|
LIFESKILLS
... doing our personal best!
|
 |
|
Defining Personal Best:
What is personal best? And
who decides? The following list of lifeskills is a beginning, or working, definition.
There may be others that you would want to add, some you would concentrate upon
more than others depending upon your students' personal and social skill levels.
By eighth grade, at least, all can be identified, explained, and modeled by
the students. More importantly, they have become part of students' persona--who
they are and how they act upon the world. All are readily understandable and
provide parameters which improve learning on all levels--academic, social, and
personal.
The purpose of the LIFESKILLS
is to guide students to an understanding of which pesonal and social behaviors
will enhance their success. They are easy to use. The most straight forward
and easiest way to teach them is merely label examples of behavior that occur
throughout the day using talk that "targets" or describes the behaviors:
"John and Jim were using the LIFESKILL of cooperation so well that
they have completed their project. They have created a better project than if
each had done it by himself." "Emily took responsibility for
herself by moving to a part of the room where she could complete her assignment."
| Caring:
To feel and show concern for others |
| Common
Sense: To
use good judgment |
| Cooperation:
To work together
toward a common goal or purpose |
| Courage:
To act according to one's beliefs despite fear of adverse consequences |
| Curiosity:
A desire to investigate and seek understanding of one's world |
| Flexibility:
To be willing to alter plans when necessary |
| Friendship:
Tko make and keep a friend through mutual trust and caring |
| Initiative:
To do something, of one's own free will, because it needs to be done |
| Integrity:
To act according to a sense of what's right and wrong |
| Organization:
To plan, arrange, and implement in an orderly way; to keep things orderly
and ready to use |
| Patience:
To wait calmly for someone or something |
| Perseverence:
To keep at it |
| Pride:
Satisfaction from doing one's personal best |
| Problem
Solving: To
create solutions to difficult situations and everyday problems
|
| Resourcefulness:
To respond to challenges and opportunities in innovative and creative ways |
| Responsibility:
To respond when appropriate; to be accountable for one's actions |
| Sense
of Humor:
To laugh and be playful without harming others |
| Excerpted
from Synergy: Transforming America's High Schools Through Integrated
Thematic Instruction by Karen D. Olsen (1995) pp. 3-11 to 3-12,
and The above excerpt comes from Sue Pearson's
Tools for Citizenship & Life: Using the ITI Lifelong Guidelines &
Lifeskills in Your Classroom (2000),
pp. 9.1-9.2. |
RETURN
TO INTRODUCTORY PAGE