Week 18: Know Yourself and Accept Others

Sadly, this was my last week with the students at Oyler Elementary.  I saved the most important lesson for last, the importance of knowing yourself, while being accepting of others.  I wanted the students to remember that they should always be themselves, as no two people are exactly the same.  We all have different backgrounds, beliefs, physical features, and opinions.  It's important for these students to learn that they need to know them self so they can be their best self.  They should never aspire to be anyone else.


In order to help the students discover their true self, we colored bookmarks according to certain traits associated with the colors and shapes.  On my own bookmark, I colored red for love, grey for traditional, purple for elegance, green for reliability, and various shapes that represent order, independence, and wholeness. The students had a great time participating in this exercise, and learned about themselves at the same time.


Winners love and accept themselves and others!  

Week 17: Make Friends, But Choose Them Wisely

Make new friends, but keep the old.  Some are silver and the others gold" - we all sang this brief song at some point during our childhood, yet the message of the song still remains clear even now, as we grow older.  I have many new college friends, but I still remain in contact with my high school friends.  Even though I rarely see them, we can talk to each other about anything and anyone.  I want to have as many friends as I can because these people truly know who I am and appreciate me for my personality, no matter how sarcastic I may be.


To talk about having good friends with my students, we discussed what types of qualities make a good friend.  Good friends should support each other, be dependable, respect each other, listen to each other, and genuinely care about each other.  We also dicussed the importance of forgiving our friends for making silly mistakes, as forgiveness is a huge topic in the school.

To have good friends, you have to be a good friend.

Week 16: Be Good to the Environment - Go Green!

When I was in high school, we always had a theme for the school year.  One year, the theme was "We were green before green was cool."  So I course, I had to talk to my students about being green and eco-friendly. 

This lesson fell right around Earth Day, which was great because the students had already been talking about going green with their science teachers.  I encouraged them to take some time cleaning up their local neighborhoods and making sure they recycle bottles and cans.  There are also places that will take recycled clothes, which was very surprising to some.

Another thing that's really important is cutting up the pop can plastic rings.  As a yearly visitor to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, my family and I have seen horrible pictures of fish and dolphins dying after being trapped in the plastic rings.  As these cannot always be recyled, I told students to be sure to cut them so they could ensure that animals wouldnt get caught. 

Week 15: Develop Good Habits

This week, we had a short session that piggybacked off of many previous sessions.  Since we had limited time, I was to get this lesson in, as it is very similar to "It's Cool to Take Care of Yourself."  


We discussed the importance of getting into habits, well the good ones.  We made a list of good habits, including brushing your teeth in the morning and at night, eating healthy foods, exercising, having good friends, etc.  We also put a list on the board of bad habits that we should never do, such as smoking, watching tv instead of finishing homework, etc.  The kids really got a lot out of this exercise, and they did a great job determining which habits were good and bad.  

Week 14: Good Words Make a Good Impression

We all used to dread those grammar lessons during our elementary school years.  Learning the proper use of your, you're, there, their, and they're, and the difference between adjectives, adverbs, and nouns was not fun for any of us.  BUT, it's quite important that we know these small grammatical differences, especially as we grow older and have careers.


I wanted to stress not only the importance of proper grammar, but also the need for proper communication.  We practiced a variety of proper sentences on the board, excluding the words "ain't", "naw", etc.  It's important they always use proper grammar, especially when they are being polite and using their manners.


I have heard many of the students use vulgar language in the classroom, and for kindergarten through second graders, it's not appropriate.  Some of the kids are very vulgar, manly the older boys in the group.  If anything goes wrong, the curse words start flying.  I explained there are other, less violent ways of expressing negative emotions.


I've also realized the importance of proper communication, a valuable skill that will be important in the business world.  When there is not clear communication, people can get confused and events can go not as planned.  Even being a part of Winners Walk Tall was often times frustrating.  Sometimes, I'd show up at Oyler to find that the after school program was cancelled for the day.  As a volunteer and a college student, my time is precious, so I was annoyed when I wasn't properly communicated to.

Week 13: Be Honest

This week we discussed the importance of being honest with ourselves and others, and how we shouldn't steal, lie, or cheat.  My parents used to tell us the story of the little boy who cried wolf, so I figured I should share it with the students.  While some of them had already heard it, it was good to reiterate the importance of being honest.  


I also presented the students with some situations to test their integrity and these situations would provide good examples for discussion. What would you do if you found a purse in the bathroom at the mall?  What would you do if the answers fell off the teacher's desk during the test?  The kids answered with very interesting decisions, but it provided good conversation and helped the students understand what is right and wrong.

Week 12: Save for Tomorrow

My parents are both in the business field, and have always encouraged us to save our money.  I used to dread getting money for my birthday because my dad would take it straight to the bank.  Now, as a college student, I don't have to worry about being the "poor college kid" because my parents taught me the importance of saving much more than I spend.  My friends and I always joke about how I spend no money when we go shopping, while they blow through their paychecks, but I know that as I grow older, I will be happy I have saved.

When I signed up to be a character coach, I was told that these kids really need to have this lesson taught because they spend money as fast as they earn it.  I decided I would give each student a penny.  The next week, if they still have their penny, they would be given a nickel.  The following week, a dime, and then finally a quarter.  I was shocked when most of the students didn't even have their penny during the second week. No one made it to the quarter week, and I just couldn't believe they had found a way to spend such a small amount of money.  

We discussed the importance of saving money for college, weddings, buying a car, owning a house, and having money set aside for any emergencies that may come up.  I hope that some of these students took my advice to save money.