Getting a teenager to talk about his future and goals is not an easy task. Sometimes teens are reluctant to talk about themselves and their plans, or they just haven't thought past prom. Either way, giving your students or your teenage children avenues to talk about their goals and goal setting can help them think more seriously about their futures and what it will take to get them to the places they want to be after high school.
Goal Board
Teens often benefit from visual activities or those that they can use as material later. A Goal Board is a way to make a goal setting activity into an art project of sorts, that they can place in their rooms for inspiration. Bring in a stack of old magazines and instruct the teens to fill their goal boards, a large piece of poster board, with pictures that represent their goals in life. It is a good way to open dialogue about goals and goal setting.
Research Presentation
To properly set goals, teenagers need to take time to think about what they need to do to achieve goals. A research paper on a profession of their choice, with instructions to detail how someone in that profession got there as far as education, volunteer work and experience helps teens to realize the reality of goal setting.
Short Term Goal Setting
Most teenagers may hear the term "setting goals", and automatically think far into the future about relationships, jobs and family. However, they also need to understand about setting short-term goals; goals that can be achieved in a day, week or month. Ask your teenager to close her eyes and think about something she wants to accomplish in one week. She should visualize how she will accomplish it, how she will feel when it's accomplished, and the time frame in which she will do it in.
Visual Activity
Help your teens learn about goals in a simple, visual way. Print pictures of people doing simple activities--kicking a soccer ball, cooking a meal or talking to another person. Hold the picture up for everyone to see, and then ask simple questions about the pictures, like why is this person acting this way? What do they want to have happen? Help teens to learn that even seemingly everyday activities are working towards a simple goal.
How-To Goals
Help teens learn to plan for goals. Divide the teens into groups, and then hand out cards that list journeys to goals, like getting from New York City to Las Vegas, or learning how to change a tire. Instruct the teens that they are supposed to write how-to style instructions for each of these goals. This is a helpful way for them to see the process that occurs once a goal has been set and to think critically about goals and goal setting.
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