FEELING STUDENTS’

FEELINGSBrynn Vergouven

WHO I

AM

Brynn Vergouven Substitute for Cherokee Co. Schools High Expectations for me AND my

students Approachable; My students know that

they can always come to me if they have questions or just need to talk.

“WOOO!! I Graduated!.... wait, where are the jobs?!”

JOURNAL PROMPTRecently, there was a No-Texting-While-Driving Lawenacted. Are you “For” or “Against” this ruling?Why or why not?

http://www.drivinglaws.org/georgia.php

HOW WE FORM A PERSPECTIVE AND USE EMPATHY

Experiences

Forming a Perspective

How do we connect with others with a different perspective? How do we live

together and think differently?

Empathy- “Walking in someone else’s shoes”

INQUIRY QUESTION!

How can teaching P.O.V/persuasion develop empathy?

WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS TOPIC? I became interested in the idea of teaching

students about the importance of empathy during my internship. I worked with two groups of 5th graders, 48 students total. The students lacked any ambivalence towards each other, and the atmosphere was generally a “One for all, and all for Me” attitude. Lord help any teacher who would try to put them into groups, because a fight would ultimately break out and disrupt everyone!

I wondered what would have happened to the group’s moral had they had better working relationships, and a healthy dose of empathy and respect for another’s perspective.

THE WHAT, WHY, AND HOW What is Empathy? Why do we need it? What are some effective teaching

strategies that can be used to encourage empathy?

How can P.O.V affect the ability to show empathy?

WHAT EXACTLY IS EMPATHY? Empathy can be described as

“understanding what {a student} is feeling or, more properly, to understand what you would feel like if you were in {their} situation. It is an extension of self-concept, but it is far more complex. It requires an awareness that others think of themselves in ways that are both similar to and different from the way you do, and that they also have emotions they associate with those thoughts and images.” (Kutner, 1994)

Walking in another person’s “Shoes”

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Empathy is a key component to building

strong relationships with the people around us. If we lack empathetic skills, we find ourselves trapped in our own little self-centered box, and neglect the emotional states of those around us.

The ego strength embodied in the capacity for empathy serves as a foundation for relationships and also provides a basis for coping with stress and resolving conflict. (Hatcher, 1994)

CAN WE TEACH IT TO STUDENTS? Nature vs. Nurture

The cognitive developmental literature and information on the developing brain suggest that later experiences build on earlier ones, and that patterns of functioning laid down during the early years provide the basis for later accomplishments. (Bronson, 2000)

DIFFERENT STRATEGIES TO TEACH EMPATHY Kidshealth.org Wilderdom.com Share your own writing with your

students! Song writing

Oregon Teacher’s Songwriting Stirs Students Interest in Words- NWP

Song Writing for Kids Poems

Washington Post ArticleCreating Empathetic Connections to Literatu

re-NWP

HOW DOES P.O.V AFFECT THE ABILITY TO SHOW EMPATHY? A recent experiment was done among medical

students and their patients where the physicians co-wrote a reflective narrative WITH the patient.

“When doctors or medical trainees reflect on their own lives in medicine and when they inspect the memories and associations triggered by their care of the sick, they become all the more available and useful to their patients. Their explicit awareness of their own feelings and experiences deepens their capacity to respond empathically to patients while their generosity toward patients can prompt them to be more generous toward themselves”

(Charon, DaGupta, 2004)

THE CASE OF LITTLE PIGS VS. A. WOLF

You are the jury selected to hear the case of Little Pigs vs. Alfred Wolf. Listen to their “testimonies” and decide your P.O.V. based on the evidence!

One night the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat fat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw. He said "Let me in, Let me in, little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

I was making a birthday cake for my dear old granny. I had a terrible sneezing cold. I ran out of sugar. So I walked down the street to ask my neighbor for a cup of sugar. Now this neighbor was a pig. And he wasn't too bright either. He had built his whole house out of straw. Can you believe it? I mean who in his right mind would build a house of straw? So of course the minute I knocked on the door, it fell right in. I didn't want to just walk into someone else's house. So I called, "Little Pig, Little Pig, are you in?" No answer. I was just about to go home without the cup of sugar for my dear old granny's birthday cake.

Three Little Pigs

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

But of course the wolf did blow the house in and ate the first little pig.

That's when my nose started to itch. I felt a sneeze coming on. Well I huffed. And I snuffed. And I sneezed a great sneeze.

And you know what? The whole darn straw house fell down. And right in the middle of the pile of straw was the First Little Pig - dead as a doornail

The wolf then came to the house of bricks. " Let me in , let me in" cried the wolf "Or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in“

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin" said the pigs. Well, the wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house.

But the wolf was a sly old wolf and he climbed up on the roof to look for a way into the brick house. The little pig saw the wolf climb up on the roof and lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and placed on it a large kettle of water. When the wolf finally found the hole in the chimney he crawled down and KERSPLASH right into that kettle of water and that was the end of his troubles with the big bad wolf.

I was just about to go home and maybe make a nice birthday card instead of a cake, when I felt my cold coming on. I huffed And I snuffed. And I sneezed once again.

Then the Third Little Pig yelled, " And your old granny can sit on a pin!" Now I'm usually a pretty calm fellow. But when somebody talks about my granny like that, I go a Little crazy. When the cops drove up, of course I was trying to break down this Pig's door. And the whole time I was huffing and puffing and sneezing and making a real scene.

The rest as they say is history.

GUIDED QUESTIONS How are the two versions of the story alike? How

are they different? Which version of the story do you think is true?

Why? How can you figure out which version is the

correct one? Is it possible to determine if one is the truth?

Why or why not? Have you ever disagreed with somebody about

something that happened? Did you figure out what really happened?

What can we do when we have two versions of an event? How can we figure out which one, if either, is true?

THE CASE OF “LITTLE PIGS” VS. “A. WOLF”

WRITING ACTIVITY You have heard both sides of the case

that covered the trial “Little Pigs vs. A. Wolf,” describing how the trial is going.

Your job is write a letter to the Judge, trying to explain your perspective ( P.O.V) as to whether A. Wolf should be cleared of all charges or spend time in jail!

Be sure to use examples from the story.

BOOKS YOU COULD USE FOR OLDER STUDENTS Wicked Walk Two Moons Number the Stars When Will This Cruel War Be Over? The

Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson Breaking Dawn

ALTERNATIVE WRITING ACTIVITY Choose one of your favorite fairytales.

Write the fairy tale from the perspective of another character.

TICKET OUT OF THE DOOR What are 2-3 strategies that you learned

about in this presentation that you could implement in your classroom?