Choosing Happiness: Overcoming Adversity and Disadvantage
My students need the nonfiction book “How Full is your Bucket” by Tom Rath in order to gain necessary life skills to overcome the economic and personal struggles they face in daily life.
I have 22 struggling English students. Most come from low-income families and struggle in school. These are the kids that slip through the cracks, the kids that most people give up on. Four are EL learners. Many of them work, have little access to physical books, and are searching for a place in the world. They are kind when they know they can trust others, and need encouragement about the future. They need tools to become successful and find happiness. They need me. They need you. They need books. They need love, hope, and basic human interaction skills and relationship skills that most students get by witnessing quality relationships in their own lives. They need to know that trade schools and community colleges exist. They need a sense of self, pride, and someone to unlock all of the potential that I see within them. They need someone to look beyond a low test score, a discipline record, an extensive absence/tardy record, a history of abuse, neglect, mental health issues, et cetera, and see their own power to change themselves and the world.
My Project
These materials will provide my lowest-performing, struggling students with life skills for learning how to be happy and spread happiness to others. The book “How Full is your Bucket” by Tom Rath shows how one’s words and actions affect others. My four EL students will read the children’s version, and we will compare and contrast what is lost/gained with both versions. Students will keep a journal as they read and relate to real-world problems and situations that directly relate to topics covered in this book. Today’s society will be blessed with empathetic “doers” who understand relationships and the power they possess. These students all come from poverty-stricken homes in northeast Mississippi. They are fantastic kids who need compassion and a foundation of understanding how to be compassionate as well. These books will go home with them, as opposed to the classroom digital readers we normally use. Hopefully these books will plant a seed and be a reminder of how they impact others. They will learn to “fill their buckets”, and pay attention to the well-being (the buckets) of others. If our society needs anything, it is respect for the lives of others. Compassion. Truth. Understanding. Young adults need the ability to listen and empathize without argument or anger. This book opens up their minds in a way they have never experienced, from a perspective that has thus far been blind to them. This nonfiction book will complement personal essays, poems, historical speeches, and TED talks that we will read, view, and discuss in class. Socratic/fishbowl discussions will be utilized in order to foster social interaction and exposure to others’ perspectives.
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