Grades: 5-9
Length: 6/20 Minute
Rights: Annual Lease
Internet:  http://www.hrmvideo.com/

This series is designed to help students confront many of the emotional and social changes that accompany early adolescence: understanding the emotional highs and lows of puberty, dealing with bullies, learning to assert oneself, mastering one’s emotions, coping with stress, engaging in conflict resolution, dealing with peer pressure and developing peer pressure refusal techniques, developing good study skills and time management, making good decisions, and learning effective communication skills.

1.) Caution: Teenager Under Construction

This fast-paced program uses humor and appealing animations to introduce middle-schoolers to the many changes that accompany adolescence. Program goes beyond the physical manifestations of puberty and discusses the enormous emotional, social and developmental changes that occur. Likeable teen hosts reassure viewers of many normal aspects of early adolescence: changing relationships with friends, a new sense of independence from parents, unpredictable moments of emotional upheaval and distraction, and more. Students will understand and appreciate that there is no single “blueprint” for how a teen is built—what matters most is acceptance of self and others. The message is clear: adolescence is not a destination but an important milestone in a journey that lasts a lifetime. 

2.) Becoming an Organized Student

This video introduces four young teens who lack organizational skills: Ethan stays up late and can’t remember his test dates; Miranda has the messiest locker in school and misplaces homework; Lori is always late with projects and constantly loses her textbooks; and Paul may get kicked off the basketball team for consistent lateness. The pressures and expectations of school become daunting for students when their planners remain blank, homework is misplaced, previously-announced tests come as surprises, and important papers are crammed into backpacks. Program presents strategies for putting it all together; showing students how to organize for school success by using notebooks, color coding, day planners and wall calendars.

3.) Developing Self-Confidence

Do you know students who talk about themselves in negative ways? Avoid putting themselves in situations where others could judge them? Always make excuses? Don’t feel they have anything special to offer? Very often, these students lack self-confidence. Using a series of dynamic vignettes and engaging animated cartoons, program examines the ins and outs of learning self confidence. By watching Carly, Ben, Alex and Maria, your students learn four key strategies for improving self-confidence and how to analyze their own behavior. The four strategies are: Stop Making Excuses, Take Reasonable Risks, Examine Your Fears, and Identify and Change Negative Self-Talk. Each strategy is carefully explained and dramatized in ways sure to inspire even the shyest middle-schooler.

4.) Power Trip Bullying

This program explores middle school bullying from different perspectives that students will relate to and easily understand. Your students will hear from real teens who experienced bullying first hand as well as from students who have been the aggressors. Special attention is focused on understanding the different kinds of bullying and the differences between how girls and boys bully. Cheryl Dellasega, author of "Surviving Ophelia", describes relational aggression which is typical of how girls bully. Students also experience a workshop led by Dr. Michael R. Carpenter, a bullying prevention trainer, who coaches young teens on how to modify behaviors to achieve peaceful outcomes. Other topics explored include the difference between bullying and teasing, when you should tell an adult about being bullied, what bystanders can do to prevent bullying and how bullied kids can "stand up, step up and speak out" to stop bullying.

5.) Connect the Dots: How School Skills Become Work Skills

Students often ask why they need to learn things that seem irrelevant to their futures in the workplace. This program helps answer that question by exploring the connection between what one learns in school and what employees do at work. Looks at a group of five basic school-to-work skills: personal self-management; creative thinking, computer literacy, communications, and reading, writing, arithmetic (basic literacy skills). Explores how school skills contribute to a person’s ability to think critically and solve problems, and how mastering these skills in school help make for a successful career. Even though their careers may be a long way into the future, connecting the dots right now will give students perspective and help motivate them to tackle tough subjects.

6.) What Type of Person Am I? Personality and Careers

Based on research showing personality type as the key factor in successful career development, program helps young teens understand the six basic personality types as presented in the Holland Hexagon: Doer, Thinker, Creator, Helper, Persuader and Organizer. Teens begin to identify their interests and abilities, and see how their own personalities fit with the general types and connect to potential careers. Using real teen scenarios, viewers will learn how to identify what they’re good at doing, what their interests are, and how to translate this information into career choices. Students are reassured that all the personality types are equally worthwhile and only one of several factors affecting career satisfaction.

Tuesday, 11/11/08 2:00-4:00 a.m. #1-6
Thursday, 4/30/09 2:00-4:00 a.m. #1-6