Report #3
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name Bonnilee Kaufman
Date November 2009
FIPP Partner Vivian Nemie
Section #4244
Activity /Strategy Creator vs. Victim language: How can you create greater
success by changing your vocabulary?
Category --under the HW category, however homework does not apply to
the Ed Dev support class, so this is a variation I call: In-and-Out-ofClassroom
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction Language of Responsibility-began w/ quote (Big book pg 17)
regarding blame. Displayed Responsibility Model on overhead - 'How do we
choose to respond to the situations/events/decisions we find ourselves faced
with?' Please note: this topic has been the subject of different related activities
over the course of several sessions
2. Set up & Supplies quote posted on board, overhead, markers for graphic,
handouts (pg.34 text)
3. Directions class discussion of quote followed by written response; discussion of
model; then I drew stick figure on board of 'the student who failed a test'--class
provided all the different thoughts, which I recorded on the board in the style of
semantic mapping, - we typically go through when faced with failure
(blame/excuses/self-deprecation, etc) & eventually got to the important
question of: 'what can be done to improve the next test grade?'
Break into groups of two & work on handout--provide Creator solutions to the
examples, reconvene as full group & discuss responses.
During another session I read aloud different scenarios from the manual, & they
had to indicate with their fingers (C or V) whether it was creator or victim
language--followed by a conversation exploring our personal histories & when
we, as children, first began to 'defend' ourselves by blaming someone or
something other than ourselves.
4. Conclusion 'I Have to versus I Choose to' activity as per manual & verbal
summarization
What worked well? breaking into groups; sharing their viewpoints & some personal
stories with the entire class; comfortable exchange of ideas; students were engaged
What would you change? nothing yet.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Yes, I look forward to using
this type of activity again. The nature of the Ed Dev support class is that students are
responsible for bringing in assignments to work on independently, so full class lesson
time is limited. However, I let them know when a lesson is planned & provide transition
time so that they can still attend to their independent work; from their participation, it is
evident they enjoy the prescribed tasks.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. Asking them to relate personal moments when
they recognized that they fell into the 'trap of victim language' & that recognition is the
first step toward change.