Report #3
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name Bruce Peppard
Date 11/03/09
FIPP Partner Karen Amano-Tompkins
Section # English B
Activity /Strategy Affirmation Statement
Category #I Classroom Activities
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction I took this activity from our On Course Training and modified it
slightly for my classes. I had students individually make two lists: one for
qualities the student has that leads to success, the other for qualities the
student has that hinders success. After a set period of time (7 minutes), we
had a class discussion of both types of qualities. Students were then asked to
pick the three qualites they felt hindered their success the most. I then had
students create an affirmation statement using those three hindering qualities.
2. Set up & Supplies An overhead document camera was the only set-up needed.
3. Directions Participants were asked to make a list of qualities that led to their
success as students and a list of qualities that hindered their success as
students. They then were to pick the three qualites they thought most hindered
their success as students. When they identified those qualities, they were
asked to create an affirmation statement.
4. Conclusion Students were asked to keep this affirmation statement handy and
asked to take it out from time to time to read it on their own.
What worked well? Students quickly realized how much they had in common with other
students in the classroom. Comments like "Oh, I do that all the time!" were not
uncommon. So, in one sense, students did not feel alone. Additionally, students
demonstrated a good sense of awareness concerning qualities that aid and hinder
student success. I sincerely feel students benefit from this activity; it's empowering to
realize one can has the ability to transform a weakness into a strength.
What would you change? I would model my own successful/hindering qualities because
students often confused behaivors with qualities. Luckily, behaivors could be easily
modified syntactically. I didn't realize this, however, until halfway through the
assignment, so in the future I plan on circulating among students and guiding them with
word choice early on. In addition, in the future I will have students make bookmarks
with their affirmation statements. This will do two things: remind students of their
affirmation statement and reduce the amount of time spent waiting for students to find
the correct page when going over book work in class.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Yes, I definitely plan on using
this strategy again because it initiates discussion about what it takes to be a good
student. The strategy also empowers students to be more responsible in the decisions
they make and will continue to make in college and elsewhere in their lives.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. Most students had no problem filling up the
hindering qualities portion of the activity--if nothing else, they seemed overwhelmed by
how many they had. However, students visibly changed when they discussed and
created their affirmation statement--they were smiling, laughing, and seemed more
positive in outlook. Throughout the semester, students have commented on their
affirmation statements as well, both to signify they are changing their behaivors as well
as to signify when they went astray from their affirmations.