Teach Relationship Skills
Teach Relationship Skills
Why should I do it:
- Interpersonal skills are an important part of students’ development
- Improves self-esteem
- Increases student buy-in
- Creates a more cohesive class and group
- Helps students help one another
- Increases instructional time
- Decreases time spent repeating directions, rehashing lessons, etc
- Improves students’ moods, affect, and emotional stability
- Helps students to interact with adults
- Helps students to elicit help from teachers and others
- Teaches students important life skills for dealing with others
- Reduces conflicts, arguing, and fighting
- Improves the environment of the room/school
- Helps students make and keep friends
- Improves coping skills
- Increases self-confidence
When should I do it:
- All students can benefit from being taught relationship skills
- With students who seem to be “loners”
- With students that are frequently involved or starting or taking part in drama
- With students that say no one likes them or they have no friends
- With students who have trouble asking for help
- When students seem socially awkward
- When students cannot get along with others
- When students instigate, annoy, bug, etc, others
- With students who are immature
- When other students shun, avoid, or ostracize others
- When students bully or are bullied
- When students create or spread rumors
- When students have trouble sharing, compromising, listening to others’ opinions, etc
- When students seem intolerant of others
How do I do it:
- IMPORTANT NOTE!
- At the Tier 1 Level, think of doing relationship skills lessons and interventions for the whole class or groups
- At the Tier 2 level, think of doing relationship skills lessons and interventions for groups and individuals
- At the Tier 3 level, think of customizing specific relationship skills lessons and interventions for specific students
- Use any opportunity to model and role play relationship skills, like when a student name calls and others choose not to play with them, when a student shares, when a student helps another, etc
- Teach lessons on relationships, friendships, getting along with others, tolerance, etc
- Take students aside to discuss and have them reflect on how their behaviors affect others, what behaviors would make others want to be friends with them, etc
- Have students partner up and work on projects together
- Assign work partners
- Help kids set goals with making friends or getting to know others
- Try the supports and resources below
Resources & Support for technique:
(Items with footnotes link to external websites)
- 50 Tips On How To Make Friends 1
- 6 Friendship Rules To Live By 2
- A Social Skills Lesson: What Is A Friend 3
- Assign a buddy or partner
- Caring Lesson Older Students 4
- Caring Lesson Younger Students 5
- Draw a picture or write in a journal
- Empathy 101: 1o Commandments Of Human Relationships 6
- Encourage interaction with a more self confident student
- Engage student
- Fact Sheet About Dating Violence.pdf 7
- Fairness Lesson Younger Students Activity 8
- Fairness/Justice Lesson Older Students Activity 9
- Friendship Lesson 10
- Getting Along With Parents Lesson 11
- Honesty Lesson 12
- How To Build Friendships With Good Listening Skills 13
- How To Make Friends And Get S Social Life 14
- How To Make Friends At School: Helping Your Pre-teen Overcome Shyness 15
- How to Socialize, Be Funny and Make Friends 16
- Integrity Lesson 17
- Interpersonal Skills 18
- Kid’s Health: Friendship 19
- Kid’s Health: Making Friends 20
- Kid’s Health: Peer Group Pressure 21
- Kid’s Health: Peer Groups 22
- Kid’s Health: Prejudice 23
- Kid’s Health: Problems With The Teacher 24
- Kid’s Health: Teasing Others And How To Stop 25
- Kid’s Health: What Is Diversity? 26
- Model appropriate language
- Natural consequences
- Preventing Conflicts & Violence Lesson 27
- Reassurance
- Reflection sheet
- Respect Lesson Older Students Activity 28
- Respect Lesson Younger Students Activity 29
- Respecting Others Lesson 30
- Social Skills Lesson Plan: Initiating Interaction With Peers 31
- Speak with student in hallway
- Speaking Of Sex Lesson 32
- Talk one on one with student
- Teach conflict resolution skills
- Teach coping skills
- Teach social skills
- Teaching empathy: Evidence-based tips for fostering empathy in children 33
- Trustworthiness Lesson Older Students Activity 34
- Trustworthiness Lesson Younger Students Activity 35
- Teaching Empathy 36
- Social Skills Stories, Games, Materials, & Resources 37
- PLAY SKILLS-BASED INTERVENTIONS.pdf 38
- Social Skills For Middle School Students 39
- How to Get Children to Overcome Shyness (video) 40
- Great Social Skills Training & Tips Geared Toward Adults But Easily Adapted And Applied Toward Children & Adolescents
- 10 Ways to Improve Your Interpersonal Skills 41
- Activities People Do When They Hang Around Each Other 42
- Dealing with anxiety & shyness in social situations and relationships 43
- At Times It’s Socially Practical To Know Things Other People Care About 44
- Being Honest With Yourself About Your Social Problems 45
- Being Too Negative Can Hinder Your Social Success 46
- Generally Improving Your Social Skills 47
- Coping With Nervousness 48
- Dealing With Regrets Caused By Your Poor People Skills 49
- Thoughts On How To Make Conversation 50
- Getting Along With New Groups 51
- How Being Less Naturally Social Can Affect Your Interpersonal Success 52
- How To Be More Friendly And Social 53
- How To Be More Fun 54
- How To Meet People 55
- How To Talk To Shyer and/or Less Social People 56
- How Your Interests Can Affect Your Social Success 57
- Common Worries Shy Or Insecure People Have 58
- Is Bitterness Holding You Back Socially? 59
- Is It Okay To Hang Out With Another Guy One On One? 60
- Is Thinking You’re Better Than Other People Holding You Back Socially? 61
- Learning To Make More Eye Contact With People 62
- Little Social Annoyances That Will Never Go Away 63
- Loosen Up To Be More Socially Successful 64
- Making Plans With People 65
- Mistakes Lonely People Often Make 66
- My Experience With Becoming More Self-Confident 67
- Other People Often Aren’t As Shallow As They Seem 68
- It’s Very Tricky To Know What You Want Socially 69
- Reflections on Being Defensive and Secretive 70
- Reflections On Getting Over Low Self-Esteem 71
- Some Interpersonal Pitfalls More Intellectual Types Can Fall Into 72
- Some Thoughts On The Point Of Small Talk 73
- Some Tips On How To Be Less Quiet In Conversations 74
- Some Ways People Are Mentally Lazy About Judging Others 75
- The Importance of Getting Your Appearance In Order 76
- The Importance Of Simplicity And The Basics In Social Interactions… 77
- Meeting People & Making Friends 78
- Thoughts On How To Be Funny 79
- Thoughts On How to Be More Interesting 80
- Thoughts On How To Make A Conversation 81
- Thoughts on Seeming Less Weird 82
- How To Mingle And Talk To People At Parties 83
- Ways People Can Unintentionally Leave Friends Out Of Social Events 84
- When People Say “How’s It Going?”, “What’s Up?” or “What’s New?” 85
- When You Feel Like Your Friends Suck 86
- Why You Need To Directly Practice Your Social Skills And How To Do It 87
- When Your Friends Tease You A Lot 88
Footnotes:
Friendship advice and tips for teens. [http://teenadvice.about.com/od/friends/tp/friendship_rules.htm].
].
