February 1–5
Theme: Relationships
Skill Building: Identifying Friends Versus Acquaintances
Person-Centered Thinking & Safety
February 1, 2021
Today happens to be...
Day 1 of Black History Month!
Black History Month—Explaining the month (4 min video)
Check In (5 min)
Say hello and check in with one another.
Introduce the Week (3 min)
This month we are going to be exploring RELATIONSHIPS! Good relationships and strong connections keep us healthy and happy. This month we'll explore all kinds of relationships and the skills to keep them strong.
This week we'll think about the different kinds of relationship we have and what they mean.
Show & Share (10-min)
What relationships in your life are most important to you? Do you have a picture of the person in that relationship with you? How often do you spend time with that person or people? Tell us about the type of relationship you have with that person.
Tomorrow's Show & Share: Intimate relationships, like boyfriends, girlfriends, partners, or spouses are very special. Have you had, or do you have, any intimate relationships? Intimacy means a very close connection, closer than a friend.
Plan Your Week (10-15 min)
PRESENTERS: Have those who have their planners find the February pages and add them to the planners.
The February pages are RED on the background. If someone doesn't have their planner yet, that's OK. They can follow along on the shared screen.
Share the screen with the link below and use the prompts to get people interested. You can annotate the image to demonstrate or just click on the example at the bottom.
* indicates the materials were included in the printed packet that went home
The first week of FEBRUARY is here. Let's see what we can do with our planner. Here are the 2-pages for week 1*.
WRITE or DRAW any important things you have going on this week. Here's
- Any appointments?
- Any occasions, like birthdays?
- Any chores or errands you need to remember?
- PLUS Tuesday will be Groundhog Day
- Choose a goal to work on and put it in the lower left corner.
- Put the 2 or 3 most important things in priorities
Look at this example. Yours will be different.
<Body Break>
Thematic Activity (10 min)
Types of Interpersonal Relationships
PRESENTERS: Use the image to introduce the types of relationships. Have everyone give examples of people in their lives that fit a category.
Point out that people we have NO relationship with are strangers.
(REMEMBER CTRL key and the "+" key to make the image bigger on screen, CTRL and "0" to make it normal again)
Interpersonal relationships are very important for our health and happiness. Look at all the kinds and give an example of someone in your life who fits one or more of these.
Can you think of someone who doesn't fit ANY of them? What would you call that person?
Skill Builder (5 min)
Safety in the Work-at-Home Zone
PRESENTERS: Show the images and have participants check their own areas for similar hazards and fix them if they can.
To be safe we need to treat our work-from-home area as carefully as we do our regular work space. Spot the hazards in these pictures.
<Body Break>
Survival Language (5 min)
This word list* you received is about words that sound the same but mean different things. Can you find the following words?
- Starts with B L - one spelling is a color, the other means pushed air around
- Starts with F - one is a tiny magical creature, the other is a boat
- Starts with H and O - one is 60 minutes, the other means belongs to us
- Starts with M - one means food made of animals, the other means get together
Optional Level-Up (10-15 min)
Read the Life Skills Story together
_______________________________________
What did we learn today?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Civics & Community Awareness
February 2, 2021
Today happens to be...
Black History Month — Infographic of little known movers and shakers (5 min) (CLICK on the image with the magnifier to make it fill the page, or use CTRL key and the "+" key as many times as needed to enlarge it)
Check In (3 min)
Recap Yesterday (2 min)
- Types of relationships
- Safety in the home work space
Show & Share (10-min)
Intimate relationships, like boyfriends, girlfriends, partners, or spouses are very special. Have you had, or do you have, any intimate relationships? Intimacy means a very close connection, a deeper love than friendship.
Healthy intimate relationships, whether they include physical expression of love or not, are "mutual." That means both people agree to everything that goes on between them. If we feel very close or attracted to someone, but they don't feel the same way, we can say we have a crush on them. But that person is NOT our partner or boyfriend or girlfriend.
Tomorrow's Show & Share: Heartache at the loss of friendship or love. Can you remember a time you had to say good-bye to a friend or loved one? Or, is there a movie or book that you love in which someone gets their heart broken? Tell us about your experience or the story you know.
<Body Break>
Thematic Activity 01 (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: Review the job posting with the group. Have everyone share what they know about how to prepare for the interview. Then use the questions list to distinguish between professional relationships and other types of interpersonal connections.
- When we meet a POTENTIAL boss, do we have a relationship with that person?
- When we send a thank you email after the interview, is that personal or professional?
- When we interview for a job, which topics should we NOT bring up to the person interviewing us?
- What other differences are there between personal and professional relationships?
- Would you say your relationship with Hope staff is personal or professional?
Thematic Activity 02 (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS:Read the top half of the article with your group to get the main ideas. Discuss the prompts in your group so that everyone learns that residents of any city can contact the city council with questions or feedback.
Point out that phone calls, email, and writing letters to the editor of the newspaper are all ways to voice yourself.
Santa Cruz City Council moves housing project forward
- How can a resident of the city find out more about these projects?
- How can a resident of the city give feedback to the city council on these projects?
- How can you find out who your city council members are?
<Body Break>
Survival Math (5-10 min)
Counting Back Change and Customer Service (2 min video)
Optional Level-Up (10-15 min)
Review your Life Skills Story
Complete the Story Quiz*
_______________________________________
What did we learn today?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Well Being and Social Connection
February 3, 2021
Today happens to be...
National Women’s Physicians Day
Black History Month—Baseball (1 min video)
Check In (5 min)
Say hi, do yer thing.
Recap Yesterday (3 min)
- Relationships have different levels of closeness.
- Professional relationships are less personal.
- Residents can voice their opinions to city councils.
Show & Share (5-10)
Heartache at the loss of friendship or love. Can you remember a time you had to say good-bye to a friend or loved one? Or, is there a movie or book that you love in which someone gets their heart broken? Tell us about your experience or the story you know.
Tomorrow's Show & Share: Worst date ever? or Love at first chat? Do you have an experience where you really liked someone right away? Or one where you immediately DISLIKED someone? The human heart can be mysterious. Sometimes we like and dislike people for reasons we can't explain.
Portfolio Planner (5 min)
Take a look at this week's pages. Any changes to make to your plans? Update your habit tracker.
Examples of the kinds of changes we make to planners:
- Cross completed items off the list
- Update habit trackers and goals
- Adjust an appointment time if it changed
- Give ourselves encouragement with a sticker or a note
- Add new to-do items like chores or errands
- Put finished worksheets into the February section after the calendar sheets
OPTIONAL: Make an exercise plan using this log*. Then use the habit tracker in your portfolio to mark the days you completed workouts.
<Body Break>
Thematic Activity 01 (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: Review the shortened description of the personal boundaries story from this week's Level Up Option. Use the prompts to guide learning about boundaries from the story.
IF your group is into it you can read, or re-read the story itself here, but that will take up some time so decide for yourselves.
Wilson Green set up a surprise movie activity for his best friend Ted Wilson and invited six of their friends to participate. Ted was happily surprised to see his friends at the movies.
After the movie started LeDee, one of the women in the group yelled out in the theatre "Stop that you creep! Move before I call the manager." Her friend sitting next to her asked what happened. A stranger had touched her leg and not by accident because he did it a second time after she moved his hand. The stranger moved away.
After the movie they went out to eat and ordered from the server. At one point Katie had to call the server over to because a glass of water had moldy cheese in it. EWWWW! The restaurant paid for Katie's meal.
- What is the difference between a best friend and all our other friends?
- What boundary of appropriate behavior did the stranger in the theatre violate?
- We usually don't speak loudly in the theatre when the movie is playing. That's a kind of boundary. Was LeDee justified in breaking that rule in this situation?
- What kind of relationship do the characters in the story have with the server in the restaurant?
- Can you tell from the story how close the friendships are between the other characters?
Skill Builder (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: Use the situations and statements below to practice asserting good boundaries in shared spaces. Have participants change them, make them shorter or more personal.
- Someone cuts in line at the grocery store: I don't really appreciate your cutting in line. If you are in a hurry, you should choose fewer items and use the fast lane.
- A roommate borrows your favorite sweater without asking: I think you know that it's impolite to ASK before borrowing anything. I wouldn't do that to you. Please don't do it again.
- A co-worker or staff person keeps interrupting you during a meeting: Excuse me but it will help me focus if I can finish my thought. I do want to hear what you have to say, but please may I finish?
<Body Break>
Survival Language (5-10 min)
Your group can choose a worksheet as time allows. Complete a Homonym worksheet. REMEMBER: HOMONYMS are words that SOUND the same, but are spelled differently and mean different things.
Practice for Spellers/Writers*
Optional Level-Up
Life Skills Story Questions set 1*
_______________________________________
What did we learn today?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Rights & Self Advocacy
Photo by Connor Coyne on Unsplash
February 4, 2021
Today happens to be...
National Thank a Mail Carrier Day
and in California in particular it is: Rosa Parks Day!
Black History Month: Black History Month
Check In (5 min)
Say hello, tell what is up in your world
Recap Yesterday (3 min)
- Planners need to be updated to work
- There are different levels of friendship
- Boundaries are important and we have a right to protect them
Show & Share (10-min)
Worst date ever? or Love at first chat? Do you have an experience where you really liked someone right away? Or one where you immediately DISLIKED someone? Sometimes we like and dislike people for reasons we can't explain. Tell us about your experiences.
Tomorrow's Show & Share: People with successful relationships have a lot to teach the rest of us. Do you know someone who has been married for a very long time? Can you find out what their secret is? Tell us what they told you. Or, is it you that has been in a good relationship for many years? What advice would you give?
<Body Break>
Thematic Activity 01 (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: This activity highlights the difference between advocating and evaluating and how professional or commercial exchanges are not the same as interpersonal ones.
Show the reviews then use the questions to guid learning.
Reviews of a seller of Gloves on eBay
This seller on eBay has sold and sent product to customers. Like all online stores, the customers can give their opinion on the seller and the product. Look at this seller's reviews then answer the questions together.
- What kind of relationship do these customers have with the seller? Personal or professional?
- Do the reviews affect other customers who may be considering buying?
- Is it appropriate to tell other possible customers what you think of a seller online?
- Should a reviewer talk about things that have nothing to do with the service or the product?
- What places do you shop?
- What kinds of reviews would you give?
<Body Break>
Thematic Activity 02 (10-15 min)
PRESENTERS: With this activity we want to help participants recognize that ratings and reviews of stores and products are appropriate to the professional relationship. In professional relationships saying if something is good or needs improvement is part of the relationship.
Here is a ratings page for a seller on eBay.
- Are these reviews good or poor?
- Are there a lot of customers giving reviews to this seller?
- What kind of relationship is the customer/ business relationship? (friend? acquaintance? professional?)
- Why would a seller or a business want customers to give ratings and reviews?
- If a customer gives a poor review how do you think a business needs to handle that?
Skill Builder (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: Help participants draw the comparison of feedback and reviews of online stores and giving friends likes and follows online. Guide them toward seeing that we have to be more kind and careful with PEOPLE we consider friends.
Take a look at these images of popular twitter users.
- How many followers do these people have?
- What kind of comment might you make on one of these tweets?
- How is responding to a human person online different than rating a business?
- What are ways to be a good friend online?
<Body Break>
Survival Math (5-10 min)
When you use a treadmill you see Miles Per Hour on the readout. But when you want to know how fast you run or job, you need to know your PACE, meaning how long it takes you to run 1 mile. Use this pace calculator to conver MPH to PACE.
- If Gina runs at 4.5 miles per hour what is her pace?
- If Mel runs a mile in 7 minutes, how many miles per hour is he running?
Optional Level-Up
Life Skills Story Interesting Discussion Questions
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What did we learn today?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Knowledge & Fun
February 5, 2021
Black History Month - Medgar Evers (5 min)
Today happens to be...
National Weatherperson's Day and World Nutella Day (1-2 min)
Check In (3 min)
Hello hello!
Recap Yesterday (3 min)
- Online ratings and reviews for businesses
- Follows and likes for PEOPLE should be kind
- Pace is how much time it takes to cover a set distance and speed is how much distance you cover in a set time
Show & Share Portfolio Planner (10-min)
People with successful relationships have a lot to teach the rest of us. Do you know someone who has been married for a very long time? Can you find out what their secret is? Tell us what they told you. Or, is it you that has been in a good relationship for many years? What advice would you give?
Next week's Show & Share: Looking for love? Next week we'll talk about safe and healthy ways to meet people and share our stories about friendship, romance, and personal growth.
<Body Break>
Portfolio Wrap-up (10-15 min)
PRESENTERS: Share the screen for the week 2-page spread.
Let's wrap up This Week in the Planner
- Did we fulfill any appointments or to-do items? Share your success.
- Did we work on any goals or track our habits? Share your wins.
- What did we have to change or adapt to? Share what you learned about how to plan
- Rate the week in the lower right square and doodle or write in your success for the week.
Skill Review - Relationship Types (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: Each person take a turn. Spin the wheel and the person has 10 seconds to say a name of someone that is that relationship in their life. If they can't name someone they have to make a silly face in the spotlight.
<Body Break>
Thematic Wrap Up - Social Circle Size (5-10 min)
PRESENTERS: Share a whiteboard and ask participants to tell the types of relationships they are actively enjoying in their lives right now. Ask the questions in the group.
- Would you like to INCREASE the size of your social circle, or MAINTAIN it?
- What are ways to meet people safely to increase our social circles?
- What steps can we take to keep our current relationships healthy and strong?
Game Time (10-15 min)
PRESENTERS: If you know how to play these card games, do them in the group. People can learn ABOUT how to play, even if they don't know or can't get to the site. You can also paste the URL into the chat for those who can, and would like to go to the website themselves.
Optional Level-Up - LIfe Skills Stories Activities
(text)
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What did we learn this week?
What are we doing this afternoon?
Choosing Fun Stuff to Do
Need some help deciding on an afternoon activity?
The activities are numbered. These numbers corrospond to brief activity descriptions listen in the linked document below.
