I. Curricular Framework

Concept:

Responsibility

Essential Question:

How can you achieve a balance between your needs and wants?

Bridge:

The Perfect Me

Content:

Study Skills: Goal Setting

Outcomes:

II. Standards Aligned

III. Instruction and Assessment

1. Connect: Connecting to the Concept Experientially

Objective: The student will realize the many things he/she both wants to do and needs to do before making an effort towards balancing them in his/her life.

Activity: My Wants and Needs Collage. Each student is to make a collage in two parts, one showing the things which s/he likes to do, and the other showing the things s/he needs to do. Before beginning construction, together brainstorm lists of possible wants and needs. Wants might include playing basketball, talking on the phone, going ice skating, going to a movie or shopping, or even going on a vacation. Needs might include things such as walking the dog, cleaning his/her room, doing homework, washing dishes, babysitting little sister, or practicing piano. Point out that some things might be in both lists, such as walking the dog. Explain that the purpose of making the collage is to become more aware of the many things which students try to fit into their days. Go over various suggestions for making a collage including cutting pictures from magazines and cutting out letters to spell words. Allow time for students to work. After the collages are complete, ask each student to share his/hers with the class.

Assessment: Student collages and their descriptions which follow form the basis for evaluation.

2. Attend: Attending to the Connection

Objective: The student will be able to explain that both types of activities are important in life and that it is possible to plan time for both.

Activity: Discussion. Discuss student understandings which may have resulted from the activity. 1) What things of those shown could be done on a daily basis? . . . a weekly basis? . . . a monthly basis? . . . yearly? 2) Which of those things which you want to do would require resources such as money, transportation, or special equipment? 3) Which things would you like to do with your family? . . . your friends? . . . either? 4) Which do you have most control over? Least? 5) What things do you need to do that you tend to avoid? Why? 6) What ultimately leads to your doing them? 7) Which take a long time? . . . a short time? 8) Which do you do daily? . . . weekly? . . . monthly? . . . yearly? 9) Which of those things that you need to do, do you not mind doing? 10) What is the reason behind the need to do those things? 11) Is it possible to do both those things you want to do and those things you need to do? 12) Do you make a conscious effort to fit both in? Do you know how to plan to do this?

Assessment: Student contributions to discussion.

Assessment, Phase One, Level of Engagement, Fascination:

3. Image: Creating a Mental Picture

Objective: The student will explain that behaviors can be changed by setting goals and following through on them. These behaviors can make it possible to plan for time to do both those things we like to do and those we need to do.

Activity: Picture the 'Perfect' Me. Ask the students to imagine what they would be like if they were 'perfect' and were able to do both what they want to do and what they need to do in a normal day. Have them list all of the things they'd accomplish in just such a day. Then ask them to show such a day in a cartoon, showing each activity occurring at a definite time. Once complete have the students share their cartoons. Then discuss the topic-- 1) Is it possible to really be 'perfect' for any amount of time? 2) Can you learn to do things in new ways? 3) How could you do so? Introduce the topic of goals and explain that once you know what behavior you want to change, you can do so by planning the change. Writing a goal to guide you can be a big step in the right direction.

Assessment: Student answers during discussion show their understanding of the objective.

Assessment, Phase Two, Seeing the Big Picture:

4. Inform: Receiving Facts & Knowledge

Objective: The student will be able to develop well written goals: 1) Will be able to explain the five criteria of a well written goal. 2) Will be able to evaluate goals for these criteria.

Activity: Writing Goals. Introduce instruction by asking students to name all the goals they can think of. Discuss the critical attributes of a goal--something to aim for, a mark of success, the end result of a series of actions. Explain that goals can be found in places other than sports and that setting goals can help to change behaviors. Go over the five criteria of a well stated goal as given on an overhead. Give examples of goals which meet these criteria and others which don't. Model the correct way to write effective goals. 5 Conditions of a Good Goal: 1. It must be conceivable (can be put into words). 2. It must be possible for the person setting it. 3. It must be controllable (you need permission of others to involve them). 4. It must be measurable (you need to be able to say "Yes, I did it," or "No I did not"). 5. It must be stated with no alternative (no plan "B").

Assessment: Give students true/false statements about the five conditions of well stated goals. Ask them to hold thumbs up if the statement is true, and thumbs down if it is false. Discuss each.

Assessment, Phase Three, Success with Acquiring Knowledge:

5. Practice: Developing Skills

Objective: The student will be able to develop well written goals: 1) will be able to explain the five criteria of a well written goal; 2) will be able to evaluate goals for these criteria.

Activity: Poorly Stated Goals. After reviewing the five conditions of a good goal, have students complete the activity sheet, 'Poorly Stated Goals'. For each goal which is not well developed, ask students to rewrite it in an acceptable way. Poorly Stated Goals: Remember that all goals must meet five conditions in order to be effective: 1. A good goal must be conceivable. 2. A good goal must be possible for the person setting it. 3. A good goal must be controllable. 4. A good goal must be measurable. 5. A good goal must be stated with no alternative. Write the condition which is not met in each of the following goals, making each a poorly stated goal. Write 'yes' next to each goal which meets all five conditions. 1. I will do my homework tonight. _____ 2. I will win the U.S. Open Golf Tournament by June 30. _____ 3. Tonight, I will either take out the garbage or watch TV before 10 P.M. _____ 4. By the time I am twenty-one, I will discover something that will revolutionize the world. _____ 5. I will invite Cathy over on Friday. _____ 6. I will get an A on my science test on Friday. _____ 7. I will get up in time to get to school by 8:15 on Monday morning. _____ 8. I will buy my mother the neatest Mother's Day gift. _____ 9. By 3:00 this afternoon, I will invite Cathy to my party. _____ 10. I will be picked to be captain of something this year. _____ Make up a poorly stated goal to share with the class. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Assessment: Student scores on the paper indicate their mastery of the objective.

Assessment, Phase Four, Success with Acquiring Skills:

6. Extend: Extending Learning to the Outside World

Objective: The student will develop 'case studies' of students having problems for which goals are developed to help alleviate.

Activity: Case Files. Divide students into small groups for this activity. Each group is to be given a manila folder 'file' describing a student having academic problems. As a beginning activity, each group is to carefully study the file and develop a goal to help the student deal with his/her problems. These are then introduced to the class. Students then create a new student with new problems. They create their 'file' on easel paper which is then presented to the class. At the end of their presentation, the rest of the class develops a goal for him/her. Case Studies: David is a bright, energetic seventh grade boy. Even though he's very smart, David doesn't get good grades in school. He pays good attention in all of his classes, but somehow he doesn't manage to get his homework done every night. Last quarter, David finished only 10 out of 25 math assignments. Consequently, David received a 'D' for math on his report card. Can you write a goal for David to work towards? Juanita is a very small seventh grade girl. Every night she goes home with all of her books. She walks out of the door looking as if she'll fall over under all of the weight. However, inevitably Juanita receives low grades on her homework assignments. This happened just today with her math homework. Last night she did all of her work. However, as she tried to do the problems she realized that she didn't remember all of the steps to follow. When the teacher was explaining this in class, Juanita was reading a note from a friend. She had never seen the problem explained. Can you write a goal for Juanita to work towards? Samantha is a very popular girl in the seventh grade. Each night at least four of her friends call her and they talk on the phone for half an hour each. Sometimes as many as six people call her! On those evenings her mother tends to get mad after Samantha's been on the phone for two hours. Samantha takes home all of her work each night. She knows how to do the work, but never seems to get around to it. Her grades on tests are good, but she doesn't get very good grades because she has so much incomplete work. Can you write a goal for Samantha to work towards? Jake loves science and does very well in that class. When the teacher gives the class special experiments to try at home, Jake always tries them. He reads extra science books and studies hard for all of his science tests. He always finishes his science homework and is a ready participant in class discussions. However, by the time that Jake finishes doing all of this for science, he doesn't have time left for his other subjects. While he received an 'A' in science last quarter, his other grades were not so good. Jake's teachers in his other classes commented that while Jake seems to be capable of doing the work, he just doesn't. Can you write a goal for Jake to work towards? Susan loves to talk. She talks to her parents at home. She talks to her friends on the bus. She talks to everyone at school. She talks during class discussions. She talks in the halls and in the cafeteria and in the gym even when no one can hear her. Susan has many interesting and funny things to say. Most people like to listen to her--at least for a while. The problem is that Susan likes to talk so much that she tends to do it all through her classes. Just today when she tried to write her language paper she realized that she had no idea of what to do. When she asked the teacher, she was given a brief explanation, but then the class time was up and she had to leave. Can you write a goal for Susan to work towards? Jay really does try, but somehow he never manages to do things right. He always manages to write in pencil only to arrive in class and find that the teacher wanted the class to write in ink. Or he works on a map of North America only to find out that it was supposed to be a map of the world. The things that Jay does, he does well. For example, his map was very neatly done. It just wasn't the right thing and so he didn't earn many of the possible points. Part of Jay's problem is that he dives right into a paper, thinking that he knows how to do it. Later he finds that he forgot to do something. Can you write a goal for Jay to work towards? Jessie is so afraid that she will forget something that she carries everything around with her in a bookbag. At the beginning of the year, her bookbag was nice and neat. As the days went by, it became the collection place for everything she was given. By December, Jessie had in it every spelling test she had taken during the year, every handout given to her in science and social studies, as well as every math and language practice sheet returned to her. Her bookbag was overflowing to say the least. However, Jessie was so afraid that she might forget something that she took it home every night and when she finished her homework, she put it in the bookbag to take back to school. The big problem came about when the teacher asked her to take out her homework the next day. She could never find it. Can you write a goal for Jessie to work towards?

Assessment: Student analysis of the case files and the goals written to solve the problem are used as a measure of mastery.

7. Refine: Refining the Extension

Objective: The student will evaluate his/her academic and personal times and develop goals to meet any needs found.

Activity: Study Skills Self-Assessment. Have the students complete a Study Skills Self-Assessment to determine their academic needs. Discuss the results. Ask the students to further examine their free times to determine whether or not they are using them effectively. Once both are complete, have each student identify three areas in which to develop goals. Ask them to write goals and make a plan with their base groups to check their progress first every day and later once a week.

Assessment: Student assessments and the goals which result provide a measure of their success in meeting the above objective.

8. Perform: Creative Manifestation of Material Learned

Objective: The student will create visual display of his/her 'old' self before applying goals and his/her 'new' self after the goals written take effect.

Activity: The New Me. For this activity, students actually 'create' a double-sided picture of themselves out of craft paper. To do so, they lay down on paper, their partners trace around their bodies, and they then 'dress' themselves with other paper. On one side, they are to create the person they were before the goals which they created take effect. On the other side, they create a visual display of the person they are after the goals are put into effect. They are to add details to the figures to show their feelings, the problems or successes which they are having, and the way others see them. For example, in the 'before' representation, they may put sunglasses on to disguise themselves, or hold a behavior referral in their hand. For the 'after' figure, they may add a new watch, a great report card, or a new smile. Once complete, the students share their figures, both the 'old' and the 'new' shapes. These are to be hung and shared and a small party held to celebrate their many successes.

Assessment: Student figures provide a visual measure of their understanding, but their feelings provide a measure of their hearts.

Assessment, Phase Five,Performance, Creative Use of Material Learned: