Helping Students to Discover Their Goals and Dreams Ernest H. Johnson, Ph.D.

How do you motivate your students – to work on their goals and dream? Maybe the better question is, “How can teachers create conditions where students will motivate themselves ((and pursue their own goals and dreams))?” Motive, means “that which inwardly moves a person to behave a certain way.”

-One Size Does Not Fit All- Have participants process in pairs or small group

-One Size Does Not Fit All- Have participants process in pairs or small group

Central to All Motivation: Strategies for Success Building Strong Relationships with Students and Helping Students to Discover their GOALS!

Formative Assessment Process The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning and how they think. More specifically, formative assessments: help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work.

Dr. Carol Dweck – Mindset (2006) Over 20 years of research on student motivation Intelligence is not fixed “…with practice, training, and good methods, we manage to increase our attention, our memory, our judgment and literally to become more intelligent than we were before.” (Alfred Binet-Modern Ideas About Children)

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset Intelligence can be developed and leads to a desire to learn and a tendency for students to: Embrace challenges Persist in the face of setbacks See effort as the path to mastery Find inspiration in the success of others… Higher levels of achievement Discover their dreams and goals Question: Is there a science to helping students to discover their dreams and goals?

Growth Mindsets “…You cannot really motivate anybody. However, you can help people discover what they can use to motivate themselves.” “…Studies show that students who focus more on goals about learning actually improved more on their GPA’s than those who wanted to improve their grades.” Larry Ferlazzo, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, 2013, pg 8

Dreams and Goals - Preliminaries The Scientific Process Behind Making Wishes Come True! I've asked thousands of people, many of them students, to think about what they want and to ask for what they want. What’s troubling is that most people don't KNOW what they want!

Dreams and Goals - Preliminaries! The Scientific Process Behind Making Wishes Come True! In this session, I'm going to show you a wonderful path you can use to help students paint their dreams into reality. I'm going to teach you the secrets behind a strategy for helping student to set - and achieve - their greatest ambitions.

Dreams and Goals – Preliminaries! The Scientific Process Behind Making Wishes Come True! Before we set off on this path, let me make one thing clear: The word "goals" can be intimidating - it can feel so overbearing that it keeps people from beginning the process. So, let's instead think of goals as a "To Do List With Deadlines."

Dreams and Goals – Preliminaries! The Scientific Process Behind Making Wishes Come True! “To Do List With Deadlines” Do the deadlines have to be tomorrow? Next week? Of course not. This is their To Do List for the rest of their life. Goals can be added to, subtracted from and - most importantly - scratched off the list - as they move through life.

Dreams and Goals – Preliminaries! The Scientific Process Behind Making Wishes Come True! Get a Journal – If your life is worthy while, then it’s important enough to keep a record (Journal) of your dreams, goals, how you overcame roadblocks, and your accomplishments!

Dreams and Goals – Preliminaries! Here's a checklist to ensure you're using a successful framework to help students set their To Do List: 1. Their most important goals must be their. 2. Their goals must mean something to them. 3. Their goals must be specific and measurable.

Dreams and Goals – Preliminaries! 4. Vague generalizations and wishy-washy statements aren't good enough. 5. Their goals must be flexible. 6. Their goals must be challenging, exciting. 7. Their goals must be in alignment with their values. 8. Their goals must be well-balanced.

Dreams and Goals – Preliminaries! 9. Their goals must be realistic. 10. Their goals must include contribution. 11. Their goals need to be supported. These are the preliminary steps and thoughts that we need to expose students to if we want to help them find their “compelling reasons” for their dreams and goals!

Dreams and Goals – Six Steps STEP 1: Go For the Gusto - 101 Goals! STEP 2: Sorting Goals into Categories STEP 3: Finding Compelling Reasons For Top Goals STEP 4: Setting Time Lines – Due Dates STEP 5: Monitoring Progress STEP 6: Celebrating Successes

Dreams and Goals – Six Steps STEP 1: Go For the Gusto - 101 Goals! It's time to get started on your master plan. Give your students some quiet time, put on some relaxing music... and have them write down 101 goals. Ask them to “open their mind to ALL the possibilities.” Start each goal with "I am" or "I will." Don't even THINK about restricting yourself!

Dreams and Goals – Step 1 To help you with this process, here are some key questions to have students ask themselves: 1. What do I want to do? 2. What do I want to have? 3. Where do I want to go? 4. What contribution do I want to make? 5. What do I want to learn? 6. Who do I want to meet and spend my time with? 7. How much do I want to earn, save and invest? 8. What will I do for fun and optimum health?

Dreams and Goals For School – Step 1 To help you with this process, here are some key questions to have students ask themselves: 1. What do I want to do in school? 2. What do you want your grades to be? 3. How do I want to be treated by other students? 4. What do I want to do in class? 5. What do I want to learn? 6. How do you want other students to treat you? 7. How much reading for fun do I want to do? 8. What will I do to make reading fun?

Dreams and Goals – Step 1 This process may take two hours. It may take two weeks. Don't stop until they have 101 goals. Remember, remind them that you are helping them to build their better life - it's the only life they have. Question: Could this process be part of any of your courses?

Dreams and Goals – Step 1 Why Create a List of 101 Goals? Meta-Cognitive Processing: Thinking About Your Thinking! What typically happens is that, after placing 20-30 items on the list, students start re-reading their list very carefully. This re-reading requires some deep thinking to compare what’s on the list with other ideas they want to place on the list. In essence, students start thinking about their thinking and creating new ideas that are related to their thinking. Their creativity and critical thinking abilities kick in and they start to see new connections between their own dreams for their lives.

Dreams and Goals – Step 2 STEP Two: Sorting Goals into Categories 1. Fun 7. Health 2. Job/Career 8. Spiritual/God 3. Financial/Money 9. Education 4. Family/Friends 10. Other 5. Things 6. Vacations/Time Off

Dreams and Goals for School – Step 2 STEP Two: Sorting School Goals into Categories 1. Fun 2. Behavior in Class 3. Reading 4. Family/Friends 5. Things 6. Behavior at Home

Dreams and Goals – Step 3 STEP Three: Finding Compelling Reasons For Top Goals Questions are the Key to Curiosity! They change what the mind/brain focuses on. They open the doorway to see new possibilities. They are part of how we program our mind/brain. They can also imprison our intellect to go around in circles (Why? Vs What? Or How?) They provide ways to link the classroom to the real world.

Dreams and Goals – Step 3 STEP Three: Finding Compelling Reasons For Top Goals - For each goal, use the power of Negative vs Positive Power questions to find reasons to move toward the goal

Dreams and Goals – Step 3 STEP Three: Finding Compelling Reasons For Top Goals - Questions are the Key! Negative Vs Positive Power Questions How will I feel about myself knowing that I failed to accomplish this goal? What is it costing me emotionally to know that I failed to accomplish this goal? What will I miss out in my life today and in the future because I did not accomplish this goal?

Dreams and Goals – Step 3 STEP Three: Finding Compelling Reasons For Top Goals - Questions are the Key! Negative Vs Positive Power Questions If you don’t accomplish this goal, then how will this affect your relationships with people who care about you? If you don’t accomplish this goal, then how will this affect you emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually?

Question What is one goal I can adopt to make a difference in my disengaged (un-motivated, reluctant) students? -Buddy Talks-

Questions *What will life be like for my students if I don’t follow thru with this goal? *What will my students miss out on if I don’t follow thru with this goals? *What will it be like for me if I don’t follow thru with this goal? *How will I feel about myself?…my ability to teach?