El Paso County Attorney’s Office Teen Court Program Smart Strategies Facilitated by the El Paso County Attorney’s Office Teen Court Program with the ARISE Foundation

Your Presenter… A member of the faculty or staff at KEYS Academy and Options HS Internationally Certified in Life Skills through the ARISE Foundation

Frame We will identify some strategies for improving our actions to more accurately reflect who we want to be. EQ: How can strategizing improve our ability to make better decisions? I will role-play a difficult situation I run into on a regular basis.

Rules for Training Participation is crucial No wrong/stupid answers Respect one another No talking while others talk, No rude comments or noises Wait until you’re called upon

Why we’re here… Because we have to be To learn some skills that will carry over into adulthood To learn more about ourselves

How we’re going to do it… Discussion Everyone participates Some, very little lecture Activity or activities Some Conclusions

Questions?

Ice Breaker What is an ice breaker? Definition of an ice breaker: An activity used to lighten the mood and or get participants warmed up to the idea of interaction

Ice Breaker!!!!

Topic of the Day – Smart Strategies Does everyone know how to strategize? What is strategy? Why do we need to have a plan when we’re dealing with different types of situations?

Topic of the Day – Smart Strategies (cont.) How do we avoid falling into traps that we typically fall into? What are some of the situations we run in to that keep us from being who we want to be?

Strategy… Allows you to plan where you want to go Allows you to plan how you’re going to react to different situations as you run into barriers Helps you decide, in advance what barriers will keep you from getting where you want to go Allows you to anticipate what steps will be taken before they’re taken

Strategy…(cont.) Good strategies include: Anticipating steps you need to take Anticipating levels of difficulty of the steps being taken Anticipating what your reactions will be while you’re doing whatever you’re doing

Strategy…(cont.) Good strategies include: Anticipating what others’ reactions will be Identifying barriers you’ll face Identifying the easiest, but healthiest, roads toward achieving what you want to achieve

Activity: Role Playing Rules: No Cursing No put-downs Be respectful When I say “Stop!” you stop or pause where you’re at If I say “Continue” then you continue

Activity: Role Playing (cont.) Split up into groups of 3 or 4 Come up with scenarios you encounter every day Scenarios must present a difficult situation They can be personal experiences Your long and short-term goals have to be presented Present how the situation can turn ugly

Activity: Role Playing (cont.) Volunteers to present Now, go through a positive reaction!

Activity: Role Playing (cont.) What are other ways that the presenters could have responded? What were the core issues in the presentation? What are some of the things any of these situations could have led to? Why was the second way that each of these scenarios were presented better? Any additional comments?

Conclusions Strategy allows you to know how you might react prior to some situation taking place Strategy allows you to figure out what kinds of situations, including barriers, you might face Strategy pushes you to think about the future and the work it will take to get you where you want to go