Overcoming Obstacles
Managing Stress
The final lesson in the High School and Beyond Module focuses on stress management. The big idea here is that situations themselves are not stressful, but how one perceives stress is the issue. With that point in mind, participants...
Overcoming Obstacles
Preparing for Tests and Exams
Avoid donuts on test days! Teach your classes how to prepare for assessments, ranging from pop quizzes to major exams, with a lesson that helps scholars identify and practice effective test-taking strategies. Participants learn about the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Writing Reports and Presenting to an Audience
A two-part lesson introduces learners to a six-step process for writing and presenting oral reports. Participants learn how to select, limit, and research a topic, how to organize their notes, draft and revise their reports, and practice...
Overcoming Obstacles
Reading, Listening, and Note Taking
Active listening is all about thinking, asking questions, and making connections. That's the take-away from a instructional activity about active listening. Participants learn techniques for identifying important information, including...
Overcoming Obstacles
Managing Your Time
Wouldn't it be great to have a device that would stop time for everyone else but would let you catch up? Alas, there is not such a device yet. However, there is a way to make every minute count. That's the big idea in a lesson plan about...
Overcoming Obstacles
Identifying Your Learning Style
How many different learning styles are there? Four? Five? Seven? Twelve? It depends on who you ask. But the point of this lesson is that people learn differently, and most have a way or ways that work best for them. To help identify...
Overcoming Obstacles
Identifying Goals
Effort does not necessarily equal accomplishment. What's missing from the formula is a goal. High schoolers learn the importance of identifying short-term, medium-range, and long-term goals that are both realistic and challenging. After...
Overcoming Obstacles
Resolving Conflict
Win-lose, lose-lose, or win-win? The final instructional activity in the "Resolving Conflict Module" brings together all that participants have learned in the module. They first list and prioritize the steps in conflict resolution, then...
Overcoming Obstacles
Creating a Win-Win Situation
As part of a study of ways to resolve conflicts, class members examine the characteristics of win-win solutions and then practice win-win negotiations. They also examine the role of a mediator in conflict resolution and then script and...
Overcoming Obstacles
Managing Anger in Conflict Situations
The third lesson plan in the "Conflict Resolution Module" teaches participants strategies to reduce or control their anger. Class members first list situations that make them angry and then brainstorm a list of techniques that can lessen...
Overcoming Obstacles
Introducing Conflict Resolution
Conflicts come, and conflicts go, but it's how to resolve those conflicts that learners need to know. After identifying the states of conflict in a news article and engaging in a role-play activity, class members reflect on recurring...
Overcoming Obstacles
Problem Solving at Home
The final lesson in the "Problem Solving Module" focuses on finding creative solutions to problems that might arise at home. Individuals then create a storyboard that illustrates how they would apply the six-step problem-solving process...
Overcoming Obstacles
Problem Solving on the Job
The truth is there are consequences for actions. The third lesson plan in the "Problem Solving Module" asks class members to brainstorm a list of problems, select one and invent a system, process, or object that might solve the problem....
Overcoming Obstacles
Problem Solving in School
Scholars learn how to be part of the solution to problems high schoolers face. After identifying problems at their school, participants list cues that indicate each problem, note campus resources available to help solve the problem, and...
Overcoming Obstacles
Problem Solving Techniques
Participants in the first lesson of the "Problem Solving Module" discover that the techniques used to solve problems follow the same steps they practiced in the "Decision Making Skills Module." Groups focus on different characters in a...
Overcoming Obstacles
Learning to Be Assertive
After defining passive, aggressive, and assertive, class members role-play different scenarios demonstrating these behaviors. Individuals then identify a weakness they wish to improve and, using what they have learned throughout the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Accessing Resources
Everyone needs help achieving their goals. The trick is to figure out how to access resources that will be of help. Participants engage in activities that teach them how to identify what help they need to achieve their goals and how to...
Overcoming Obstacles
Developing a Positive Attitude
The third instructional activity in the Goal Setting series looks at the impact of a positive attitude on achieving one's goals. Participants create and then share visuals that represent positive attitudes. They then brainstorm ways to...
Overcoming Obstacles
Setting Priorities
One step at a time! High schoolers learn how to set priorities by creating a list of tasks they must complete that week, adding the consequences of not completing each task, and identifying the conflicts that will arise. They then...
Overcoming Obstacles
Making and Evaluating Decisions
It's time to decide. Class members review the decision-making process (define the issue, gather information, develop alternative, and analyze the consequences). Groups then decide which of the six characters they have chosen for the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Exploring Alternatives and Considering Consequences
Before making important decisions, it's imperative to consider alternatives and the possible consequences of choices. The third lesson in the fallout shelter activity begins by asking participants to consider the possible positive and...
Overcoming Obstacles
Being Responsible
Responsible-decision making is the focus of the social-emotional learning lessons. After reading, The Ant and the Grasshopper: An Aesop Fable, scholars come up with six steps to take responsibility for their actions and then practice the...
Overcoming Obstacles
Gathering Information
What facts are essential, and what facts are irrelevant when making a decision? As class members continue with the Fallout Shelter exercise, groups develop questions and interview the 10 volunteers acting as candidates for the bomb...
Overcoming Obstacles
Starting the Decision Making Process
The takeaway from a lesson on decision-making is that the more significant the consequences, the more complex the decision. Class members brainstorm a list of factors they consider when making decisions and then create a flow chart of...