1.  Please tell me something Carolina shared with us today that resonated with you or inspired you;  was there something Carolina’s said that made you reflect on your own life and your plans for future success?   Send me your reflection in a well written statement to my email address no later than Tuesday, November 1st, 11:59pm.

2.  Evaluation:  The Hope Life Skills class introduces and attempts to  develop the following skills and attitudes:  empathy, respect, responsibility, accountability, hard work, perseverance, the courage to extend oneself out of our comfort zone and resilience.   I am asking you to evaluate your performance in this class for the first two months of this school year based on criteria related to the aforementioned skills and attitudes like responsibility and respect.   Please send me the grade you believe corresponds to your performance from the grade criteria below no later than Tuesday, November 1st, by 11:59pm.  Please use the grade criteria below to determine a letter grade which is an honest and objective reflection of your class performance:

      A:  Perfect attendance and always on time.  For those days and times you were absent or late, you ALWAYS text or emailed Mr Cronin to inform him of your tardiness or absence beforehand.   You have completed every homework assignment.   AND, you have been a class host for at least one class or have asked at least a question of most class guests who have visited our class.

      B:   Only been absent one or two classes and late a few times at most.  For those few days and times you were absent or late, you ALWAYS text or emailed Mr Cronin to inform him of your tardiness or absence.  You’ve completed almost every homework assignment and you often ask a question of some of the guests who have visited our class.

      C:  You are often absent or late.  You rarely text or email Mr Cronin when you were going to be late or absent before the class. You have done some of the homework assignments and sometimes you ask a question of a guest.

       D:  You rarely do homework assignments.  You are usually absent or late to class.   You’ve never asked a question of any guest who have visited our class.

Thank you.  I look forward to reading your responses.

1.   One of the most powerful and important concepts in the Hope Life Skills program we will encounter this year is the concept of ‘change’.   I will be asking all of you to consider some ‘change’ in your life.   Your ‘change’ might be an attitude; maybe an opinion about something.    Or, it might be they way you do something or avoid something.   Why do I ask you to consider ‘change’?   Because ‘change’ is a fact of life;  it’s happening all around us, every day, often affecting our personal lives. ‘Change’ does not always have to be a ‘big’, ‘dramatic’, ‘180 degree, complete change’.  ‘Change’ can be ‘incremental; small steps’.   Yes, ‘change’ can be hard, challenging, intimidating and somewhat confusing.   But, ‘change’ can also lead to exciting new opportunities which change our life for the better!!  Whatever ‘changes’ we encounter and possibly consider, we should at least acknowledge ‘change’ happens every day in our world. I encourage you to be curious about these changes and learn about their potential consequences.  For those changes affecting our lives in a good way, we should either do something to take advantage of the opportunities or, if we decide not to act on a change, at least, justify to ourselves why we should wait.  Waiting can sometimes be the best answer  just as embracing a ‘change’ and acting now could be too.  It’s up to you to decide.   Finally, just think about the stories we’ve heard to date from our guests – Jason, Narine, Ali, Kalimah and Randy – and their attitude on ‘change’ and the changes they’ve embarked upon in their lives.    Read pages 1 through 40 in the “Story of Change” book posted on this web site.

Please don’t tell me you are “too busy”!

This photo was taken by professional photographer, Richard Benjamin. I use Richard’s photograph as a metaphor for a healthy perspective about ‘change’ in our lives.

Jason told us today he is taking 10 credits in college, has a full time job at his law firm, running his non-profit and always networking.  “Too busy” is a flimsy excuse.  Manage your time.  This is what Jason, Narine, Ali, Kalimah, Randy and every other successful person does to be successful.   Then,

tell me one thing you read or observed on these pages that made you think slightly different about ‘change’ in your life.

As always, your response should be well written with perfect spelling, good grammar, punctuation and sentence structure and sent to my email address by Tuesday, October 25th, 11:59pm.  Please, no run-on sentences.  And, thank you.

2.  Use your intuition about me, your teacher, to determine why I use this Richard Benjamin photograph as a metaphor for my perspective about ‘change’.

Please tell me what you think my perspective is on ‘change’ based on my use of Richard Benjamin’s photo on the cover of the “Change” textbook.

As always, please send your answer to my email address in a well written statement.   I’d appreciate receiving your answer no later than Tuesday, October 25th, 11:59pm.  Thank you.

1.  Please tell me one thing Narine said that made you think.  Please send your answer to my email address in a well written statement, i.e. perfect spelling, good grammar, short sentences and your genuine reflection.  Please send me your answer by Tuesday, October 18, 2016 no later than 11:59pm.  Thank you.

2.  Please tell me something Kyara said or did during her introduction that either impressed you or made you think about your own decision to be a class host for a future Life Skills guests. Please send your answer to my email address in a well written statement, i.e. perfect spelling, good grammar, short sentences and your genuine reflection. Please send me your answer by Tuesday, October 18, 2016 no later than 11:59pm.  Thank you.

3. One of the objectives of Hope Life Skills is for you to reflect on ‘personal change’.  Yes, acknowledge the challenge and anxiety which comes with pushing out of our comfort zone to change.  However, let’s not  become intimidated by potential mistakes or embarrassment but focus on the rich opportunities that personal change can present us.   Here is a video of 2 young men who went to school for most of their lives to be trained as classical cellists for a major symphony orchestra.  However, one day a trusted mentor  suggested pushing out of their comfort zones to try a change;  to do something they may not have considered.  “What about taking a Michael Jackson song and just play the song with your cellos.  Rock music, not the symphony music you’ve been trained to play….”   They did.  They created a video for their musical interpretation of Michael Jackson’s classic song, “Smooth Criminal“.   Their video went viral!  Over 21,000,000 (million) views!!! A major entertainment star asked them to open his concert with their music.  Before long, they were booking their own concert performances.  They are famously known today as “The 2 Cellos”.  I hope you enjoy these videos.  Please share your reaction to the 2 Cellos story and music in an email to me before Tuesday, October 18th before 11:59pm.  Are you able to draw any lessons for your own quest to be successful?  Did the 2 Cellos make your reflect on how you view ‘personal change’?  Please be candid with your reaction.  I won’t be upset if you don’t like them or see any relevance in their story.   This activity is simply about considering perspectives from different people to improve our empathy and expanding our horizons of what is possible. Thank you.

Here’s 2 more videos on the 2 Cellos pushing out of their comfort zone to explore new opportunities.