1

VIDEO TEACHING GUIDE

for use withProgram 4

SETTING andACHIEVING GOALS

In the Youth Guidance Video Series

EDUCATIONALGOALS

YOUNG ADOLESCENTS WILL:

• Realize the benefits of setting goalsand committing to them.

• Develop a willingness to risk failurein order to pursue higher goals.

• Adopt an attitude of learning fromfailures and disappointments.

• Learn some techniques for goalsetting.

Big Changes, Big Choices and this teaching guide werecreated and produced by Elkind+Sweet Communications,Inc. Copyright Elkind+Sweet Communications, Inc.All rights are reserved

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

p. 2 Introductionp. 4 Program Contentp. 6 Discussion Questionsp. 8 How To Prevent Fightsp. 9 Writing Assignmentsp. 10 Group Activitiesp. 11 About Michael Pritchardp. 12 License Agreement

Trigger group discussion Stimulate critical thinking Boost self-esteem

Big Changes, Big Choices helps youngteens work their way through the turmoil ofearly adolescence while making positive,healthful life choices. In each program TVcameras follow comedian / youth counselorMichael Pritchard to middle schools aroundthe country, as he thrills young audienceswith warm humor about growing up andengages them in problem solving sessionsabout serious issues that affect their lives.

The purpose of this video program is toshape young people's attitudes byappealing to their minds and theirhearts. By watching and discussing thesevideos, kids will come to a deeper under-standing of the issues presented in the videos,think more critically about their own choicesand behaviors, and gain confidence in theirown better instincts.

3

HOW TO USETHIS VIDEO

Use in classrooms, libraries, youthgroups, or show it to your kids at home.Ideal for parents, too.

You can greatly enhance the effectiveness ofthis video by following it up with group dis-cussions, writing assignments, and learningactivities. This guide is intended to help youin your efforts.

We recommend that, before showing thevideo, you ask a few questions to start thekids thinking about the issues treated in theprogram. You'll find some useful questionson page 6. Also, you can expect yourstudents to have a lot to talk about afterviewing the video, so it's a good idea to allowample time.

While this discussion guide may appear to bewritten for classroom teachers, any groupleader or parent will find it a useful tool forgetting the most out of this video program.

ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

This program shows kids the benefits oflearning to set and achieve goals, and teachesthem how to distinguish between actual goalsand mere wishes. They also see how they canbenefit from failure as well as success, andhow setting and achieving goals of their ownchoice boosts their self-confidence, their self-esteem, and the control they have over theirlives.

4

PROGRAM CONTENT

Mike Pritchard on stage before a middleschool audience delivers a comic monologueabout all the options we have in life thesedays and how much more complex life hasbecome as a result. He concludes thatlearning to set and achieve goals helps usfocus on what we want to do and make thechoices we need to make.

PART I

GOALS IN OUR LIVESTeentalk: Pritchard leads a group of middleschool kids in a discussion about their goalsand ambitions and career plans. They talkabout some of their personal goals, both longand short term, and what they are doing nowto reach those goals. They also reflect aboutpeople they admire for having set andachieved goals.

GOALS VS. WISHESTo help them identify the characteristics of agoal, Pritchard reads the kids a wish-list andasks which things could be goals and whichcould only be wishes. They determine that inorder for a wish to be a goal, there has to be aplan and a reasonable chance of success, andthe outcome has to depend mostly on yourown actions. They go on to talk about how toachieve goals. Suggestions include: set thegoal, have determination, work hard, setintermediate steps, make a plan of action.

Pritchard on stage does a comic monologueabout somebody sitting around waiting forgood things to happen. He concludes that,while it's great to have dreams, you have towork to make them come true.

PART II

Teentalk: The discussion begins withpersonal experiences with achieving goals.

TAKING RISKS & HANDLINGFAILUREPritchard asks the kids if they've ever floppedat something and how they dealt with it. We

5

hear three stories of kids turning initialfailures into eventual successes throughperseverance.

Pritchard then asks if it's okay to take risks.The kids all agree that risk-taking isimportant. I t leads to biggeraccomplishments, exposes us to new and dif-ferent things, and keeps life from gettingboring. One girl tells about a time sheavoided taking a risk because she fearedfailing. Other kids respond that there'snothing wrong with failing, that everyone hasto fail occasionally, that unless you challengeyourself with increasingly higher goals yougo nowhere. They agree that there's a bigdifference between failing & being a failure.

When Pritchard asks for good ways to dealwith disappointment, the kids suggest thatyou should learn from what you did wrongand improve, talk with others about it andlearn from them, come back at it again withmore confidence.

Pritchard on stage gives a humorousaccount of all the failures Abraham Lincolnendured prior to winning the Presidency.

PART III

GOAL SETTING & SELF-ESTEEM.Teentalk: The discussion here centers onthe importance of setting goals. The kidsremark that it gives them motivation anddirection, boosts self-esteem when theysucceed, encourages them, makes life moremeaningful, gives them focus, makes thembetter people. They recognize that we setgoals every day, even if we don't realize it.

Pritchard on stage encourages the kids todo their best, to pursue their dreams, and tofind ways to turn those dreams into reality.That's the right choice to make, and in this lifeit's always up to you to make the rightchoices.

6

DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS

Questions to ask before showing the video.

1. Do you ever set goals for yourself?What are some goals you have right now(short term and long-term)?

2. Agree or disagree: It's better to set lowergoals than to risk failure by setting higherones.

Questions to ask after showing the video.

3. Did anybody in this video say anythingyou disagree with? How would you answerthat person?

4. In the video, Mike Pritchard told a storyabout a guy sitting in a Hollywood coffeeshop waiting to be discovered. What was thepoint of that story?

5. What's the difference between a wish anda goal?

6. How do you decide what your goals are?

7. Have you ever set a goal that wasunrealistic? What happened? What did youlearn from that?

8. Is it ever okay to take risks? What kindsof risks are okay? What kinds of risks arenot okay?

9. Have you ever gone out on a limb andrisked failure in order to achieve a biggergoal? (describe) Are you glad you took thatrisk?

7

10. Has there been a time when you turned afailure into a success? (describe) What didyou learn from that?

11. What's the difference between failing andbeing a failure?

12. If you don't accomplish all your goalsdoes that make you a failure?

13. What are some good ways to deal withdisappointments?

14. What is your personal definition ofsuccess?

15. Is it a good idea to set goals? Why, whatdo goals do for you?

16. What was most meaningful to you in thisvideo? Why?

8

HOW TO SET GOALS

1. Define the goal.*

2. Outline the steps needed to achieve it.

3. Consider possible blocks and ways ofdealing with them.

4. Set deadlines.

*Not every wish can be a goal. For instance,you may wish you could live and stay youngforever, but since there's nothing you can doto make that happen, it could never beconsidered a goal. In order for something tobe a goal:

It has to be important to you, personally.

It has to be within your power to make ithappen through your own actions.

It has to be something you have areasonable chance of achieving.

It must be clearly defined and have aspecific plan of action.

9

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

1. If you could become anything you wanted,or accomplish anything you wanted in life,what would it be? What can you do to makethat happen? Are you doing it? (If not, whynot?)

2. Think of three things you'd like toaccomplish in the next several months. Thesemust be things that are truly important to youand within your power to accomplish. Foreach one, describe in detail what you will needto do in order to succeed and lay out a planfor doing it (including deadlines). Now thatyou have set three goals, try carrying out yourplans.

3. Write about a time when you succeeded atsomething because you made it a goal andcommitted to it. - Describe what happened. - How did that make you feel? - What did you learn from that experience?

4. Sometimes, despite our best plans andefforts, we fail anyway. Write about a timewhen you tried to accomplish something butcame up short. - Describe what happened. - How did you deal with it? - What did you learn from it? - Did anything positive come out of it?

5. Imagine that some day you will havechildren. Write a letter of advice for them toread when they reach the age you are rightnow. Tell them about the goals you had atthis age, and what those goals did for you.Tell them about taking risks - what kinds ofrisks are good to take and what kind aren't.And tell them how to deal with failure anddisappointment so they won't be discouragedwhen things don't work out the way theywant.

10

GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. Practice some goal setting exercises. Ineach hypothetical case have the class gothrough the four step goal-setting processgiven on page 8.

Goal #1: Help a new kid in school feelincluded.

Goal #2: Get a good summer job.Goal #3: Stop violence on the school

grounds.Goal #4: Earn enough money to buy a new

bicycle.Goal #5: Raise money to buy a new

computer for the school library.

2. Have the class set some group goals. Forinstance, they could decide they want toachieve a certain average score on an exam.To accomplish this they might set up studygroups so they can create structured studytime and help each other. Or, perhaps, theywill set goals for personal interaction thatinclude standards of respectful behavior andrules for dealing with conflicts. Decide on areward for achieving these goals, such as apicnic or some other fun payoff.

3. Have everybody in the class declare twoshort term goals that can be accomplishedduring the semester. Have them present theirgoals to the class, including their plans, theirdeadlines, and why these goals are importantto them. Then, have them track their progressgiving periodic progress reports to the wholeclass. Set up some kind of a reward forpeople who achieve their goals.

11

ABOUT MICHAEL PRITCHARD

Michael Pritchard is a juvenile probationofficer turned comedian / youth counselor /public speaker. After his college graduation,Mike went to work for the St. Louis PoliceDepartment and then moved to SanFrancisco's juvenile hall. In his years ofworking with young offenders, Mikediscovered that his penchant for humor servedas a powerful counseling tool, enabling him tobreak down communication barriers and helpa lot of troubled kids turn their lives around.As Mike is fond of saying, "the shortestdistance between any two people is a goodlaugh." Mike's unusual combination of talentsgained him recognition as California's"Probation Officer of the Year" the same yearthat he won the San Francisco InternationalComedy Competition.

Whether he's being funny or serious, Mike'sbig love is talking with kids about the choicesthey make in their lives. He teaches youngpeople that they have the power of choice, thatthey are responsible for the choices theymake, and that they owe it to themselves tochoose the best.

"The shortest distance between two people isa good laugh."

12

Big Changes, Big ChoicesLICENSE AGREEMENT

This license grants you some very usefulrights regarding the use of this video,including public performance rights:

You may show this video to groups of anysize, for educational, cultural, entertainment, orcounseling purposes, as long as you do notcharge admission.

You may play this video on your institution'sclosed-circuit television system within a singlebuilding or campus. This right does notextend to multiple schools within a districtunless you have purchased a license to do so.

You may permit viewers to watch this video onyour premises, or lend it to them to take out.

Along with these rights come some equallyimportant restrictions:

You may not duplicate, copy, alter, orreproduce this video in any manner or in anymedium, in whole or in part.

You may not broadcast, cablecast, or digitallystream this video in whole or in part unlessyou have purchased a license to do so.

These restrictions have the force of federallaw, which provides severe civil and criminalpenalties for infringements. (Title 17, UnitedStates Code, sections 501-506).

If you have any questions regarding thislicense agreement, or your intended use ofthis video, please contact:

Live Wire Media (415) 564-9500

publisher@livewiremedia.com