Do you have students that find it difficult to put themselves in another’s shoes and see things from someone else’s perspective? Have they ever judged someone without really getting to know them? My guess is you have; we all have! This lesson explores empathy as students practice applying empathy skills in order to strengthen their emotional intelligence which will help them as they move forward in life.
Category: Interpersonal Relationships
Children & Self-Esteem
Teaching students about self-esteem is important at any age, but it’s super important to emphasize how critical it is to a child’s development. In this lesson I share some ideas and activities that help students understand what self-esteem is, the difference between positive and negative self-esteem, how it’s developed, why it’s important and who/what helps to influence it. So, read on to learn more about this lesson!
A Twisted Love Poem Activities & Updated “No One Would Tell” Resources
Ever feel like you need to breathe new life into some of your units? That’s just how I felt with some of my dating violence activities! Not that they still weren’t great activities, I was just getting tired of using them and needed something fresher. In this post you will find a few of the new activities and resources that I created that involve a poem, a teen girl visual and an updated movie for use in this unit. So, choose one, two or all three to try out the next time you teach about dating violence!
Ageism Lesson Plan
Aging is an event that happens to all of us, whether we like it or not! Students are often uncomfortable talking about aging because they fear it and, not only do they want to avoid it, they often think it won’t happen to them. They often view aging only from the physical perspective…little do they realize that it’s already happening to them in other ways. This lesson encourages students to view aging biases that are out there, including some they might hold and others that may have been directed at them! It doesn’t take long for students to see the similarities between the young and the old!
Masks, True Identity & Healthy Relationships
It all started with a give away! Twisted Boards was giving away 3-D boards resembling masks. All I had to do was share back how I used them in my class. My students are still talking about this lesson…to me, to their peers and to other teachers! Since completing this lesson and project, I’ve seen a significant difference in my students as well. Many are coming out of their shells, volunteering to go first in oral presentations, sharing more about themselves and more importantly connecting the concepts to other lessons! Read on to see how I incorporated these masks/boards into my curriculum.
Styles for Handling Conflict: Lesson & Activities
Conflicts exist everywhere: at home, at school and at work! No exemptions! However, just as the problems vary so do the ways ways that people may deal with them. Check out the interactive lesson below on how you can teach your students all about the various styles for handling conflict in both their personal and professional lives.
Teaching Employability Skills with “The Pursuit of Happyness” Movie
When I first started teaching about employability skills, my lesson was pretty dull, a real snoozer! Over the last few years, I’ve reworked the lesson to make it more interesting and engaging for my students. One of my all time favorite movies, The Pursuit of Happyness, is also incorporated into this lesson because it contains a ton of examples of employability skills in actiont! Check out the lesson below if you need to spice up your employability skills materials!
Family Dinner Matters
One tradition that my family practiced as I was growing up was eating family dinner together regularly! I have wonderful memories of that dinner table; the fun and laughter as well as difficult conversations that ensued between my sisters and parents. This important tradition continued while raising our own children! How my husband and I will miss this daily routine as we rapidly approach the empty nest stage of our lives. Below you will find a lesson that promotes eating together as a family and the benefits along with a variety of engaging activities and projects that can be implemented in the FACS classroom. Hopefully, students will carry this concept to their home life so it becomes a recurring practice and a potential tradition with both their present and future families!
Coping Skills Toolbox
If you teach about crisis or mental illness, then this culminating activity shared by Michelle Overman, a FACS teacher from Greenville Central High School, Indiana, is one for your “tool belt”. Below you will find a variety of activities that Michelle uses when teaching this topic to her Human Development class with some additional ones that I’ve added.