FRESHMAN SEMINAR

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FRESHMAN SEMINAR

• Talent Development High Schools
• Center for Social Organization of Schools
• Johns Hopkins University
• 2004

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Question 1

• What skills/knowledge do ninth grade students
  need that isnt formally covered in their
  academic subjects?

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Question 2

• Where do ninth graders get that information now?

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Freshman Seminar was created

• to have students learn and practice social,
  academic and other life skills
• not usually addressed in a focused, in-depth,
  organized manner
• in the usual high school curriculum.

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What Freshman Seminar is

• An 18-week (one semester) course organized into
• 8 skills units of
• 80-90 minute lessons that build logically on the
  skills taught in previous lessons.

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What Freshman Seminar is NOT!

• An unending, unfocused round of
• feel-good rap sessions.

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Course materials

• Teachers Curriculum Manual
• 95 complete lessons, 80-90 minutes each
• Teachers Notebook The current unit being
  taught, plus the Social Skills unit
• Curriculum Manual on CD-ROM
• Complete set of required transparencies
• Student Workbook All activities requiring
  student writing
• Student Reader All readings used in the lessons

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Freshman Seminaran 18-week course that includes

• Orientation
• Study Skills
• Careers
• Post-Secondary Decisions
• Human Relations
• Social Skills
• Technology
• The Career Portfolio

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Unit 1 Orientation to High School (7 lessons)

• Classroom rules Getting to Know You
• School rules Getting to Know Your School
• Your Notebook Getting and Staying Organized
• Freshman Seminar Goals
• Middle School vs. High School
• Introduction to Teaming
• Teaming Practice

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Unit 2 Study Skills (18 lessons)

• Note-taking The Cornell Method, Shorthand,
  Graphic Organizers, Mind Maps, Classic Outlining
• Memory Principles and Mnemonic Devices
• Previewing and SQ3R
• Time Management
• Study Space
• Test-taking Skills Preparation, Anxiety,
  Objective and Essay Tests

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Unit 3 Careers (13 lessons)

• The Holland Inventory
• Investigating Careers
• The Lifestyle-Occupation-Education Connection
• Writing a Resume
• The Job Application
• The Job Interview

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Unit 4 Post-Secondary Decisions (10 lessons)

• Graduation, and Then What?
• Lifestyle and Career
• PSAT, SAT and ACT
• College and Income
• College Costs
• Alternatives to College

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Unit 5 Human Relations(15 lessons)

• The Dynamics of Conflict and Conflict Resolution
• Understanding Our Emotions
• Strategies for Controlling Anger
• Resisting Peer Pressure
• Dealing With Disrespect
• Dealing With Authority
• Solving Conflicts With Parents and Teachers
• Making Good Choices

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Unit 6 Social Skills (13 five-part mini-lessons)

• Brainstorming
• Cooperation
• Active Listening
• Staying on Task
• Keeping Self-Control
• Asking for Clarification/Asking for Help
• Etc.

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Unit 7 Technology (15 lessons)

• Using the Word Processor Keyboarding and
  Documents
• Navigating the Internet Research
• PowerPoint Group Presentations

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Unit 8 The Career Portfolio

• Writing the Career-Centered Essay
• Peer Editing
• Post-Graduation Pathways
• Career Academies
• Career Presentation

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Appendix

• Sample exam formats
• Modifications and Accommodations for Special
  Needs students

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Freshman Seminar Drives the Team
that are reinforced in the other classes on the
team...
the Freshman Seminar teacher teaches the
skills...

• .while the team helps to determine when ...

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Graphic Organizers(lesson 4)
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Social Skill of the Week Cooperation (FS block 3)

• Reinforced in
• English (block 1)
• Math (block 2)
• Phys. Ed. (Block 4)
• Every Day the Same Positive Messages Are
  Reinforced!!!

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Introduction to Careers (Unit 3, Lesson 1)

• (10 minutes) Social Skill
• (10) Drill/Opening activity Job v. Career
• (5) Discussion Why think about career options
  now?
• (15) Think-Pair-Share Why do people work?
• (30) Team activity/report-out Building career
  ladders
• (5) Discussion Wrap-up
• (10) Personal response Journal writing/home
  assignment

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Social Skill Cooperation

• Day 1 Monday
• T-chart Students create the t-chart for the
  skill

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Social Skill__Cooperation________________________
________ Looks like Sounds like
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Social Skill Cooperation

• Day 2 Tuesday
• Discussion The importance of using the skill, in
  school and out of school

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Social Skill Cooperation

• Day 3 Wednesday
• Introduce the Action Plan and discuss its five
  steps
• Use the Action Plan to analyze a scenario
• Set up role playing for Day 4

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Action Plan

• Define the problem.
• Try to understand the other sides ideas.
• Try to get the other side to understand your
  ideas.
• Brainstorm new ideas/alternatives.
• Find the best solution to the problem.

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Social Skill Cooperation

• Day 4 Thursday
• Role-play situations the consequences of not
  cooperating the benefits of cooperating
• Discuss the use of cooperation in planning and
  making todays presentations

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Social Skill Cooperation

• Day 5 Friday
• Review the components of the skill, and the
  reasons the skill is an important one
• Make additions to the concept web created on Day 1

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Students will engage in

• Group work
• Reporting/Sharing
• Discussion with specific goals
• Role-playing
• Analysis of role-playing events
• Application of skill to daily life
• Discussing results of using vs. not using the
  skill

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The Pathway to Learning a Social Skill

• The Freshman Seminar teacher introduces the
  skill.
• Students identify the uses of the skill, and how
  it looks and sounds when its being used.
• They apply the skill to their lives in and out of
  school.
• They use the skill in Freshman Seminar.
• The skill is reinforced by other teachers and
  used in other classes.

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Classroom Assessment in Freshman Seminar

• DAILY ASSESSMENT
• Drills
• Group activities
• Workbook activities
• Homework
• Journal writing
• Other

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Does Freshman Seminar really work?

• From the teachers point of view
• suspensions
• attendance
• 10th grade

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Does Freshman Seminar really work?

• From the students point of view
• It teaches us stuff we need to know in life.
• It helped me prepare for future classes.
• We can use what we learned in other classes.
• The work was fun and educational and taught new
  things.
• Freshman Seminar taught about life and was very
  real because of the teacher.

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Why social studies teachers?

• Cooperative learning
• Process vs. product
• Group presentations
• Focused discussion
• Varied grading modalities

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Names and Numbers

• Materials
• Sara Skidmore 410-516-3464 sskidmore_at_csos.jhu.edu
  
• New schools initiatives
• Maxine Wood 410-516-6423
• mwood_at_csos.jhu.edu
• Freshman Seminar information
• Howard Gradet 410-516-6449
• hgradet_at_csos.jhu.edu