Session 6

This session we started with a discussion about the grandparent letters. I was very pleased to see that most of the group completed the assignment and wanted to share. S1 shared that as she wrote her letter she found more she liked about the person and included that in her letter. L1 wrote to a former teacher and asked if I could help her deliver it. H3. is going to mail his letter, and so are L1, S1, and T.

During this week’s session we continued on to read chapter 7. L1 had asked if she could read it to us and complete the workbook chapter about beauty. The group agreed that they felt Loki Bella was beautiful and recognized beauty as more than someone’s appearance. S1 raised her hand just to ask if they would get to share and talk about the questions. The answer was of course yes, but I appreciate that she is becoming more confident and excited about sharing. She smiles more now during Manadoob and her higher self esteem shows in her interactions with peers in other Club programs. L1 shared a story about a friend who got teased once, and she now feels bad that she didn’t do more. She said that she wished she could go back and do something about it. H2 said that when she gets teased she doesn’t really get bothered because of how her mom has explained it to her. She shared that she tries to understand what the other person may be feeling or “what’s wrong with them.” L2 shared toward the end of the discussion that he had been called weird before and I replied by saying that I think he has a very outgoing personality and is funny. I asked him if he felt what I said was true and described him well and he agreed. We talked about the possibility that maybe the person calling him weird just thought he was funny but maybe chose a word that L2 didn’t really like. The group encouraged L2 to ask next time someone calls him a word like weird for them to clarify what they mean.

As we continued on to chapter 8 everyone in group volunteered to read. We started our discussion about the word “obsessed” and it’s meaning, but unfortunately ran short on time. H3 spoke of his obsession with Pokémon cards and immediately L2 responded that he feels the same and “just can’t stop playing video games.” When H3 said “same here man,” in such a serious tone it was all I could do to keep from laughing. They are too funny sometimes, and although this is not where I had intended the discussion on obsessions to go, if this is how they can relate it works for me. We will need to finish up the workbook section of chapter 8 this next week and talk a little but more about this topic in the context of the book which I’m sure will go great. I know that they will be very excited to be able to start a project with their supplies as that has been the big question each week since we started!