Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Helping Students Make Changes


“What are strategies you've used to help student's make pivotal changes?”

I am always quick to think my students need to change and I encourage them to seek changes in their lives. Yet, I don’t go a step further and help them figure out the steps they need to make these changes.

I am sometimes too quick to shoot down their dreams and hopes by saying they aren’t realistic. Yet, maybe I need to help them break down these dreams and help them make smaller changes in their lives that work towards achieving their big goal. Maybe along the way, they will decide to change their goal. They might end up finding a more realistic and achievable goal.

I need to look at the student’s big goal and then break it down into smaller goals. Once the smaller goals are identified, then help the student figure out what smaller steps need to be done in order to reach the smaller goals. As each smaller goal gets achieved, maybe I will find out that the big goal is more realistic than I could hope for. Maybe along the way, the student may see the difficulty in achieving the big goal and I can help them steer to a more achievable goal.

I can help the student find resources that are out there. I have more experience and knowledge than the student does in order to find what people or agencies are available to the student. I can help arrange for the support that the student might need.

Instead of just expecting students to make goals and change their lives, I need to help them figure out the steps to achieve this.

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash





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