Blog 8/31

 

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 the THRIVE activity calendar or UCM activity calendar.

Please help the students understand the importance of using their masks.  We’ve had a number of students not wearing their masks in the dorms.  The mentors have been asked to start giving warnings to students.  We understand that this can be uncomfortable and hard to remember but it’s important to have them worn on campus and where they can’t follow social distancing.  Thank you for you assistance with this.

First-Year Students:

University Foundations: Debra Southard

Students were reminded on Monday about the lesson on Relationships class from last Friday. Topics were reading the course syllabus, completing the discussion board, and how to count time completed on plato during the week. Students were asked to write down their time that shows on each subject on Monday mornings then add 2 hours to each. That will help them keep track. Students earn 15 points a week in University Foundations for completing plato. Reviewed how to submit homework on Blackboard. Discussion this week included the differences between high school and college. We played a couple of Kahoots games.

Daily & Independent Living Skills:  Lisa Garnier

On Tuesday we talked about making a good first impression when applying for a job/interviewing. Wednesday, we reviewed staying safe on campus (always have cell phones, buddy system, using crosswalks/crossing lights correctly, etc.). Thursday, Dr. Melissa Fuller from the Campus Counseling center presented on navigating the new normal. Dr. Fuller discussed emotions and feelings related to change and how to manage them. Friday we began discussions on personal finance by talking about wants vs. needs. We played Kahoot a Kahoot challenge game to help learn the difference between a need and a want. 

Technology Literacy:  Lisa Garnier

This week in Tech we learned how to put our pictures on our Gmail and Blackboard. We talked about using email safely: not opening or answering mail from strangers, not sending personal information in emails, etc.). We also played a Kahoot game to reinforce the concepts of using email safely. 

Relationships 101: Debra Southard

The lesson for the week was about the importance of listening to others. We talked about nonverbal communication and looked at some examples. We also discussed the difficulty of understanding someone's feelings without being about to seek their face due to COVID masks.  We completed an activity that illustrated how listening and understanding can be different for each person. 

Second-Year Students:

Transition Planning I: Gary Manning

We are currently reading/discussing pages 3 - 28 in the 7 Habits book.  These pages discuss what is a habit and what a good habit may look like and what a bad habit may look like. Further, we are discussing paradigms/perspectives from an individual. How these habits, perspectives, and paradigms affect an individual and their lives.

The students are working on three SMART goals for the semester.  These goals can be academic, personal, or internship related.  As we progress through the semester, the student and I will discuss these goals to see how they are progressing on the goals.  

Internship I: Gary Manning

We are discussing/practicing professional development/skills during class.  Some of those skills include professional emails, dress, appropriate body language, and communication.  Further, we are discussing personal/sick days for a job/internship.  During the semester the students have four personal days they can use at their internship.  We have this in place because we want the students to have a realistic view of a job.  

The students will start working on their internship logs, reflection papers, and interviews for their internships this week.  

 

Plato: Debra Southard

Mrs. Southard runs the Plato report on Monday mornings. Students did well on their assessments. They worked hard. Second-year students really put in a lot of time on plato the first week.  Most students complete the time needed on plato. Some first-year students were assigned to go to Study hall plus to get the last weeks completed. 

Some students are waiting until the study hall to work on Plato. They need to be following their schedule. The study hall is arranged so the students are taking the same class are in the study hall together. When students wait until study hall to work on plato they are missing the opportunity to work together with their classmates on assignments for their common class. Also, their schedule is an important tool for students to learn time management.  

THRIVE Activities:

Mentor Activities: Bowling-

This weekend Abbie had a bowling activity.  Here are some of the pictures.

Great Job Mentors!!  For more pictures please join our THRIVE Facebook page.

Important upcoming dates:

Labor Day Weekend-This coming weekend is a three day weekend.  We will be asking students on Tuesday their plans for leaving or staying.  This will help us with our activities.  Our mentor has planned two activities to help the students have some things to do.  

September 7th-No School for Labor Day.  The students will not have Sunday afternoon Study Hall this weekend.  This will give students the opportunity to go home or have time to refresh.  There will be a Monday night study hall, so students that have Monday night study hall will either need to be back by 6 or make prior arrangements to do another night.

This coming weekends activity: Sept. 4th Archery Activity & 6th-Second Cooking Activity Group.  The students that are involved have already accepted the invitation.  I’ll let you see what they did next week.

UCM’s Intramural activities will be starting soon.  We’ve placed a sign up sheets in the back of the classroom for students to sign up.  We’ll keep families posted if we have enough students to participate in these activities.  We do ask, that if students have softball gloves and would like to play they bring their gloves back with them the next chance that they get.  We do have some gloves that have been donated but not enough for an entire team.

"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."