Educare Curriculum

EDUCARE CURRICULUM

V1.0

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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COURSE MAP

CLASS ONE: CREATING A PACT

CLASS TWO: LIFE THROUGH ROSY GLASSES

CLASS THREE: BEING PROACTIVE

CLASS FOUR: EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT

CLASS 5: PROBLEM SOLVING

CLASS 6: GROUP WORK

CLASS 7: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

CLASS 8: PUTTING FIRST THINGS FIRST

CLASS NINE:

CLASS TEN: THE KEY TO SUCCESS – COMMUNICATION

COURSE MAP

CLASS ONE: CREATING A PACT

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PREP:Post course map and print outs for 4 corners exercise

CLASS GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

Introduce yourself and class
Create a safe environment
Establish group agreements and theme
Create a sense of community within classroom (I am, Amoeba)

0:00 – 0:10 Introduction

PREP: Pass out class folders with course map and class format

GOAL: Introduce yourself to class and setup class structure

Introduce yourself to the class

Work/School
Hobbies, interests
Reason for wanting to lead this service learning club

Teachers Tip: Be genuine, be yourself! Students are very perceptive and respond to enthusiasm and a positive attitude.

Present overview of class (using course map)

10 workshops to provide students with skills for personal and academic success
Workshops follow lessons taught in Thomas Jefferson student planners, and are intended to reinforce these existing lessons.
Workshops will be interactive and largely participation driven. We will follow the 80-20 rule: Students will speak 80% of the time, class facilitators will speak 20% of the time
All students have valuable inputs to share with the class. Participate freely, openly, and consistently! Group agreements will be created later in this class to create rules for what we need to make this a safe, fun, and valuable classroom environment.

Review curriculum and course map

Course map will be reviewed at the beginning of every class, to summarize “where we have been” and talk about “where we are going”

Sticky notes will be added to the course map at the end of every class

session to summarize key takeaways and action items from the class

GE Bucks

Lessons discussed in this class become valuable only when they are
put into practice on a day-to-day basis.
To encourage putting lessons into practice and trying out skills taught

in this class, GE Bucks will be passed out by class facilitators during
each workshop, and by teachers during the school week

GE Bucks can be redeemed for great prizes at the end of every month. Class facilitators will ask for volunteers at the beginning of every class to discuss how they earned GE Bucks throughout the week (ex, I got $10 GE bucks for working well with my classmates during a group project)

0:10-0:20 Amoeba

GOAL: Icebreaker activity to build a feeling of “community” within classroom. Activity should enforce the idea that everyone has unique experiences, cultures and backgrounds that will be valuable inputs into the classroom. Activity should also help students feel that they have things in common, making them feeler “safer” to share during classroom discussions.

I am from activity

Students should begin activity by finding 1 person in the classroom they share something in common with, ie, I live on the same street as you, we went to the same middle school, we like the same neighborhood restaurant, etc..
Each pair of students should then find another pair of students that they share something in common with (forming groups of 4)
Each group of 4 students should then find 4 other students they have something in common with
Continue until entire class has found something they all share in common

Debrief Activity

What did you learn from this activity?
What surprised you? What didn’t surprise you?

Takeaway

There are several things that make us unique and that we share in common with each other
In this class, your shared and unique experiences are VERY VALUABLE. Sharing unique experiences (based on your unique culture, background, etc..) will help add a valuable perspective to our discussions.
We also share several things in common, so don’t feel shy to share..!

0:20 – 0:40 Activity: 4 Corners

PREP: PowerPoint Slides with 4 Corners statements, Tape paper with “Strongly Disagree”, “Disagree”, “Agree”, “Strongly Agree” in 4 corners of the room

GOAL: Discuss the process of changing our behaviors. Remaining 9 workshops will all focus on developing new ways of thinking, acting and speaking for personal and academic success. This activity sets the stage for getting into a proactive mindset for self-improvement and personal change. Discussions should focus on what makes changing our attitudes and habits easy or hard…what does it take to form a new habit or way of thinking?

4 Corners

Read the statements below aloud and have students go to the corner that best represents how they feel (Strongly agree, disagree, etc…). Call on volunteers to discuss why they went to the corner they went to.

Statements:

I believe I have the power to change my attitude
I believe having a strong sense of who I am and what is important to me is important for my success.
I believe its easy to change my habits
When I set my mind to do something, I follow through 100% of the time.

0:40 – 0:50 Group Agreements

PREP: Have poster board ready to write down group agreements

Group Agreements

Have students break into groups (4-5 students per group)
Each group should write 3-4 rules they think will be necessary to create a fun, safe, productive environment for the service club.
Have each group select one volunteer to present their “agreements” to the class
Summarize agreements (no more than 5 agreements) and write down on poster board
Work as a group to discuss consequences for breaking group agreements, strategies for enforcing and passing on to new members

Teachers TiP: Be creative in how you want to enforce discipline in your class. The goal of group agreements is to have students play an active role in “policing” themselves to create a fun, productive learning environment. If students break agreements, refer them back to the agreements “they created” and remind them why they chose to create this rule.

0:50 – 0:55 Wrap Up

PREP: None

Fist to Five – Have students raise their hand and put up a fist, one finger, two fingers, etc…A five means students enjoyed the class and learned something new. A fist means the student did not learn anything and had a problem with the class they would like to discuss. Choose students to give feedback on the class as time permits.

“Make it Stick” – Paste sticky note takeaways on course map, summarizing what students learned from class and what they want to implement as takeaways throughout the week. Exhibiting behavior on sticky notes will earn them GE Bucks.

CLASS TWO: What You See Is What You Get

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GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

Understand the role our perceptions play in viewing ourselves and others
Understand the role of attitude

4:00 – 4:10 Check-In Activity: Quotable Quotes

PREP: Handout quotable quotes sheet. Have a ball handy to throw around the classroom.

GOAL: Work towards a definition of “perception” and understand how it they can help or hurt us.

Activity

Preface activity by explaining quotes. All quotes on handout were made many years ago by “experts” in their fields. At the time they were said, they sounded intelligent. Looking back today, all these quotes sound idiotic.
Throw the ball to a student in the class. This students should read the first quote on the page.
Once first quote has been read, this student should throw the ball to someone else in the class. This student should read the second quote on the page.
Continue until all quotes have been read.

Debrief Activity

What did you learn from this activity?
What surprised you? What didn’t surprise you?

Takeaway

All the quotes read were incomplete or untrue. The people who said them had a limited view of the world that influenced how they saw things around them. Today’s class is going to focus on how we view the world and how it can effect how we act and think.

4:10 – 4:15 Review group agreements and class map

PREP: Group agreements and class map posters.

Go around classroom asking students explain one of the group agreements

Recap “Make-It-Stick” notes from previous class. Ask students for examples of how they practiced these take-aways over the past week and if they received GE Bucks for it. Review where we are on the course map and where we are going in future meetings

4:20 – 5:10 The Paradigm Shifter

PREP: Provide each student with glasses handout (cut-out of glasses), scissors, and multiple pieces of colored tissue paper.

Activity

Have students cut out glasses from handout
Have students individually write three positive or negative “perceptions” they have of themselves (“I’m funny”, “I’m smart”, “I’m outgoing”) on tissue paper and three positive or negative perceptions they have of someone else on tissue paper (“My teacher is out to get me”, “She’s a jerk”, “My friends love me”)
Have students tape different tissue papers onto their glasses
Call on volunteers to discuss how looking at the world through these “lenses” effects how they think or act, Ex: Student has “I’m dumb” taped onto glasses…will cause him to not try as much in classes, not answer questions for fear of getting answers wrong, etc…”

Debrief Activity

What did you learn from this activity?
What surprised you? What didn’t surprise you?
What did you like about this activity?
Did you find perceptions you had of yourself or others that you didn’t know you had before?
What role do perceptions have in our day-to-day lives?
What perceptions do you want to hold on to? Let go?

Takeaway

Perceptions play a strong role in how we view ourselves and the world around us. Positive perceptions have the ability to uplift us and make us better, while negative perceptions can “taint” how we view the world. It’s important to take the time to think about what perceptions we have and why we have them. Holding a strong, positive attitude/perception can go a long way to leading to personal and academic success.

5:10 – 5:15 Wrap Up

PREP:

Fist to Five

Make It Stick

Agenda for next week

Top 10 All-Time Stupid Quotes

10. “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.”

-Kenneth Olsen, President and founder of digital equipment corp, 1977

9. “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.”

-Marchall Ferdinand Foch, French Military Strategist and futre world war I commander, in 1911

8. “Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances.”

-Dr. :ee De Forest, Inventor of the audion tube and father of radio, in 1967

7. “Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”

-Darryl Zanuck, Head of 20th Century-Fox in 1946

6. ”We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out.”

-Decca records rejecting the beatles, in 1962

5. “For the majority of people, the use of tobacco has a beneficial effect.”

-Dr. Ian G. Macdonald, LA Surgeon, In 1969

4. “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”

-Western Union Internal Memo, 1876

3.”The earth is the center of the universe.”

-Ptolemy, 2nd Century

2.”Nothing of importance happened today”

-Written by King George III Of England on July 4, 1776

1.”Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

-Charles Duell, US Commisioner of Patents, in 1899

-CLASS THREE: BEING PROACTIVE (IN-COMPLETE)

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PREP:Arrange meeting time, drivers, potential interviewees, interview handouts, digital cameras, clipboards, snacks/drinks

GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

Understand the role our perceptions play in viewing ourselves and others
Understand the role of attitude

GLASSES – Write how you want to change how you view yourself on one side, how you want to change how you view others on the other….

4:00 – 4:10 Check In - Amoeba

PREP: None

Activity

Points for activity
Point 2
Point 3

4:10 – 4:15 Review group agreements and class map

PREP: Group agreements and class map posters.

Go around classroom asking students explain one of the group agreements

Recap where we are on the class map and where we are going today and in future meetings

4:20 – 5:10 Activity

PREP: Provide poster board, tape, markers, glue, printout of pictures taken during photo shoot

Activity Setup

Point 1
Point 2

Community Development Discussion

Discussion Q1
Discussion Q2

5:10 – 5:15 Wrap Up

PREP:

Fist to Five + Snacks

Make It Stick

Agenda for next week

CLASS FOUR: EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT (IN-COMPLETE)

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PREP:Arrange meeting time, drivers, potential interviewees, interview handouts, digital cameras, clipboards, snacks/drinks

GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

Understand the role our perceptions play in viewing ourselves and others
Understand the role of attitude

GLASSES – Write how you want to change how you view yourself on one side, how you want to change how you view others on the other….

4:00 – 4:10 Check In - Amoeba

PREP: None

Activity

Points for activity
Point 2
Point 3

4:10 – 4:15 Review group agreements and class map

PREP: Group agreements and class map posters.

Go around classroom asking students explain one of the group agreements

Recap where we are on the class map and where we are going today and in future meetings

4:20 – 5:10 Activity

PREP: Provide poster board, tape, markers, glue, printout of pictures taken during photo shoot

Activity Setup

Point 1
Point 2

Community Development Discussion

Discussion Q1
Discussion Q2

5:10 – 5:15 Wrap Up

PREP:

Fist to Five + Snacks

Make It Stick

Agenda for next week

CLASS 5: PROBLEM SOLVING

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GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

To practice skills needed to solve personal, group and interpersonal problems
To learn how to think critically about the world around us

0:00 – 0:10 Check In – Know Your Community Quiz

PREP: Research community statistics on-line prior to class and prepare a list of community quiz questions (“Which suburb has the highest graduation rate?”)

GOAL: Help students become more aware of the community they live in

Quiz students with community questions and keep score

Award GE Bucks to students who answer questions correctly.

0:10 – 0:15 Review group agreements and class map

PREP: Group agreements and class map posters.

GOAL: Reinforce lessons from prior weeks and help students get a “bigger picture” of where they are in the EduCare course.

Choose one student to read the group agreements aloud to the class.
Recap “Make it stick” from prior weeks and preview classes to come
Ask students if they received GE Bucks from teachers over the past week…ask students to explain why they did to receive GE Bucks

0:15 – 0:20 Problem Solving Presentation

PREP: PowerPoint Presentation on problem solving (NEED TO CREATE)

Present problem solving methodology

4:20 – 4:50 Mayor for The Day

PREP: Index cards, pens, pencils, tape, glue, CD cases, toilet paper tubes, cardboard, etc…

Have students play crash

Split into 4 groups
Each group should select a “mayoral candidate”
Each group should use problem solving methodology to identify key issues in the community, supporting data sources, key stakeholders. This information should be used to create a “platform” on which the mayor is going to run
Have each mayor present his/her platform to the class, with the class playing the role of press conference reporters who ask the mayor questions about his plans for fixing the problems in a community

Platform should include plans for improving the communities education, infrastructure, economy, and social problems -

Debrief Questions (write key points on chart paper, blackboard)

What made this activity hard?
What did your group do well/do poorly?
Was using a problem solving methodology helpful in coming to a conclusion? Why or why not?
What would you do differently if you were to do this again?
What kinds of day-to-day situations do you face that force you problem solve?(written reflection)

4:50 – 5:00 Wrap Up

PREP: Snacks

Assign new roles

Fist to Five + Snacks

Agenda for next week

CLASS 6: GROUP WORK

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GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

Understand the elements of group work
Understand what underlying principles make a group work effectively
Understand how learning to work well in a group can help us in our day to day lives

4:00 – 4:10 Check In – Three Truths and Lie/Guess Who

PREP: Provide index cards and a hat/bowl

Have students play three truths and lie

Each student should write three truths and one lie about themselves on an index card
All index cards should be mixed up in a bowl/hat
Pass the bowl around the room and have students draw a card and guess who the card describes

4:10 – 4:15 Review group agreements and class map

PREP: Group agreements and class map posters.

Go around classroom asking students explain one of the group agreements

Recap where we are on the class map and where we are going today and in future meetings

4:15 – 4:50 Crash

PREP: Index cards, pens, pencils, tape, glue, CD cases, toilet paper tubes, cardboard, etc…

Have students play crash

Divide students in teams of 3-4
Equally distribute materials to each group
Give groups 5 minutes to build the tallest free standing structure they can using only the materials provided
Building must be able to stand on its own for 5 minutes
After 5 minutes, measure each structure and give prizes to group that had the tallest freestanding structure

Debrief Questions (write key points on chart paper, blackboard)