September 30th

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

September 29th

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 (tomorrow) and went through the test in detail so they knew exactly what to study and what would be on the test.

September 28th

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 27th

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 24th

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 23rd

Students watched a video on Teenage Anger and completed some questions about how they can learn to control their own anger, which they turned in for points.

September 22nd

We talked about three communication styles: aggressive, passive and assertive. Students identified the styles by statements made by or descriptions about the three styles. Then in groups, they role-played one of the three styles to understand what they look like.

September 21st

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 20th

There was no school today due to the fire in Herriman. I hope all of you and your families are ok! We will all get through this and I can't wait to see you all when we can get back to the school. My thoughts are with you all!

September 17th

Today, we finished learning about the 7 prime emotions and discussed different colors and what the meanings and feelings of different colors are.

September 16th

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 15th

Today we 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 14th

We continued on values today 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 13th

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 10th

Students had a sub today. The watched "Cypher in the Snow" and wrote about someone they know who has been left out and forgotten. They also had to share something about themselves that no own else knows. Students also needed to turn in their journal entries for this week by the end of the class period.

September 9th

Students learned about stress, what it is, common teen stressors and how teens can cope with stress. They had 10 questions to answer about how personally deal with stress they had to turn in by the end of class.

September 8th

We finished up on the activities dealing with self-concept, self-esteem and self-confidence.

September 7th

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. Students' roadmaps from last Friday were also due into the basket today by the end of class.

September 3rd

Students were given 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 Tuesday.

September 2nd

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.

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.

August 31st

Students had a sub today, so they learned about self-concept and how it affects their self-image.