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Year 7 Pastoral Care

Giving to Self, Each Other, the Community and the Environment

Learning Module

Abstract

This learning module introduces students to their pastoral care program where the focus is on developing well being and resilience. Students explore the topics they will cover, and develop their social and collaborative skills through giving to self, others, community and the environment.

Keywords

Happiness, Well Being, Resilience, Pastoral Care, Giving, Social Skills, Collaboration, Circle Time, Health, Personal Development

Knowledge Objectives

As a result of completing this learning module, students will be able to:

EXPERIENTIAL OBJECTIVES

Interacting and responding

Literacy: Responding to texts

Share, reflect on, clarify and evaluate opinions and arguments in cooperative learning activities.

Language for Interaction

Understand that roles and relationships are developed and challenged through language and interpersonal skills.

CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVES

Big Understandings

Understand that giving includes giving to self, each other, the school, community and the environment.

ANALYTICAL OBJECTIVES

Why is this learning significant?

Understand that giving can build relationships and contribute to well being, happiness and resilience.

APPLIED OBJECTIVES

Giving beyond the classroom

Apply giving in the classroom and beyond.

We address the following capabilities of the Australian Curriculum:

1. Getting to Know You - Welcome to Year 7

For the Student

Learning Intention: to understand how high school will be different to primary school.

In this class, you will explore the following big questions:

  • What impacts on well-being and resilience?
  • How can I give to my classmates?
  • What can make me happier and more resilient?

You will be informed of the expectations at Lanyon High School and given time to get to know your pastoral care class.

In a circle time, your teacher will give you some information about year 7 and lead you through some activities to help you get to know your pastoral care group.

Comment: Introduce yourself and state what you are looking forward to most at high school. You can comment on other students' comments too.

Fig. 1: Circles are a Metaphor for Unity

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to have the time for students to be given important information about Lanyon High School and in particular about year 7.

They will also be given the opportunity to get to know the class that they are going to be completing the pastoral care program with in 2013. The focus of this program will be the development of community and the creation of a culture of giving across the whole school and cluster.

Resources

Circle Time Resources:

  • 'Week 0 SS Circle Time Powerpoint'
  • 'Circle Time Energisers'
  • 'Circle Time Basics'
  • 'Circle Activities to Promote Communication'
Circle Time Powerpoint
Circle Time Energisers
Circle Time Basics
Circle Activities to Promote Communication

Teaching tips

Using the information provided to you during the Week 0 Professional Development run a circle time that includes establishing the rules for circle time, mixers and getting to know you games.

Pastoral Care Teachers will be providing students with the following information as part of this activity:

  • High expectations at Lanyon High School - school rules e.g. uniform, electronic devices policy in addition to your individual classroom rules
  • Individual timetables (year 7 students are in the same class all day every day)
  • 2015 Lanyon High School Diary and how to use it
  • Point of contact and protocols to follow for when they are experiencing different types of pastoral care concerns e.g. bullying, trouble in a particular class, mental health concerns.

2. Pastoral Care- What Might It be about

For the Student

Learning Intention: To brainstorm possible topics we might cover in our pastoral care program.

In groups of three to four, brainstorm all the possible topics you think we should study in pastoral care. Record each idea on a separate post-it note. As each idea is recorded, a runner from the group should place it on the white board. At first there will be a few random post-its but the job of the runner will be to look at what is there and place the post-it next to ones that are the same or have similar ideas.

So the post-its will be categorised and recategorised as more and more post-its are created. This is an Affinity Diagram. After five minutes stop and as a class make a final decision about how the post-its are sorted. Then give each category a title.

Tick the ones we will be covering in year 7.

Comment: What sorts of cooperation did you notice in this activity? How did it make you feel? Did people support each other? Comment on the comments of others, adding to their ideas and explaining why you agree or disagree with them.

Fig. 2: Affinity Diagram

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose is to energise students as they are introduced to the new pastoral care program.

Teaching tips

The Affinity Diagram is introduced here as an opportunity to interact positively with other students in the group. Using and reusing a small number of cooperative learning and thinking tools will set up routines in your class which will support student management as well as further student learning.

In the Affinity Diagram, as students place their post-its on the board, they can categorise and recategorise the post-its of other students. They can ask for clarification of an idea by its author. Take care to prevent judgement of any ideas in this process.

Allow about 10 minutes in total for this activity.

Topics covered in the year 7 pastoral care program include:

  • Pathways (life, learning and career planning)
  • Giving
  • Self esteem
  • Building positive relationships
  • Bullying
  • Resolving conflict

Students may have learnt a lot about Giving through the metaphors of Bucket Filling and Bucket Dipping in their primary schools. Ask them to share this knowledge.

3. Introducing Giving in Pastoral Care

For the Student

Learning intention: To learn about giving to others.

'Giving' is the focus of our pastoral care program at Lanyon High School. In year 7 the focus is giving to others. Let's look at the Free Hugs video from youtube which is about giving.

Use a Think-Pair-Share (T-P-S) to discuss your thoughts, feelings, connections and ideas. Then move into a group of four and in a Think-Pair-Square, share a few things from your T-P-S discussion. Decide on one idea that your group will share with the whole class. One person in each group can volunteer to be the reporter when called upon.

Make sure that you 'give' to each other by active listening and contributing your ideas.

Before watching the next clip, discuss the following questions about the 'Free Hugs' clip in your group:

  • Why do you think this man began offering 'free hugs'?
  • What do you think this man got out of offering free hugs? Why?
  • How does this topic relate to our topic of giving?
  • How is this giving?

Comment: Give another example of 'Giving' that you've seen recently in your life. Respond to 1 - 2 other students.

Fig 3: Free Hugs

For the Teacher

Purpose

The youtube clip is used as the initial activity to engage students in the topic of 'giving'. This activity also introduces them to writing reflective journals.

Teaching tips

Be very specific about time limits in the discussion activities. For example, in the Think-Pair Shares, allow one minute for thinking and demand silence while this occurs. Then allow two minutes for sharing (one minute for each person). After one minute, tell students that the second person should now be sharing. Too much time will lead to a loss of focus for some students. Initially some students may not participate fully but have high expectations of them and build in accountability wherever possible, eg recording ideas on post-its, calling upon someone to share or to share what their partner said.

Emphasise to students that active listening and contributing ideas in cooperative learning and thinking activities will be central to our pastoral care program in order to practise 'giving' to each other as well as developing deeper knowledge and understanding of the topics being covered.

Further, name the cooperative learning tools for the students as they use them. This is important as after a while you won't have to explain the processes of the activities. For example, in a Think-Pair-Square, students will know the process of moving from pairs to fours, and listening and contributing ideas.

Free Hugs official website provides more information.

There are some key questions that can guide this and other reflective journals/Scholar Updates that students will be required to ensure metacognition. These include:

What have I learned - facts, knowledge, skills?

What are my questions?

What connections have I made, eg to other learning, to my life in and outside of school?

How am I feeling - confident, unsure, happy, unhappy? Why?

What are my concerns?

What am I planning to do next?

The ongoing self-reflection will also enable students to monitor their mood and general wellbeing.

4. Savouring and Giving to Others

For the Student

Learning Intention: To experience giving to self and learn more about giving to others.

Take a chocolate and put it on your desk. Use all of your senses to enjoy it fully:

Sight: Look at it and note its colour, shape, any words on the wrapping and texture. Imagine what it will taste like.

Touch and hearing: Touch it and note its texture and the sound of the wrapping as you feel and unwrap it.

Smell: Place the chocolate on the open wrapper and take it to your nose and smell it BUT don't eat it. Imagine what it will taste like.

Put it back on your desk on the wrapper and close your eyes. Imagine taking it to your mouth and eating it slowly. What will it taste like? What flavours and textures can you imagine? Now pick it up and take it to your mouth. Wait a few seconds and really savour the experience.

Now take a small bite. Don't chew it yet - just experience its texture and the initial taste. Then slowly chew it. Don't swallow it too quickly. Really enjoy it! Continue taking small bites and savouring it until it is all gone.

Now share the experience with other people on your table. When you give to yourself, how do you feel? Did you enjoy the chocolate? Why or why not?

Make sure you give to each other by active listening and contributing your ideas.

Now watch another two youtube clip about 'giving'. Piano Stairs. Bottle Bank Arcade.

Again share your personal responses about the clips in a Think-Pair-Share. Firstly, think individually about:

- Did you like the clip? Why/Why not?

- Did it remind you of someone or something else?

- How was it the same or different to the other clip and the experience of giving to yourself through savouring?

Then share your ideas with your partner. You may be called upon to share your own ideas or to report the ideas of your partner. So listen well!

At the end of this activity, you will come together as a class for circle time. During the circle time you will reflect on how does giving to self-help your self-esteem?

Comment: Share some of the ideas from watching the videoclips and your discussion. Comment on other students' comments too, "giving" them positive feedback on their comments.

Fig. 4: Chocolate - Yum!

For the Teacher

Purpose

The savouring activity and you tube clip are used to further engage students in the 'giving' topic and to expand their thinking about 'giving'.

Teaching tips

Students may have experienced the savouring activity in primary school so you can repeat it or choose another food to savour.

This activity will be difficult for some students; others may not like chocolate. These students can be observers, recording what they see as students savour the chocolate. So students should have a book or paper on hand and if they eat the chocolate too quickly, they can then become an observer for the rest of the activity. Value the input of the observers by asking them to share what they record. Not everyone has to share but create an expectation that they will and then call upon a few, ensuring that over a few lessons, everyone has a turn.

Encourage discussion of the experience in pairs or fours before sharing with the whole class. Each student's experience can be valued in this way, including the observers; it also ensures everyone is thinking!

During the circle time discussion after the activity ask students to reflect on how giving to self can help your self-esteem.

The savouring activity should take about 10-15 minutes.

Some of the students may have done this activity in primary school. Tell them it's good to give to yourself and everyone can enjoy a piece of chocolate!

5. What is Giving?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To define giving and to experience giving to each other through cooperative learning.

In the chocolate activity, you were giving to yourself through savouring and giving to others through active listening and contributing to discussion. Other forms of giving are giving to the community and giving to the environment.

On the 'Giving Activity worksheet', allocate your roles of:

Giving_Activity.docx

Encourager and Recorder

Encourager and Reporter

Encourager and Cop

Encourager and Spy

If there are only three in your group, then someone can take on two roles.

Now brainstorm ideas and record these in the table. Make sure you give to each other through active listening and contributing ideas in your roles. The spies must not move until directed by the teacher.

Giving to self Giving to others Giving to the community Giving to the environment

Now come up with your definition of giving to share with the class.

At the end of this activity you will come together as a class for circle time. During the circle time you will reflect on how could giving to others impact on bullying issues?

Encourager_and_Recorder.docx

Comment: Add more ideas about how we can prevent bullying in our school.

Fig. 5: Say No to Bullying!

For the Teacher

Identifying forms of giving

Purpose

The purpose here is to broaden the idea of giving from giving to self to giving to each other, the community and the environment. It is also to experience giving to each other through sharing ideas.

Teaching tips

To encourage giving to each other, allocate roles of recorder, reporter, cop and spy. These roles are based on the functional roles in MyRead. Once students have been given information about their roles, allow them about 10 minutes to work on the Giving Activity worksheet.

The Cooperative Learning roles are included in the Giving Activity worksheet but are also on a 'single sheet' if you wish to use them in other activities. Please note that these are functional roles and different to the Cooperative Reading roles of codebreaker, text analyst, text user and text participant that students will have used in English.

During the circle time discussion after the activity ask students to reflect on how could giving to others impact on bullying issues.

6. Why is Giving Important?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To analyse the effects of giving on the giver and the receiver.

Watch another youtube clip 'Feel Inside and Stuff Like That' on giving. Discuss your reaction in a Think-Pair-Share. Then in your groups think of scenarios of 'giving' and decide on the effects of 'giving'. In some examples you can be the giver and/or the receiver. Look back at your ideas in the last activity and add them to the 'table'.

Act_of_Giving_Table.docx
Act of Giving Giver Receiver
Birthday Gift Feels good buying for a person you likeFeels good to see the reaction of the person opening the gift Feels good to know that someone values youLikes the gift
Getting fit
Helping someone to finish their work
Singing at a retirement village
Giving free hugs
Making musical steps
Compliment

Comment: Now write a comment on what you have learned about giving and include ideas that you'd like to explore further. Give to other students by commenting on their comments.

Fig. 6: Giving is an Act of Kindness

For the Teacher

Purpose

In this activity students deepen their understanding of giving by learning about its significance for both the giver and the receiver.

Teaching tips

Background information

In 2012 our school was part of a Giving project supported by an environmental group, the Southern ACT Catchment group and ACTEW Water, our local water supply agency. The focus was on action to protect the source water for our water catchment area. In the year 9 Exhibitions program at Lanyon High School giving expanded to all acts of giving. Interviews of students, teachers and parents in our Cluster schools showed that people wanted this to continue in 2013 and so it has been included in the new LHS pastoral care program as well as in as many subject areas as possible.

Giving

Giving is said to make you healthier, more resilient to deal with stress in your life, and give you a greater sense of well being. Giving up smoking will help you to live longer. Giving is even more powerful to enable you to live longer than giving up smoking! See the work of Thomas Nielsen on giving, well being, resilience and academic success, and also the work of Martin Seligman on authentic happiness.

The reflective journal is critical in this activity so students have metacognition of the significance of giving.

7. Individual Giving Projects

For the Student

Learning Intention: For each student to create a project to give to themselves or each other.

Over the Easter long weekend you are to conduct an act of giving. The giving project must be for the benefit of someone other than you.

In addition to the act of giving you are to write a report answering the following questions:

- What was your giving project?

- Who was the recipient?

- Why did you undertake this act of giving?

- How did the person who received the act of giving feel?

- How did you feel after completing your act of giving?

Comment: Share the highlights of your Giving project. Comment on the comments of other students, giving them positive feedback on their projects.

Fig. 7: Giving

For the Teacher

Teaching tips

Over the Easter long weekend students are to conduct an act of giving. The giving project must be for the benefit of someone other than the student.

In addition to the act of giving they are to write a report answering the following questions:

- What was your giving project?

- Who was the recipient?

- Why did you undertake this act of giving?

- How did the person who received the act of giving feel?

Students will then share their giving projects in the next pastoral care lesson.

8. Reflection

For the Student

Learning Intention: to reflect upon what you have learnt about giving this term.

Comment: What is giving? What have you learnt about giving? Give to others through feedback on their comments.

Fig. 8: Giving and Happiness

For the Teacher

Reflection

Scaffold the final reflection through a Circle Time discussion.

9. Acknowledgements

Title: (Source); Fig. 1: (Source); Fig. 2: (Source); Fig. 3: (Source); Fig. 4: (Source); Fig. 5: (Source); Fig. 6: (Source); Fig. 7: (Source); Fig. 8: (Source).