched a presentation from our guest speaker from La Caille today. She discussed and demonstrated proper etiquette procedures students would use on dates and when dining out. Students are also taking an optional field trip on October 22nd after school to La Caille. Parents are also invited to attend. The dinner is $32.00 per person and must be paid to the office by October 7th. Students will then take their receipt and permission form to class and turn it into the basket by 3:00 p.m. on October 7th to be added to the list and the count. Reservations will be made that day at 3:00 and no additions or subtractions can be made after that time.

September 22nd

Today, students learned about stress reducers. I provided a number of different stress reducers and the class shared ways they prefer to reduce their stress. We also discussed their upcoming mid-term test on Thursday and went through the test in detail so they knew exactly what to study and what would be on the test. Tomorrow we will meet in the Foods lab for a guest speaker from La Caille to teach etiquette skills to the students for the upcoming field trip on October 22nd.

September 21st

Students discussed poor ways people use to numb stress and we focused on depression and suicide. The students watched an educational video on the effects of suicide and how people can identify warning signs from friends and family.

September 18th

Students learned about stress, distress, eustress and stress reducers. They took a questionnaire to rate how much stress they have and we discussed how everyone handles stress differently. We also discussed biofeedback and handed out biodots to use to see how they are reacting to the daily stress they have in their lives.

September 17th

After filling in their student/teacher assessment sheet for Student-Led Conferences, the students discussed what makes them angry and learned the differences between hot, cold and warm anger and compared these emotions to balloons. They also read the book "When Sophie gets angry" and talked about what they can do to control their anger. There was a paper that went with this, but the students didn't turn this in.

September 16th

We first discussed different colors and what the meanings and feelings of different colors are. Students were then given a choice of activities. One was called "Written all over your face" to help them distinguish between emotions and facial expressions. They had the rest of class to work on it and the answers and prizes were given at the end of class for those who had the most correct. The other was charades and the students had to act out and guess different descriptive words of emotions.

September 15th

We read the book "What are you so grumpy about" and discussed the seven basic emotions. Then we discussed and wrote about how these emotions are portrayed in the books they are reading and the TV and Movies they watch.

September 14th

Students finished their personalized license plates and car comparing parts of it to parts of their own personality. We then discussed emotions, feelings and the affects these feelings have on us and others around us. We studied how our surroundings, especially the music we listen to, can effect our moods. Students listened to clips from different types of music and had to explain how each made them feel.

September 11th

Students finished discussing personalities by completing another couple of activities, like the Hartman Color Code, a personalized license plate and a photo of a car comparing parts of it to parts of their own personality. The car and license plate were turned in for points and these will be placed in their Student-Led Conference portfolios.

September 10th

Students discussed what different factors have made up/influenced their personality. They were then shown common personality tests people have created. Today, students learned about astrology signs, the Chinese zodiac and A/B type personalities.

September 9th

Students finished watching select clips from "Charlie and the Chocolate factory" to identify each of the values each golden ticket winner had. We continued and discussed common values each member of society has and talked about setting priorities. The students then answered a series of questions to rank their values in order of priority from the most important to the least. We also discussed how our values and priorities effect the goals we set and if we will be able to reach those goals or not. We are more likely to achieve goals that we value or that we see as a high priority.

September 8th

Students started discussing values and focused on the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic values. They had to know and recognize the difference between the two types and they practiced by watching a few movie clips about children and their different types of values.

September 4th

Today, we finished up learning about self-concept by watching a couple of examples from a couple of movies. We also spent some time discussing the book "Stargirl," which the students read last year as a school, and talked about how she works to help others and make them feel special and how it ties in to self-esteem.

September 3rd

Students continued learning about self-concept today and focused on Self-confidence. We discussed being a unique individual and listened to a song and watched a couple of video clips on confidence. We also shared a couple of children's books which students can use with their younger siblings. Their PG video permission form, Human Sexuality permission form and their $5.00 lab fee was also due today. These will be posted on Skyward today as well.

September 2nd

Students learned about the differences in self-concept, self-esteem, self-image, as well as how they affect all areas of our life. They were read the story "You are special" and wrote down the definitions of the terms, but the rest of class was a discussion.

September 1st

We finished discussing the five types of adolescent development, which we related to the acronym of Pepsi. We then moved on to discussing common roadblocks to development that teens may face and the challenges associated with each one. Students were given the rest of the class period to create a road map of their life so far, including any roadblocks which may have changed the course of their life thus far. This will be due at the beginning of class on Thursday.