When the 8th grade team asked me on Monday if I wanted to come in and talk with the entire 8th grade I jumped at my chance to get into the classroom. Today was a half day and I was given the entire 8th grade (71 students) for 77 minutes.
Basically that is 2 class periods. I could get a lot done! While it was a bit stressful to pull off 77 minutes worth of material in less than a week, I asked some facebook friends from Caught In The Middle School Counselors if they had any ideas. They came through, and I used one of the activities that was suggested.
First things first. I wanted this lesson to be meaningful. What was my objective? What is my goal? How would it tie into my counseling program and program goals? Here’s what I came up with:
Here is my presentation:
The activities are as follows:
Helium Stick—Using the same groups as the magic carpet activity, hand each group a hula hoop. Ask them to stand I a circle, shoulder to shoulder, with both pointer fingers in front of them at chest level. Place the hula hoop on their fingers. Although it is a natural instinct for the hula hoop to rise, have them work together to bring the hula hoop down to the floor.
Here is a link to the Grit Survey:
https://upenn.app.box.com/8itemgritchild
and this is the Exit Slip I used.