Welcome to Crew!

1. Welcome to Crew! Compassion: Lesson 4

2. Learning Targets • Long Term LT: I can evaluate the role of compassion in creating a positive community and implement specific steps to be part of positive change in my life. • Content: I can use active listening skills to be compassionate • Character: I always respectfully listen to and acknowledge the viewpoints of others.

3. Circle Activity • Write your name on the back of a sticky note and place it on the board. • One at a time go up to the board and select a sticky note at random (can’t be yours). • On the front of that stick y note write something positive about that person. • Put the sticky note back on the board.

4. Reading: 3 Tips for good listening • Slow Down • Every person has something to teach us • Everyone is going through something

5. Tip #1: Slow Down • Stay open to opportunities for good conversations. • The first thing you have to do is slow down and stay open to possibilities for good conversations. Sometimes the best conversations are the ones that happen spontaneously - over the fence  with a neighbor, on an airplane with a complete stranger, taking the time for dinner with a special friend.Treat every person you encounter as if they have something important to teach you. Each individual's world is limited and by sharing with each other, we expand our world just a little bit.The key is to slow down and notice the possibilities that are always there. If you're always in a hurry, those moments will pass you by.

6. Tip #2: Every person has something to teach us • Another key to great conversations is the openness you bring to them. Be curious about others and show your interest by asking questions. • Being rigid in our thinking is not a path to well-being. Perhaps another person will help us to see something in an entirely new way. Rather than close down when someone says something that you disagree with, probe a little more. Ask them why they think a certain way. Of course, it has to be with an attitude of really wanting to know rather than trying to tear down their argument.This openness to new ideas is what makes life exciting. We will never have it all figured out. There is always something new to learn.

7. Tip #3: Everyone is going through something • Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Would you not want someone to do the same for you?Before forming judgments, reflect back on what the person is saying. The best way to do this is to paraphrase what you heard and ask the person if this is what they meant. Let them know that you are honestly trying to understand what they are saying.Wheatley says in her book Turning to One Another, "It's not differences that divide us. It's our judgments about each other that do."

8. Reflect • On a piece of paper create an active listening chart with at least 3 criteria that you should use to listen actively. Be prepared to share your best reason with your crew. • The document should be in the form of a grid (like a checklist)

9. Share • What is the most important thing that you can do to be an active listener? • With a partner discuss why you chose the criteria that you did. Think about how actively listening is a method of showing compassion for others.