Just as kids are expected to learn to read, solve math problems, learn a foreign language, we have some knowledge of science, government, and social studies, why wouldn’t they be given ideas on how to cope with and negotiate life? That’s what Its My Life is all about! Here is a sample of the daily program that can be taught for a quarter, semester, or year, and it addresses the issues that students will be confronted with and generally don’t really know what to do until they have experienced it.

1. Chip Fraser and Brian Jaramillo
Citizens of the World
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
It’s My Life (IML) is a daily life skills program that can be offered as a stand-
alone course or as a supplemental program. The purpose of IML is to prepare
students for the non-academic “rigor” of adult life and post-secondary
education, the essence of which is the ability to understand the complexities
of life, think about various options, and follow through on a well-reasoned
plan of action. The structure of IML follows a basic problem solving model
which includes units on each personal potential, asking questions,
understanding problems, identifying solutions, creating a plan, and
evaluating the process.
SAM
PLE

2. IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
OVERVIEW:
Predicated on a series of units which examine, discuss, review, engage, and summarily
change behavior, direction, and ultimately individual life; It’s My Life is a “living” program &
process designed to effect students who take the course.
Purpose:
• To provide every student with the tools, skills, and confidence to connect with the
adult world of business, society, and academics during and after their high school
education.
• To help students reach their goals by introducing them to a problem solving process
that can serve as a decision-making model and a guide for lifelong learning.
Objectives:
1) Increase student confidence through discovering each one’s potential, values,
attitudes, and unique attributes.
2) Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively during collaborative and
individual projects, research, and presentations.
3) Develop student critical thinking skills through structured collaboration and
application of the problem solving process.
Curriculum:
The curriculum is divided into seven units with multiple daily lesson plans within each unit.
Each unit has an accompanying rubric, progress assessments and a unit assessment.
Unit I: The Confident Life: Knowing Your Own Potential
Citizens of the World
2
“The trouble with life isn't that
there is no answer, it's that there
are so many answers.”
--Ruth Fulton Benedict
SAM
PLE

3. Unit II: The Inquisitive Life: Asking the Right Questions
Unit III: The Conscious Life: Understanding the Problem
Unit IV: The Dialogical Life: Exploring Potential Solutions
Unit V: The Practical Life: Creating a Plan
Unit VI: The Reflective Life: Evaluating the Process
Unit VII: The Engaged Life: Completing the Final Project
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
THE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS
The process of identifying part of a situation that you want to change and planning out steps
to cause change is called problem solving. Below is the process of problem solving used in
IML to approach a new situation and think through a solution to be implemented.
Step 1: Understand the situation.
Read and ask questions about the
situation. Identify the issues in the
situation that you want to explore
further. Focus your questions on the
issues that you have chosen to study.
Research any answers that are
available from common resources
(encyclopedia, internet, people).
Step 2: Identify the “problem.”
Decide what issue presents a situation that you think should be changed. Make
assumptions and write down the issues that you will ignore at first. List the key
features of the problem that will be resolved. Some of the possible features to include
are:
• Who or what is affected?
• Why is this issue a problem?
• Where does the issue take place?
• When does the issue occur?
Step 3: Model potential solutions to the problem.
Citizens of the World
3
“You don’t drown by falling in the
water; you drown by staying there.”
--Edwin Louis Cole
SAM
PLE

4. List potential solutions that might resolve the issue. For each potential solution
discuss whether it would solve each of the features of the problem identified in step 2.
Step 4: Create a plan
Choose one of the solutions that resolves all or most of the key features of the
problem. Create a list of steps to carry out the solution that you have chosen.
Step 5: Evaluate and revise the solution
When possible, follow the plan and evaluate its effectiveness. Was each feature of the
problem resolved? What additional problems does the solution include?
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
UNIT 1 OVERVIEW
The Confident Life: Knowing Your Potential
The problem solving process begins with knowing oneself, one’s strengths, one’s beliefs, one’s
attitudes. In the first unit students begin to reflect on what makes them unique, so that they
begin to build confidence based on their personal assets. This confidence is the necessary
predecessor to the problem solving process that follows.
Unit Objectives:
• To develop positive attitudes towards self as a unique and worthy person.
• To identify values, attitudes, and beliefs.
• To identify personal strengths and assets.
• To articulate feelings of competence and confidence as learners.
Sample Lessons:
1) Timelines and Pathways: Students read the lyrics to the song “It’s My Life” by The
Animals, discuss the question “What do you want your life to look like?” and make a
timeline for individual goals.
2) It’s My Life—Who Cares? : Introduction to Problem Solving, Presentation of a
problem, Discussion of the problem, and solutions to the problem.
3) Confidence Building: Students think of things they have accomplished, study
historical figures that faced significant challenges, assignment on memories.
Citizens of the World
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SAM
PLE

5. 4) Self-discovery and Team Building: Students work independently on a self-discovery
inventory, share answers in a group, and present similarities and differences to the
class.
5) A Personal Motto: Students read 40 sample mottos posted in the room, groups
present one motto to class, assignment on choosing an individual motto and writing a
justification for their choice.
Unit Assessments:
• Essay on positive attitude and
confidence
• Unit test on personal values and
strengths
• Vision board (optional)
Citizens of the World
5
“We carry within us the wonders we
look without us.”
--Eric Butterworth
SAM
PLE

6. IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
UNIT 2 OVERVIEW
The Inquisitive Life: Asking the Right Questions
Within a good question arrives a good answer. That is because it is not the answer to a
question, but what one learns in the process of trying to find the answer. This process starts
by learning how to ask important questions. This skill requires curiosity, the ability to
communicate, and the ability to think critically about what one sees and hears.
Unit Objectives:
• To learn and apply critical thinking skills.
• To use effective communication skills.
• To know that communication involves speaking, listening and nonverbal behavior.
• To obtain new information by asking questions to clarify and further knowledge.
Sample Lessons:
1) The Questioning Nature: Students ready “Questions to Ponder…” and answer five
questions in their journal, lecture/discussion on the nature of good questions, student
groups consider if “Questions to Ponder…” are good questions, assignment to write
five good questions for the next class.
2) Lessons on Life: Student groups read “Lessons on Life” together, groups ask
questions of the different characters in the story, individual assignment on the moral
of the story.
3) Cornell Notes: Introduction to the Cornell Notes format with emphasis on questions,
video clip with guide for note-taking, discussion on Cornell Notes.
4) Dynamic Questioning: Student
guided activity where students
interact with one another only
answering questions that were
posed to them and posing new
questions, discussion, assignment.
5) Teacher Hot Seat: Students write
questions they want to know
Citizens of the World
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“It is better to know some of the
questions than all of the answers.”
--James Thurber
SAM
PLE

7. about the teacher, teacher sits in front of class and fields questions (or politely
declines to answer), student volunteers do the same.
Unit Assessments:
• Oral persuasive presentation
• Notes/Questions of oral presentations
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
UNIT 3 OVERVIEW
The Conscious Life: Understanding the Problem
It is impossible to solve a problem without fully understanding the nature of the problem.
The problem must be deconstructed into its various parts. Some assumptions will be made
and must be stated as well. Here the students will apply what they learned about
questioning to unraveling the problem and be ready to seek out different solutions.
Unit Objectives:
• To learn and apply critical thinking
skills.
• To relate the problem in a clear and
concise format.
• To identify the context of a problem.
• To distinguish the essential issues
underlying a problem.
Sample Lessons:
1) Problems & Conflicts: Teacher presents a vague dramatic issue and asks the
students to come up with specific solutions, discussion about how to define a problem,
assignment is to read “Learn how to handle Problems and Conflicts” and summarize
the process.
2) Problems & Movies: Students watch a 10-minute video clip of a movie and take notes,
discuss what happened in the video clip, student groups write out the problem
together, assignment is to watch the first 15 minutes of a TV show or movie and
define the problem.
Citizens of the World
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“Every problem has within it the
seeds of its own solution.”
--Norman Vincent Paele
SAM
PLE

8. 3) Why is Being a Teenager Weird? : Student groups draw a typical teenager and
present their drawings to the class, assignment to write on the prompt “Why is Being
a Teenager Feel so Weird?”
4) Fears: Quick-write on student fears, discussion of one fear and analysis of the causes,
assignment to analyze two other major fears as a problem.
5) Who Moved My Cheese? –Dealing with Change: Students read “Who Moved My
Cheese?,” Student group discussions, assignment on analyzing the problem of
change.
Unit Assessments:
• Unit test of scenarios with short-answer responses
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
UNIT 4 OVERVIEW
The Dialogical Life: Exploring Potential Solutions
Once the problem has been identified and explored for its complexity, the task becomes
finding different possible solutions. Although finding solutions to a well-defined problem can
be easy at times, the process can require a high level of knowledge, focus, and creativity.
Sometimes the problem has to be re-analyzed or it may be necessary to consult with experts.
For these reasons and many others, exploring potential solutions is best learned working
together as a team, which is the other focus of
this unit.
Unit Objectives:
• To learn and apply critical thinking
skills.
• To identify alternative solutions to a
problem.
• To identify long- and short-term goals.
• To demonstrate the ability to work
independently, as well as
cooperatively with other students.
Sample Lessons:
Citizens of the World
8
“Looking back, I realize that
nurturing curiosity and the instinct
to seek solutions are perhaps the
most important contributions
education can make.
--Paul Berg
SAM
PLE

9. 1) Teamwork: Eight student volunteers (two teams) walk a race around the blacktop
with their ankles tied to form a square; the rest of the class observes. Class
discussion on the nature of teamwork. In groups, students create a poster on the
value of working in a team.
2) New Approach on Teen Offenders: Students read the article “Mo. Tries new approach
on teen offenders” and highlight different solutions that have been or are being
attempted to work with teen delinquency, student groups discuss options, choose
their method, and present to class.
3) How Do You Feel Today? : Students write in journal which emotion describes how
they feel today and explain. Student groups choose an emotion for a bad day and an
emotion for a good day and brainstorm solutions for changing a good day into a bad
day.
Unit Assessments:
• Team project with presentation
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
UNIT 5 OVERVIEW
The Practical Life: Creating a Plan
Once the potential solutions have been thought through, it is time to choose a solution and
create a plan. This process can be a group process or an individual process depending on the
students and the complexity of the problem. The advantage of the group is that the plan can
be divided into parts and each student can be responsible for a certain section. The
importance of the plan is that it covers each section of the problem that needs to be
addressed. To begin, the best problems will be issues that are important to the students,
perhaps those connected to their school life or directly related to their community.
Unit Objectives:
• To learn and apply critical thinking skills.
• To develop an action plan to set and achieve
realistic goals.
• To use a decision-making and problem-solving
model.
• To state the solution to a problem in an action
plan.
Citizens of the World
9
“It takes as much energy to
wish as it does to plan.”
--Eleanor Roosevelt
SAM
PLE

10. Sample Lessons:
1) College Graduation: Students choose a college they may like to graduate from in the
future, research requirements to graduate from the college, and write a list of steps
they must take to graduate.
2) Arriving to School in the Morning: Students make a list of what they have to do to
arrive to school in the morning, share lists in groups and critique, present plan to the
class.
3) Lesson Planning: Students journal on what they think helps them learn, teacher
presents a lesson plan from IML, students identify the different elements of the
lesson plan in groups, students choose something they would want to teach,
assignment to create a basic five-part lesson plan.
4) “How to” presentation: Students choose a task they do well, write a detailed list of
steps on how to perform that task, critique each others’ plans in small groups,
present their task to the class with props.
Unit Assessments:
• “How to” presentation
• Unit test on developing an action plan
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
UNIT 6 OVERVIEW
The Reflective Life: Evaluating the Process
Once plans have been created, they will be presented to the class and students learn how to
evaluate their own and others’ plans. Evaluation requires listening skills, note-taking skills,
and critical thinking skills. Forming good questions once again becomes important because a
good critique starts with a question.
Unit Objectives:
• To learn and apply critical thinking skills.
• To compare solutions to a problem.
• To critique the steps of an action plan.
• To justify each step of an action plan.
Sample Lessons:
Citizens of the World
10
“I know of no more encouraging
fact than the unquestioning
ability of man to evaluate his life
by a conscious endeavor.”
--Henry David Thoreau
SAM
PLE

11. 1) Key Questions: Discussion on the key questions of evaluation, students groups write
key questions in each category and present to class, class list of evaluation questions.
2) Self-Evaluation: Student performs a self-evaluation of their high school years using
the class evaluation questions, assignment to ask a family member to evaluate the
student’s high school years.
3) Class Evaluation: Student performs an evaluation of the IML class using the class
evaluation questions, student groups discuss evaluations, assignment to evaluate
their high school’s effectiveness.
4) 5 Ways to Stay Happy: Students journal the five most important things they need to
do to be happy, read “5 Ways to Stay Happy,” evaluate the reading based on their
journal and the class evaluation questions.
Unit Assessments:
• Written evaluation of an action plan
• Evaluations of fellow student plans
IT’S MY LIFE
Creative Problem Solving for Everyday Issues
UNIT 7 OVERVIEW
The Engaged Life: Completing the Final Project
After students have completed each of the individual steps required to engage in effective
problem solving, the final task will be to conduct a project which will have a duration that
spans multiple weeks. The student (or students if group projects) find a problem that they
define themselves and go through the entire process of problem solving. The teacher can help
by helping student’s explore current local issues through media outlets.
Unit Objectives:
• To identify the context of the problem.
• To relate the problem in a clear and concise
format.
• To state the solution to a problem in an
action plan.
• To justify each step of an action plan.
Citizens of the World
11
“It takes half your life
before you discover life is a
do-it-yourself project.”
--Napoleon Hill
SAM
PLE

12. • To critique the steps of an action plan.
Sample Lessons:
1) Local News: Students review interesting newspaper articles and identify local
problems in articles, class discussion and list of problems, assignment to talk to
family members about additional local problems.
2) School Issues: Guest speaker administrator from the school or district presents some
of the current issues at the school or district, students take notes, ask questions,
brainstorm additional problems that could be explored, assignment to speak to two
additional adults in the school about school problems.
3) Community Issues: Guest speaker leader from the community presents current
issues in the city, students take notes, ask questions, brainstorm additional problems
that could be explored, assignment to talk to two more people from the community.
4) Project Approval: Students (or student groups) define their chosen problem, the
context, and the main points that need to be resolved, students (or student groups)
present their project for critique from the class and teacher approval.
Unit Assessments:
• Individual Student Projects
• Digital presentations
Citizens of the World
12
SAM
PLE