name: Ann Hartley
The first activity I had my students participate in was finding out their True Colors. I wanted them to understand their learning styles and why they choose the activities they do, and why they react to differernt situations in different ways. In my ED class of 8 11th grade boys, 6 had Orange as their primary colors and the other two had Orange as a secondary color. When we discussed the findings, they wondered if this need for adventure and spontinuity was a reason they might not like school as much as they do and might be a reason for their ED placement. As the activities continued, I had the students study other people who made a difference in the world in some way. They then made a list of how they can independently make a difference somewhere in their life. As a final activity, I had the students come up with a service project of their choice. They had to set it up, which they did. They decided on raking a yard in the community. They were very proud to have set the project up and follow through with it. I learned a lot about my students as they learned about themselves. They also learned about their teacher and we became closer as a class. The only change I might make for next year is to do this more towards the beginning of the school year instead of the end.
name: Nicole Kramer
I think this was one of my favorite papers because I truely was driving home and realizing that my life is really different now than it was even a year ago. I think that I have moments where I forget that I make my own decisions and it's great to be getting better at being myself everyone. I had a great time understanding independence and finding out how it has affected my life, my confidence and my relationships.