Shea Week 3

Today was a little different than previous weeks at Shea. We had one new student, and a few students that are regularly in attendance were absent today. The mix/dynamics of students today was a little more rambunctious than usual, which became somewhat troublesome while discussing our topic. Also, instead of Tara conducting each lesson, we are beginning to create our own lesson plans (with the collaboration of our classmates) and conducting the lesson ourselves. This week was my week to plan/collaborate with the other Shea volunteers, and the lesson was titled “Mastery and Future.” We focused specifically on the topic of goals – both short-term and long term. We engaged students in constructive activities each of which had a specific goal to accomplish (organizing themselves in order of birthday without talking and untangling arms from a network of other arms). We then moved to discuss the students’ short term goals (one academic and one non-academic), as well as the necessary steps to achieve that goal. Many wanted to do well on upcoming exams/projects and some wanted to play outside or improve on sports for other non-academic goals. In regards to long term goals, many students wanted to graduate high school, go onto college and secure a stable job. I think this lesson was executed successfully despite some minor interruptions from students. The importance of setting goals for oneself was emphasized and deemed crucial to a successful life. We told students that we plan to hold them to their goal for the week and see whether or not the goal was accomplished. Overall, I hope students recognized the importance of goal-setting not only to their current life but to their future, as well.