Week 1/17 Blog-First post of the Spring Semester

 

THRIVE Director Notes

Posts on this Blog will be directed to help families see what is going on in our THRIVE Program.  Items discussed on the Blog have already occurred.  To keep updated on what’s coming up please refer to your students or UCM activity calendar

First-Year Students:

Workplace & Community Skills - (Mrs. Southard and Dr. Manning): 

Students will learn about the process of career development and planning, which includes self-assessment, job search strategies, awareness of workplace issues, and decision-making.  This course will also guide and assist a student’s exploration into their current self-concept, their abilities and strengths, their framework for accomplishment, and self–evaluation.  It will discuss the concepts and practices of self-determination and person-centered planning as tools to help individuals recognize or identify their aspirations (goals) and the support needed to attain these goals.  Students will develop the resume, cover letter, and thank you notes. Students will also have several opportunities to job shadow at various locations.

Learning Strategies- (Mrs. Southard)

Students are getting back in the swing of things. We had a few adjustments but for the most part, everyone got to their non-THRIVE classes this week. This semester we are going to focus more on a to-do list.  This class meets 3 days a week M/W/F. We will have an assignment due close to every class meeting. All students received two books one is a hard copy and the other is a book they keep on their desktop. All students should know how to get their computer to read to them. 

This course will introduce students to various strategies useful in studying and succeeding in the THRIVE Program and other academic classes.  Students will be introduced to the areas of learning styles, note-taking, time management, textbook study, academic reading, memory improvement, vocabulary improvement, exam preparation, and test-taking.  Class discussion/writing will encourage students to improve their critical thinking through increased awareness of issues and inquiry-based knowledge.  The relationship will be made between skills learned in class to skills transferable to the workplace.

Daily & Independent Living Skills (DILS)-  (Mrs. Garnier)

DILS consists of three units: Career & Work Skills, Independent Living Skills, and Basic Financial Skills. We started the semester with discussions on good first impressions and a good work ethic. The students were focused and showed a good understanding of work ethic and how to make a good first impression. They received their first homework assignment on Thursday to write a paragraph discussing their own work ethic.

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning II: (Dr. Manning)

The students will be learning about transitioning from being a 2nd-year student in the UCM THRIVE program to getting a job, moving into an apartment, utilizing public transportation, budget, paying bills and daily/independent skills maybe for them. 

 

This week we started working with money.  The students had to make change when they bought something and recognize the different types of bills/coins.  Please have your students start using bills/coins in their lives instead of swiping their debit/credit cards.   

Internship II:  (Dr. Manning)

Within the class the students will be learning about professionalism, job skills, filling out job applications, resumes, interviewing skills, and researching different careers.

The students will also be doing workshops at the UCM Career Service Office throughout the semester.  

 

Plato- (Mrs. Southard) 

All students are working on the diagnostics that will create a learning path for each individual student. It is extremely important that they take their time and do their best. 

THRIVE Activities: 

Mentor Activities: 

Hope and Marlon set up a Chili and Cornbread meal on Saturday.  What a great weekend to get this going.  It looks and sounds like the students enjoyed the activity.

Just a reminder that the pictures posted on the blog are typically just a sample of what is on Facebook.  So, if you want to see more and keep more updated, please go to our Facebook page - UCM-THRIVE.

Important upcoming dates:

Spring sports are starting up so the students can take advantage of going to these activities.  

In addition, the students can participate in Intramural Athletics: Students will need to watch the back table for any upcoming activities.  At this time we have three activities that are open to our students to sign up: Bowling teams, Ping Pong (individual), and Indoor Volleyball teams.  At this time, we haven’t had any students sign up to play, so if you think your student would like to remind them.  This Friday is our deadline to set up a team.  Then in March, the Softball leagues will be forming again.

"This blog is a programming blog written by the director and staff of the THRIVE Program on the University of Central Missouri campus.  This blog doesn't accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. 

The views and ideas expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners.  This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.  We are simply telling you what we plan to do in our program and using the blog to help spread what we are doing on a weekly basis."