There are
Four Main Reasons I always start teaching Goals first in my Health
Classes. I want students to understand
that there is a difference between a Goal and a Good Intention. Everyone has dreams, wishes and hopes for the
future. When I ask students, no one says
they want to be a drop out, a drug addicts, pregnant in high school. Students know what they do not want in their
life, what they need to learn is how to get what they DO want. Goals are a great starting point.
- You have to grab a student’s attention before they will pay attention.
- Make everything about them:
Ø their future
Ø their dreams
Ø their hopes and desires.
I use a Future Me activity which develops a student’s self-awareness about 5 of the most important areas of their future. Students have an option to select from great to disastrous ideas for what they want for themselves. I’ve never had a student pick the mediocre to disastrous options.
2. A students’ desire to achieve their Goals keeps their attention. People end up where they don’t want to be because there is a disconnect between the path people chose and where they want to go. As students differentiate a good intention versus a goal they begin to recognize how not to have this disconnect.
3. A Goals or Good Intentions Unit is a perfect set up for students’ to segue into learning more about Personality Styles.
Knowing and understanding Personality Styles with help someone appreciate who they are as opposed to wishing they could be more like. . . . . (fill in the blank). Personality Style is all about the individual as in, “so that’s why I do the things I do and would love to do . . . . . .. but, I’m so uncomfortable when I try”. People become aware of what they are as opposed to what they aren’t. Once someone understands basic personalities, it will help them relate successfully with different types of people and appreciate their own positive character traits, which builds their self-image.
4. A Goals or Good Intentions Unit sets the tone for the rest of the Health Curriculum
Health isn’t going to be a class about stuff to be forgotten. It
will be a class where students learn about themselves:
- their goals, and just what are they willing to do to accomplish those goals
- knowing their personality style will help them interact with a variety of people, direct them to an occupation that fits their personality
- how their personality affects their ability to say NO to people and situations (No Techniques)
- What type of decision maker they are (Decision Making)
- They can apply their self-knowledge, learned during the units, to the various health topics that may lead them away from their goals — Poor choices involved in Sex, Drugs, (rock and roll = culture) and food and exercise choices.
Students will evaluate these topics in terms of:
- will they help me get closer to my goals or further away
- Cost benefit analysis
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