Goal Setting Exercises to Help Dreams Become Reality

Goal setting is a topic that transcends the traditional curriculum. It is a key life skill that if learned and used daily can truly make a difference in your students lives. Goal setting materials are abundant, yet many students fail to receive adequate instruction in goal setting for two reasons. First, most teachers cannot afford to neglect their subject matter for several weeks, and second, purchasing textbooks with the intention of using only a single chapter on goal setting is hardly a justifiable use of limited educational funds.   Many teens need be taught to dream for themselves, for, if they are not, they are apt to accept goals foisted upon them by adults and thus miss the joy of seeing personal dreams fulfilled. Introducing Goal Setting Since visualizing the future is often difficult for teens, it is helpful to begin the unit with daydreaming. To integrate goal writing into your course, introduce the unit with material related to your content that refers to dreams or goals. This might be a poem, a story, a biographical sketch or a news article. Be sure to distinguish between dreams as sleep experiences and dreams as aspirations. Defining Goal Areas Explain to your students that it is easier to think about our lives in categories than it is to think of all aspects at once. Then ask them how they might categorize the various aspects of their lives. If they have difficulty getting started, prod them by asking them to list people and activities that are important to them and to see if they fit them into from five to eight categories. It is more important that students devise their own categories than that they create perfect classification systems. Allowing them to share ideas will help students realize that a variety of categorization schemes would work. Sample Life Categories Mental Families Physical Friends Spiritual Hobbies Sports School Dating Jobs Finding Meaning in Daydreams Once students are satisfied with their categories, ask them to select one that they would like to focus on first. (The length of this unit can easily be adjusted by the number of categories you guide students through. Care should be taken, however, that students dont work on too many categories at once.) Distribute goal dreaming worksheets. Explain to students that their goals must be only for themselves; they cannot set a goal that involves anyones behavior but their own. They are, however, to spend at least five minutes daydreaming about themselves related to this category, imagining themselves in the most wonderful ways — successful, glorious, and as perfect as imaginable. A three to five minute period of silence may be helpful for this activity. Next, ask students to describe how they imagined themselves in this daydream on the goal dreaming worksheet. Although this writing could alternatively be assigned as a journal entry, keeping this sheet with later, related goal activities may be more helpful. Students should repeat the process with one or two additional life categories. Students should then determine what part of their dream seems to call to them. They should complete, the sentences, The part of this daydream that most appeals to me is __________ because__________. Encourage students to explore their feelings fully, writing as much detail as possible because they may use some of these ideas later when they write their personal goals. When two or three goal dreaming sheets are complete, students should select the category they want to write goals for first. Getting Real The next step is to help students identify a desire from which to form a goal. To do this, they should look at the reasons certain aspects of their daydreams appeal to them as well as the daydreams themselves. For example, if a student dreamed of being a lifeguard, and decided it appealed to him because he would work outdoors, working outdoors may be more important to him than actually being a lifeguard. Thus, students should spend some time reflecting on what seems truly important. It may help to have students highlight ideas that seem really important.Then they should also examine which aspects of their daydreams seem far fetched and which seem within the realm of possibility. While it is popular wisdom that we should teach youth that they can achieve anything if they want it badly enough, badly enough is rarely translated by teens into years of dedicated work and dogged determination. Instead, youth interpret this popular wisdom as meaning that if their desire is strong enough, mi nimal effort will is all that is needed. Thus, when we present as role models, individuals who achieve unexpected accomplishments such as Christopher Reeves directing movies after nearly complete paralysis, we should always describe the grueling work that came between the goal and its fulfillment. Directing the Dream without Damaging the Dreamer Another problem created by people espousing you can do anything is the tendency to ignore the requirement for superior intelligence, which cannot be created by will power or diligence. Tackle this issue delicately so as not to discourage students from having dreams while keeping in mind that if you encourage students to set goals they have little chance of meeting you deprive them of the joys of achieving personal goals. You can help students make realistic self-assessments without hurting their feelings if you point out that people are happiest when they work and play in areas of their interests and relative strengths. Discuss the concept of multiple intelligences, letting students read the short descriptions of each type of intelligence, marking those they think are their areas of strength. This allows students with low intellectual ability to focus on an area of potential success without having to announce he is incapable of being something requiring superior intelligence. If you have time and resources for personality and interest inventories, these should be given at this time point in the unit.   Remember, although most of us would love to teach a unit on goal setting that includes a variety of assessments, career exploration, goal writing, scheduling, and self-reinforcement is ideal, most of us also have packed curriculums. Nevertheless, if students spend a few hours practicing goal writing in many different classes together, perhaps, we can teach students how to make their dreams come true. Once students have summarized results of various assessments  on a summary sheet or have simply decided which is their area of strength on a list of multiple intelligences, and they have chosen one of the goals they want to work on first, they are ready to learn to write a specific, personal goal. General goals are just the first step in making dreams come true. Once students have established general goals and have identified what appeals to them, they should be taught to write specific goals the way winners do. Suggestions for Teaching Students to Write Specific Goals Students will have to be coaxed to state their goals positively and are likely to argue that they cant say they will accomplish a particular goal because they are not sure that they can. Tell them that, despite their reservations, it is essential that they use the words, I will... since the wording will affect their belief in their ability to meet the goal. Be insistent on this, even to the point of saying they will not get credit for the assignment unless they follow your directions.At first, some students will have difficulty translating a general goal to one that is specific and measurable. Class discussion is very helpful both for learning how to be specific and seeing a variety of possible goals. Have students suggest ways that that various goal could be measured for students who are having difficulty. This might also be done in cooperative learning teams.Estimating completion dates troubles many students. Tell them just to estimate a reasonable time that it should take to accom plish their goal and to be honest with themselves about when they plan to actually begin working on it. Since estimating the completion of big goals involves completion of steps or sub-goals, have students list the steps and the length of time they estimate is needed for each. This list will be used later to make a Gantt chart. Have students hold off on beginning to work on the goal for a week to give you time to teach scheduling and reward techniques.After listing the many steps required to reach a goal, some students may decide it is too much bother. It is helpful at this point to have them write the benefits they expect to derive from completing their goal. These usually involve feelings about themselves. Be sure students are still enthusiastic about their goal. If they cant regain their original enthusiasm, have them start over with a new goal.If the goal involves various steps, creating a Gantt chart is helpful and fun for students whether they use project software or fill in a chart by hand. Some students have trouble with the concept of putting time units across the top, so be sure to walk around and check each students column headings. You may want to check your software to see if you have any project management programs since they probably can be used to make Gantt charts. The examples of Gantt charts found on the Internet are not clearly marked, so you may want to show students a simpler one done by hand or with software that makes grids such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. Better yet, if you could use a project management software since it is likely to be a strong motivator. Once students have learned to write specific goals and to schedule sub goals on a Gantt chart, they should be ready for a lesson on self-motivation and maintaining momentum. Focusing on Whats Next Once students have made goals, sub-goals and a schedule for completion, they are ready for the real work: Changing their own behavior. Since telling students that they are beginning a difficult task can be discouraging, you will have to use your professional judgment to decide when to discuss the difficulties people encounter when they attempt to develop new patterns of behavior. Helping them to see this opportunity as a challenge that successful people master may help. Focusing on people who have overcome major challenges in their lives could also lead nicely into a unit on heroes. Begin the lesson this third goal lesson by asking students to review their goal dreaming worksheet for the goal area they are working on and their goal writing worksheet. Then lead students through the steps on the worksheet Maintaining Motivation and Momentum.

Analysis Of Sonnet 116 By William Shakespeare - 867 Words

‘’Love is not love,’’ alters when it alteration finds,’’ or bends with the remover to remove’’ the first phrase ‘’Love is not love,’’ alter when it alteration finds, simply means that love is not love when it continues to change even when one person has noticed that their beloved has changed. However, If one partner changes, the relationship should stay the same and not be affected by an alternative individual. The second phrase used by Shakespeare is ‘’or bends with remover to remove,’’ this phrase basically means that love is not love if it changes with another individual or person. In order words, love is constant and must work with an adapting or suitable individuals Therefore, according to my close reading analysis the poem (Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare) is a fourteen line poem that is organized into three quatrains, ending with a rhymed couplet. It also has a regular stress pattern which makes the reader to go through some difficulty in understanding what the author is trying to convey in his poem. The first quatrain of the poem began with a statement to puzzle upon ‘’Let me not to the marriage of true mind/Admit impediments (1-2),’’ this line means that love cannot be disturbed by disaster or calamity neither be changed over time. Rather, it is one unchangeable emotion that is always constant, and has a meaning to it. And so, with this illustration, we can say that there is nothing that could come between two persons who are already in love with themselves. The secondShow MoreRelatedShakespeare - Sonnet 116 Analysis and Interpretation887 Words   |  4 PagesShakespeare – Sonnet 116 Analysis and interpretation Sonnet 116 was written by William Shakespeare and published in 1609. William Shakespeare was an English writer and poet, and has written a lot of famous plays, amongst them Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. 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Impact of World War I on Germany

Question: What effect of World War 1 leads to the collapse of Germany in the 1920's and who is it so important? Answer: The impact of World War I on Germany can be described as devastating. When the World War I was going on, the government of Germany made its people believed that they were going to win the war. For this purpose, government propaganda was used to great effect. In the short run, the effect of World War I on the economy of Germany was particularly significant. Once, Germany was the most powerful economy of Europe but after World War I, it became the most impoverished nations of Europe (Fischer, ed. 2010). The first thing that had a great impact on the economy of Germany was the money that had been spent as the cost of war, mobilizing the troops providing clothes and food to the troops, appropriate shelter and building equipment. According to an estimate, the government of Germany had spent nearly 37,775,000 US dollars of that time as the cost of war. At the same time, a lot of money was also required to be spent in actually maintaining the country (Marks, 2003). As most of the establishe d a skilled laborers of Germany had gone to fight the war, most of these jobs have to be done by women and children, which resulted in even lower wages than that was being paid to the skilled laborers. As the long-run effects of World War I on Germany, after the end of the war and at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, it was agreed by all the allied forces that Germany and her selfish agendas were responsible for the war and during which, one of the most deadly conflict in the history of mankind took place (Parsson, 1974).). The result was that Germany, having no representation in the treaty, was order to pay for the damage that was caused by the Great War. In this way, according to the treaty, Germany had to pay nearly $31.5 billion. This was a huge amount of money in those times, particularly after facing such a large-scale war. As a result of this payment, the national currency of Germany, the Gold Marks was caused to hyper inflate and by 1923, the currency was reduced to 1 million/millionth of its original value. This hyperinflation of the currency of Germany was also among the main arguments that had been used by the Nazi's to seize power in Germany so that they can make it a prosperous country which again plunged the nation into another World War (Widdig, 2001). It is also believed by many historians that the Treaty of Versailles can be described as a crippling blow to the financial system of Germany. According to these historians, this treaty did not benefit the world at all but it only resulted in paving the way for another World War between the same nations and for the same purpose that was the nationalistic hunger for power. But it can be true that Germany was forced to make these payments so that it is no longer in a capacity to finance any other war in the future for a long time and as a result, the enormous debt was imposed on Germany (Balderston, 2002). However even this purpose could not be achieved as the World War II could not be prevented by it. In this way, while by 1914, Germany was considered as the most powerful economic and military power of Europe, and it was second only to the United States, as a result of the four long years of warfare, by 1918, the economy of Germany was in ruins. This process was further escalated by the debt that was imposed on Germany after its defeat in World War I. As a result, Germany was not allowed to import or export industrial goods and it was only allowed severely restricted trade. It was also ordered by the Treaty of Versailles that Germany was to be large amounts of money to the Allies in reparations (Evans, 2003). In 1921, when Germany could not pay the amount, the troops from France and Belgium invaded Germany and occupied Ruhr to take away goods and raw materials. In 1923, Germany was forced to print more money to pay its striking workers. The result hyperinflation and as a result the value of the savings of the people was wiped out. This proved to be the major effect of World War I which resulted in the collapse of Germany. References Balderston,(2002). Economics and politics in the Weimar Republic, Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Evans, Richard J. (2003). The Coming of the Third Reich, New York City: Penguin Press Fischer, Wolfgang Chr., ed. (2010). German Hyperinflation 1922/23: A Law and Economics Approach. Eul-Verlag Kln Marks, Sally (2003). The Illusion of Peace, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Parsson, Jens O. (1974). Dying of Money: Lessons of the Great German and American Inflations, Boston: Wellspring Press Widdig, Bernd (2001). Culture and inflation in Weimar Germany, Berkeley: University of California Press