 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
... what do you think? ... need help? ...
unsubscribe
|
Nine Winning Practices
Column for Educators
6.21.07
When I teach children about Winning
Practice #2: Be a goal setter, I draw a distinction between
goal setting and goal attaining. The former initiates a process
and the latter works toward and finishes the job. Goal setting is
fun and exciting. Anyone can do it. Goal attaining requires
maturity and an internal structure that sees something through to
completion.
Many years ago my father and I made a deal
for me to paint the house. It was my first experience on a
forty-foot ladder and the project proved to be very memorable.
Midway through the project, I injured a knee playing in a summer
baseball league. The medical remedy called for me to wear a splint
on the injured leg for eight weeks. I could walk but I was not
able to bend the leg. After a week or so, I recall getting a
little itchy to do something. I figured out how to climb a ladder
without bending one leg, returned to my painting project and finished
painting the house. An accomplishment, certainly, but most
memorable was a note I received from my father. He told me how
impressed and proud he was of me for finishing the job in spite of my
difficulties. He talked about how important it is in life to not
only start something but to see it through to completion, to finish the
job.
In the fall, many fourth graders begin to
take instrument lessons for the first time. The excitement
abounds. In a few instances, the enthusiasm wanes after a month or
so. The student comes to the realization that in order to progress
on the instrument, practice is required. Also, the student learns
that the music teacher's constructive comments are not always warm and
fuzzy. The unbridled enthusiasm of goal setting meets face to face
with the diligence, tedium and effort required by goal attainment.
Teaching a child about Winning Practice
#2: Be a goal setter, without teaching him or her about the
requirements of goal attainment, will likely set the child up for
failure. It is like starting a child off on a trip to New York
City without a map or a vehicle. The destination has been set, but
the wherewithal to get there is absent. It is in this context that
Winning Practices 3-5 are taught:
Winning Practice #3: Set priorities.
Winning Practice #4: Work hard.
Winning Practice #5: Be
thankful.
A school counselor recently arranged for
several 5th graders to visit a vocational-technical school that would be
available for them in 11th grade. These students are currently
struggling in their school program largely because they are not
interested in the academic subjects they are supposed to be studying.
The counselor reports that the students' eyes were uncharacteristically
huge from the beginning of the tour through to its completion.
They loved what they saw. They showed all of the characteristics
of motivated, enthusiastic students. They have set their goals.
The counselor understands, however, that the real work remains. In
order for these students to attain their goals of attending and
completing the programs they toured, they will have to prioritize how
they spend their time between now and then, invest a great deal of
effort in their current programs and, as the inevitable challenges are
encountered, maintain a positive attitude in order to overcome those
challenges. It will be important for the school counselor to
outline to these students this distinction between setting a goal and
attaining a goal.
What sometimes appears to be a student
unsuccessfully pursuing a goal is really, upon closer inspection, the
result of the student not understanding the difference between setting
and attaining a goal. Take the time to outline this distinction to
your students. The next several columns will discuss in closer
detail this distinction in order to help you prepare your students to
set and attain their goals.
----------------------------------
NEW!
Come to
ReBrilliance Professional Development seminars this summer in Central NY.
Register by June 1st for the best price. Learn more at www.rebrilliance.com/spd
or download
the
training brochure (PDF)
----------------------------------
FEATURED PRODUCT:
iPractice
iPractice helps children to develop the
internal resources necessary to become resilient, lifelong achievers
through goal setting and goal attainment.
Children who set goals and work to
accomplish them on a regular basis achieve more in and out of the
classroom than children who do not. iPractice teaches children that
their future is a matter of choice and intent, that effort and guidance
determine their outcomes, and that diligence, perseverance and delayed
gratification are ingredients for success! Successfully helping a child attain
goals involves impacting his or her worldview.
iPractice is not only a goal setting
program, it's a goal attainment program.
© 2006 ReBrilliance. All rights
reserved.
|
by Robert Newberry
