Opening Day

Reason we are here

We are here to help you make your life better.  Everything we do will help you have a better life, and we will be paying attention to every detail.  You will have a better life if you learn to be organized, be nice and work hard.

Listening and Responding in a Big Group

In order to use time effectively, we need to know how to listen to others. And while it is very important to share your thoughts it is also important to control your impulses to talk because there are a lot of people in the room.  We also need and effective system to share our voices.  Learning to listen and contribute is important.

Instruction: We will use two methods to share our thoughts: One is the “Cold Call,” the other is raising our hands. The Cold Call is when the teacher randomly calls on students.  No hands are raised and only the person called speaks. Let’s practice.

The other method is to raise your hands when you want to talk. You speak only 1) when you are called on, AND 2) When others are talking you listen by either looking at them or looking at no one.  While others are talking, you do not raise your hands and you don’t talk. Let’s practice.

Entering the Room

In order to work and learn effectively, it is important to use time and space efficiently. Learning how to enter a workspace is important.

Instruction: When you enter this room, you should be walking.  Always greet someone by name. Place your bag on the table and get out the stuff you need. Put your bag in place out of the way.  Talk quietly with others.  When it is time to begin work, immediately end your conversations and move to your spot.   This is what organized people do. Now let's practice.

Circle

In order for individuals to work effectively, they need to be supported and connected to the larger group.  This is supported by brain research.  The most important thing that helps people feel supported and connected is to have a voice and feel they are listened to.  

Instruction: They way we do this is to use circles, which many of you are familiar with.  We move the furniture as quietly as possible to allow the chairs to be around the outside the room.  Let’s practice.

Instruction: [give circle instructions]   [give ending instructions, reminding them that it’s much like entering class]

Working in Groups

In order for you to be an effective person, you have to be able to work with others. It is not easy because it’s tough to balance work with socializing. Effective people are able to work about 90% of the time and socialize 10% of the time.  Really effective people satisfy their social needs through their work. The first thing we’ll work on is how to form groups. What does a group look like? It is also very important to make sure that everyone has a group.  While you are looking around the room, make sure others are taken care of.  Most group projects are very short, so you don’t need to worry about being “stuck” in a group. Let’s practice.

Instruction: You need to form groups of 4 and move to them very quickly, taking what you need.  We’ll time you to check on your effectiveness.  We will stop the timer when you are all in groups of 4, looking at us.

Instruction: Now we’re going to give you something to do. [Instructions on group essay on “people in our class”]

Presenting as a Group

In order to be an effective person, you need to learn how to present as a group.  This skill will let you explain important things to others. The most important part of presenting is saying important things in the right order.

Instruction: You will take turns in your group introducing the person you interviewed to the class.  You will take turns and 1) introduce who you are, 2) explain what it is that you are doing, 3) completing your part of the presentation.
Time Chart Keeping track of your time will improve your life. Helps with procrastination.

Taking Notes

People who are effective are able to take notes and organize them.  Why is this important? Brain research show that simply taking notes helps you learn.  Taking AND reviewing them allows for even more learning.

Instruction: We’ll be taking notes on vocabulary words and watching a video that contains a lot of those words. You will open your notebook to the first page (if you don’t have a notebook, we will supply a piece of paper) and you will put the date at the top. Whatever we write on the board, you will write in your notes. When you watch the video, you will quickly note what you find interesting and important.  After the video ends, you will take a moment to summarize what you heard.

Leaving the Classroom

Effective people are also considerate and put things back.  They make life easier for others, not more difficult.  They do things for others. These things are important because it makes them more liked, more useful and more employable.

Instruction: We’ll be practicing leaving the room as we found it.  We will pick up the floor, put our things away, put the chairs up.  We will clean up at least one thing that is not ours.