Helping Our Students Be Successful

We had a blast at our last Advisement lesson! The students really got into the lesson and participated. (Okay, we also gave out candy with each student response.)
Our topic was Spooky Habits.

We highlighted the differences between effective and ineffective habits for the GOC student with two skits. Mrs. Cote played the role of the unsuccessful student and some of the ineffective habits she acted out were:

• didn’t get enough sleep the night before and didn’t eat breakfast
• became easily frustrated and gave up when there was a technology problem (Mrs. Cote had a complete meltdown!)
• skipped around in the lesson and between courses
• paged friends and spent time on facebook instead of work
• maintained a messy work environment (food was everywhere)
• was dishonest with her parent regarding work completion for the day
• left a vague phone message with her teacher when she needed assistance
• shook her Healthy Lifestyle watch instead of getting adequate exercise
• You can see a short video clip here unsuccessful student

Mrs. Holmes and Mrs. Triemer took turns playing the role of the successful student and some of the effective habits they acted out were:

• was rested and ate a good breakfast before starting
• read her Gmail and News Items before beginning work in each course
• followed her Daily Organizer to ensure she completed all assignments
• when technology didn’t work, she emailed her teacher and continued to work in the course as she could (didn’t give up)
• emailed and called the teacher; left a message with her name, grade, and briefly described the problem
• completed assignments using the Lifescribe pen and notebooks
• took a break only after the work was completed in an entire course
• you can see a short video clip here successful student

During each skit, the students listed the good and bad habits they observed. Then after each skit, we discussed the habits and whether or not they helped the student become more successful.

We laughed a lot. Mrs. Cote was a horrible student! We’re thankful that we don’t have any students who possess all the ineffective habits that she demonstrated.

We appreciated our students’ honesty when we asked which bad habits they possessed. Our goal was to point how ineffective habits got in the way of our success.

Many students are now using the Daily Organizer. It’s a laminated checklist of items to keep the student on track. Email Dr. Edwards if you’d like a copy. Give it a try for two-three weeks. You and your student may decide that they don’t need to use it after that.

If you’ve found a useful tip for being successful at GOC, please leave a comment below!

About these ads