3. Finding Meaning in Daydreams
Once students are satisfied with their categories, ask them to select one that they would like to focus on first. (The length of this unit can easily be adjusted by the number of categories you guide students through. Care should be taken, however, that students not work on too many categories at once.)
Distribute the Goal Dreaming worksheets. Explain to students that their goals must be only for themselves; they cannot set a goal that involves anyone's behavior but their own. They are, however, to spend at least five minutes daydreaming about themselves related to this cagegory, imagining themselves in the most wonderful ways--successful, glorious, and as perfect as imaginable. A three to five minute period of silence may be helpful for this activity. Next, ask students to describe how they imagined themselves in this daydream on the Goal Dreaming worksheet. Although this writing could alternatively be assigned as a journal entry, keeping this sheet with later, related goal activities may be more helpful. Students should repeat the process with one or two additional life categories.
Students should then determine what part of their dream seems to call to them. They should complete, the sentences, "The part of this daydream that most appeals to me is __________ because__________." Encourage students to explore their feelings fully, writing as much detail as possible because they may use some of these ideas later when they write their personal goals.
When two or three Goal Dreaming sheets are complete, students should select the category they want to write goals for first.
4. Getting Real
The next step is to help students identify a desire from which to form a goal. To do this, they should look at the reasons certain aspects of their daydreams appeal to them as well as the daydreams themselves. For example, if a student dreamed of being a lifeguard, and decided it appealed to him because he would work outdoors, working outdoors may be more important to him than actually being a life guard. Thus, students should spend some time reflecting on what seems truly important. It may help to have students highlight ideas that seem really important.
Then they should also examine which aspects of their daydreams seem far fetched and which seem within the realm of possibililty. While it is popular wisdom that we should teach youth that they can achieve anything if they want it badly enough, "badly enough" is rarely translated by teens into years of dedicated work and dogged determination. Instead, youth interpret this popular wisdom as meaning that if their desire is strong enough, minimal effort will is all that is needed.
Thus, when we present as role models, individuals who achieve unexpected accomplishments such as Christopher Reeves directing movies after nearly complete paralysis, we should always describe the grueling work that came between the goal and it's fulfillment.
Directing the Dream without Damaging the Dreamer
Another problem created by people espousing "you can do anything" is the tendency to ignore the requirement for superior intelligence, which cannot be created by will power or diligence. Tackle this issue delicately so as not to discourage students from having dreams while keeping in mind that if you encourage students to set goals they have little chance of meeting you deprive them of the joys of achieving personal goals.
You can help students make realistic self assessments without hurting their feelings if you point out that people are happiest when they work and play in areas of their interests and relative strengths. Discuss the concept of multiple intelligences, letting students read the short descriptions of each type of intelligence, marking those they think are their areas of strength. This allows students with low intellectual ability to focus on an area of potential success without having to announce he is incapable of being something requiring superior intelligence.
If you have time and resources for personality and interest inventories, these should be given at this time point in the unit. Students with Internet access may take some of these assessments online .
Remember, although most of us would love to teach a unit on goal setting that includes a variety of assessments, career exploration, goal writing, scheduling and self reinforcement is ideal, most of us also have packed curriculums. Nevertheless, if students spend a few hour practicing goal writing in many different classes together, perhaps, we can teach students how to make their dreams come true.
Once students have summarized results of various assessmentson a summary sheet or have simply decided which is their area of strength on a list of multiple intelligences, and they have chosen one the Goal Dreaming worksheets, they want to work on first, they are ready to learn to write a specific, personal goal.
