Developing a Strategies for Success Program

Developing a Strategies for Success Program Robert Martin, Ph.D. Azusa Pacific University rhmartin@apu.edu ISPA Colloquium, Finland, July 2007 Program Goals • Maximize college success • Create an exciting and meaningful career (or further enhance a current one) • Apply the skills you learn to improve your personal life as well Who can use this program? • Educational psychologists in private practice • School psychologists • College professors • Counselors Topics • Managing your time and money effectively • Studying, writing and speaking proactively • Discovering who you are • Thinking skillfully • Taking charge of your future Organization • Lecture • Discussion • Teamwork Managing Your Time and Money Effectively Lecture Topics “Timely” Tips • Know how to work efficiently at a task (how much time, high-energy periods, environment) • Avoid procrastination • National Society of Procrastinators • Winners don’t whine, they take responsibility, and then they triumph Power Moment • Did you set meaningful goals to achieve? • Did you manage to achieve them? • Did roadblocks arise in your way? • If so, how did you overcome them? Becoming Financially “Fit” • Reducing expenses to realistic levels • Controlling any tendencies we may have toward impulse buying • Know the benefits and potential pitfalls of credit cards Managing Your Time and Money Effectively Discussion Time and Money: What Do You Think? • How successful are you at this point in your life at managing your time and your money? • If you face specific challenges in managing either area, or both, what are some of these challenges? • Are you better now at managing your time and money than you were in the past? Projecting Your Future • Imagine five to ten years in your future, and the increased annual income you can generate by that point. What is your estimate of what this increased annual income will be? • What will the demands on your daily time be at this point? • What specific steps do you see yourself as taking to manage your time and your money at this future date? Managing Your Time and Money Effectively Teamwork As a team, collaborate to develop strategies for overcoming these variables. I ran out of time People interrupt me Professors put too much pressure on me I feel overwhelmed and I panic at quizzes and deadlines I overslept Studying, Writing, and Speaking Proactively Lecture Power Reading • Knowing how to concentrate • Maximizing our reading speed • Discovering how to find the topic, the central claim, and the main ideas in what we read • Expanding our vocabulary Public Speaking Strategies • Develop visuals • Practice your talk • Do some relaxed breathing before your presentation • Create an “I can do it” attitude Studying, Writing, and Speaking Proactively Discussion Free Writing • What are some of the benefits of free writing? • What is good writing? • What is bad writing? Speaking for Success • Have you ever done public speaking? • What are some steps you might take to become a better public speaker? Studying, Writing, and Speaking Proactively Teamwork • Collaborate with your teammates to create a list of the five most effective strategies for overcoming writer’s block. Discovering Who You Are Lecture Discovering Who You Are • Learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile) • Personality tests Discovering Who You Are Discussion • What learning style would you say is the most predominant for you? • Why do you feel this is the case? • How might you use your predominant learning style to get the most from your classes? • What steps might you take to incorporate all three learning styles in your own learning – in your classes, on the job, and in your life in general? Discovering Who You Are Teamwork • Decide as a group on ways that a student who is primarily visual in her learning style can become more skilled at also being auditory and tactile in her approach to learning in her classes. Thinking Skillfully Lecture Critical Thinking • Restraining our emotions • Looking at things differently • Analyzing information • Asking questions • Using specific problem-solving skills • Distinguishing fact from opinion Thinking Skillfully Discussion • How effective are you in doing critical thinking? Are you usually good at making good choices? • Identify one specific instance when you made a bad choice in life, and one instance when you made a good one. • What makes the difference between the two? Talking About Gender • In American society in the past, many people believed that women were inferior to men. When it comes to critical thinking, most people today would say that such a belief was an opinion, rather that fact. • Why did so many people in past decades hold this opinion about women? • Why is this opinion not generally held today? • Instead of women or men being inferior or superior, are there genuine differences between the genders? Thinking Skillfully Teamwork • As a team, first define what critical thinking is. Then pose this question to the group – Should drugs be legalized in the Unites States? • The goal of this team effort is not to answer this question. Rather, it’s to decide on what specific questions we might need to ask, and what research we might need to do if we were to answer this question in a reasonable and rational way. • Could emotions come in to play? Taking Charge of Your Future Lecture • Create an effective job search plan • Make your resume and cover letter • Create a proactive interview – Prepare beforehand – Bring important information – Dress professionally – Think of questions to ask the interviewer – Be prepared to answer typical questions Taking Charge of Your Future Discussion • What skills, talents and abilities do you have that you could offer to a potential new employer? • Why are these skills valuable in today’s workplace? Taking Charge of Your Future Teamwork • Collaborate as a team to create a list of the five most important strategies for success you encountered in this program. • Along with each of the strategies you choose, include a brief explanation of why this skill is so important.