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Year 9 Pastoral Care

Giving to Self, Others, 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:

Literacy

Personal and social capability

Ethical behaviour

Intercultural understanding.

1. Welcome Year 9

For the Student

Getting to Know you - Welcome to year 9

Learning Intention: to understand how year 9 will be different to year 8, to remind ourselves of the expectations at Lanyon High School and to get to know your pastoral care class.

In this class we will focus on:

What impacts on my happiness, well being and resilience?

How can I give to my classmates?

In a circle time your teacher will give you some information about year 9 and lead you through some activities to help you get to know your pastoral care group.

Comment: What are some of your goals for year 9? Comment on other students' comments noting similarities and differences.

Fig. 1: Circle Time

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to have the time for students to be given important information about year 9 and to be given the opportunity to get to know the class that they are going to be completing the pastoral care program with in 2015. 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'
pastoral_care_week_0_PD.pptx
Circle_Time_Basics.pdf
Circle_Activities_to_Promote_Communication.pdf
Circle_Time_Energisers.pdf

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
  • 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 9.

Go into circle time to discuss categories.

Fig. 2: Affinity Diagram

For the Teacher

Activity 2 Lesson 1

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.

3. Revisiting Giving in Pastoral Care

For the Student

Learning intention: To reflect on what you know about giving to others.

'Giving' is the focus of our pastoral care program at Lanyon High School. In year 9 the focus is giving to the community which you will do through the Exhibitions program.

To start thinking about possible future projects, look at videos on the Random Acts of Kindness Website. Choose one and watch it.

Use a Think-Pair-Share (T-P-S) to discuss your thoughts, feelings, connections and ideas about the video you watched. 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.

Now watch and discuss Enough Rope - Juan Mann

Comment: Share some ideas from the videoclips and from your discussion. Why do you think we have a focus on giving at our achool? Comment on other people's ideas, adding to them where you can.

Fig. 3: Juan Mann, who started the Free Hugs movement, seen at Pitt Street Mall, Sydney, Australia, 2006

For the Teacher

Purpose

The Random Acts of Kindness Website 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 accuntability 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.

There are some key questions that can guide this and other reflective journals 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.

Background information on Giving

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.

4. Savouring and Giving to Others

For the Student

Learning Intention: To experience giving to self and explore ideas for the Exhibition Giving projects

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' compliments.

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?

Comment: Many of you were invited to last year's giving presentations. Comment on successful projects and what made them successful. Then comment on other students' comments. Try to give them compliments as you comment!! Finally start adding possible ideas for your giving to the community projects through the Exhibitions. Add as many possible ideas as possible - you might inspire someone.

Fig. 4: Chocolate!!

For the Teacher

Savouring and giving to others

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'. You can repeat the chocolate savouring or use another food - students will have experienced chocolate in prior years but probably won't mind experiencing it again.

This activity also introduces the Giving Projects for later

Teaching tips

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!

The savouring activity should take about 10-15 minutes.

5. A Goal- to have or not to have?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand how some individuals use goals to achieve a pathway.

As well as our Giving projects, another big focus is our Pathways.

View the YouTube clips and in a group of 2-3 students, discuss your reactions and the key ideas that are presented

Goals for Success

Good Choices

Bad Choices

Jessica Watson Story

Teenagers Talking about Goal Setting

Cartoon of a Boy Choosing 4 Careers

Comment: What are some of the main ideas that are presented? Are they important to you? Why/Why not? Why would we explore this topic in year 9? Comment on the comments of other students, exploring ideas in more depth, explaining why you agree or disagree with their comments.

Fig. 4: Pathways Options

For the Teacher

People with and without a goal

Purpose:  To start students thinking about goal setting.

Watch the good and bad goal setting YouTube clips and then two more from the ones listed.

Watch the clips yourself before showing so that you can help students to draw out the main ideas /concepts presented in each clip.

Teenagers Talking about Goal Setting is excellent to show last as recaps all the behaviours needed for successful goal setting.

Cartoon of a Boy Choosing 4 Careers – the first three go wrong – persistence, knowing your interests and passions, planning, training and being prepared for the job are ideas which the students might infer from this clip.

6. Comparing Strategies

For the Student

Learning Intention: To see what strategies can be used to achieve a goal which can assist you to develop a pathway.

Reflect more on the videoclips as you discuss the following with a partner:

  • What are some of your strengths?
  • What are your interests?
  • How would you start the planning process?
  • How do you come up with your goals?
  • Do you have any role models? Why do you admire them?
  • What are short term and long term goals?
  • What would you have to do to achieve your goals?
  • Where would you go for help?

Comment: From your discussion, comment on what you think is the most important thing in the pathways planning process. Comment on other students' comments, identifying similarities and differences in your thinking.

Fig. 6: Education can create many pathways

For the Teacher

Compare pathways strategies.

Learning intention: To have students understand what is needed to create a pathway.

Students need to compare and contrast the ideas presented that help people to achieve a pathway/goal

You might like to prompt their thoughts by talking about strengths needed, planning process, where to go to get assistance, role models, adjusting if a plan is not working, reflecting etc.

7. Who Wins, Who Loses, from Planning a Pathway

For the Student

Learning intention: To think about the implications of having a plan for life.

In pairs, reflect on the YouTube clips you watched and discuss the consequences for individuals, families, communities and society of people having or not having, goals, pathways and planned futures.

Comment: Comment on one win and one loss. Try and avoid repeating the same as other students.

Fig. 7: A Life Plan

For the Teacher

Purpose to get students to think about the implications of having a plan for life.

This activity could also be done in a circle time.

8. Plan a Pathway

For the Student

Learning intention: To plan my pathway.

Think about the types of pathways/goals that you could create. Write up your plan in your pathway folder so that you can revisit the plan to reflect on your progress later in the year.nYou will reflect on this at the end of the term so that you can gauge your progess and make adjustments.

Fig. 8: Reach for the stars in your goals!

For the Teacher

The types of pathways that they could create could include a short term goal, for example, what they will do in my next holidays, or how they will get a higher grade in a subject area.

After students think about a short term goal, they then reflect on what longer term goals they could make. Write up plan in their pathways folder so that they can reflect on their progress in achieving their goal later in the year.

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).