Ranum Week 16

Welcome back for Week 16 at Ranum Middle School.

This past week we discussed anger, and peaceful conflict resolution. It was perfect because we talked about different things that made us frustrated which led to a lot of our anger. We also found out that most of us do not take the time to go back, think about the cause and how we could've handled the situation better or even to go back to the person we had fought with and figure out what happened. There were a lot of great discussions and it's obviously a big topic that everyone can relate to.

After anger, we talked about conflict resolution, so basically how we solve some of those anger outbursts. Again, this was very helpful because it broke down whatever conflict happened to you into very simple steps that allow you to try to avoid the same thing from happening again in the future. Here is an example from one of the students:

Another great week in the books and just one more week until Winter Break!

Ranum Week 15

Hello and welcome back!

After a nice week long Thanksgiving Break we dove right back into where we left off, emotions.

Before we continued with emotions, we had Mentor Monday. We discussed leadership and started learning about a current leader in our world, Malala Yousafzai. Students learned her backstory and how she came back after being targeted by the Taliban. She is a huge supporter of education, specifically a woman's right to education. The mentors loved learning about her and her inspirational story.

Tutoring Tuesday went well with students being asked to check in with all of their teachers to find out where they are behind. Mentors are also required to check in with their mentees teachers to insure they are on the same page.

Wednesday through Friday was all about the Emo Trolls. We talked about what they are, where they come from and how to handle them. The kids loved the analogy and the variety of Emo Trolls out there. We discussed how sometimes we act as Trolls for a variety of reasons and we related it back to how our Hot Buttons can sometimes trigger these Trolls to come out. After discussion, they were required to draw each Emo Troll and give a personal definition and example. Here is one of the students posters:

Overall, it was a great and fun week. Looking forward to continue with emotions this week!

Ranum Week 14

Welcome back to the Ranum Middle School weekly blog!

As always we started the week with Mentor Monday and we talked about leadership styles that we feel we display. The following day we had Tutoring Tuesday which allowed students to catch up in their classes they are falling behind in.

On Wednesday, we continued discussing emotional intelligence (EQ) in order for students to truly understand where it originated from and how it impacts them on a daily basis. In order to hammer this point home, we played a fun game of Kahoot! Some questions would dive into who thought of emotional intelligence whereas others asked about countries around the world that had high or low EQ scores. Most questions were pretty challenging but they lead to great discussions.

We wrapped up the week talking about hot buttons (the situations in our lives that typically cause us to have a negative reaction because it bothers us in some way, shape or form). Students were very open to sharing some of their buttons and how their reactions have effected them in the past. We ended the week by creating skits based off of popular hot buttons and the students did an excellent job of representing the entire range of their hot buttons.

This was a great week talking about emotions and I think we all earned a well deserved Thanksgiving Break.

Ranum Week 13

Welcome back to the Ranum Middle School blog!

This past week we started off by wrapping up the short film, "The Quiet", with some questions that had students thinking more critically about why they were feeling different emotions throughout the film. After that, we had Tutoring Tuesday so students could catch up with some of their work in other classes and if they were all caught up, I had some worksheets for them to complete to reinforce some math and literacy skills.

On Wednesday we learned about the 5 core emotions, different emotions that branch off of those 5 core ones, and learned some key skills to emotional intelligence (EQ). The rest of the week was dedicated to a group project on each one of the key skills (Social Awareness, Self Awareness, Relationship Management, Self Management). Students had to work together to do research on whichever skill they were assigned and had the choice to either create a poster or a Google Slideshow.

On Friday, we presented our projects and I was happy to see their research skills put to good use but they definitely need a little refresher on how to create a flowing slideshow.

Thanks for reading, have a great week!

Ranum Week 12

Hello again!

The week started off with no students as it was a non contact day on Monday, which allowed students to maximize their trick or treating.

On Tuesday, the 8th graders went to a play at Westminster High School so I had the mentees write a letter to their mentors about the skills they want help with this year and how much they appreciate their mentor. The letters were pretty good overall but students were still a little shy/proud about asking for help from someone.

On Wednesday we went over basic organization skills like how to keep your binder structured, how to use your planner and where to keep certain paperwork you get from different teachers. Let's just say my recycling bin was full by the end of the day after students tossed all unnecessary papers from their binders. After they cleaned out their binders, I had them clean out their lockers, which are a mess.

On Thursday and Friday we went over Thoughts and Emotions and what is the big difference between the two. We dove in pretty deep to see what is defined as a thought and what makes up an emotion in order for students to be able to separate the two in their minds. We wrapped it up by watching a short film called "The Quiet". It's basically a film about a girl being chased by a man who is supposed to pick her up after school because her mother asked him too. The problem is she has no idea who he is so she runs away into the woods. Between the music and the chase scenes, it really makes students feel a variety of emotions.

This week we will continue to dive into more emotions!

Thanks for reading!

Ranum Week 11

Hello all!

This past week was a little crazy. First we had a great anti-bullying organization called Connecting the Dots come to our school and do a work shop with every grade level that focuses on the concept that we are all basically the same and that life is about positive relationships with one another. There were lots of activities that made students get out of their comfort zones by partnering with other students they don't usually talk to. The last activity was emotional for a lot of students because it involved sharing out some difficult things going on in their lives but I was proud to see them being honest and genuinely caring for one another.

Since this workshop pulled out different grade levels on different days it made my classes pretty small for most of the week which is great but hard to complete a lesson plan. So, I decided to show The Book of Life. This movie honors El Dia De Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) in a funny, educational and positive way. It educates students on other cultures but it also showed what it meant to be a good friend and an even better person to your family and community.

Overall, another great week here at Ranum!

Ranum Week 10

Hello! 10 weeks!?!?!

This week kicked off with Listening Level skits. Groups of 4 were asked to demonstrate all 3 listening levels over the course of a 2-3 minute skit. There were a lot of funny presentations but overall students understood the general concept of all the levels. We continued with relationship management by talking about boundaries on Wednesday. We went over physical and emotional/psychological boundaries within our daily lives. Physical boundaries were the easiest to understand for students but most could definitely relate to having some more of their personal/emotional/psychological boundaries tested.

We wrapped up the week with the Apple Pie theory. It's a great concept for students to begin to understand how their roles in life can effect others. Whether it be group projects, friendships, or any relationships in general, students learned that by being a hungry turkey or crumb eater, it is really draining and a big stress for both people.

Another great week of lessons and looking forward to this week!