Goals

Summary

Students will understand the goal setting process, compare short- and long-term goals, and set short-term and long-term goals that are consistent with personal values.

Materials

• Goals Contract
• Goals PowerPoint
• Goals Worksheet
• Vocabulary Worksheet and Key

Supplementary Resources

• FCCLA CD: "Dynamic Leadership & Power of One." Available from fcclainc.org, $50
• Goals Lesson Plan by Doreen Robinson (listed under FACS)
• Goals Lesson Plan by Virginia Nicholson (listed under FACS)
• UEN.org "Your Goals" Lesson Plan (listed under Financial Literacy). Students can learn about money management and goal setting at Bank High School.

Instructional Procedures

Vocabulary
Use the Vocabulary Worksheet and Key (pdf).

Introduction/Pre-Assessment
Activity: Shrinking circle -- Place a rope down on the floor in a circle. You need to make it big enough that all students can stand in the center of it. No student can be left out or standing on the rope. Everyone has to be inside the circle. Then have students step out of the circle. Make the circle smaller. This time it will be harder for the students to stand in side but they should all fit if they stand close together. Continue to do this until they cannot fit inside (at least they think they can't, the secret is if they all take off their shoes they can fit in a very small circle. But they have to keep looking at ways to fit in the circle to figure this out.)

Discuss: What happened when the goal to fit in the circle got harder? How does that relate to our lives? What are some of the things that prevented them from achieving this goal?

Content Outline, Activities and Teaching Strategies
(All options do not necessarily need to be taught. Select ones to cover standards and objectives and according to your district policies.)

Option 1: PowerPoint on Goals
Have students take notes and do activities as explained in the Goals Power Point Presentation. (See UEN Goals Lesson Plan by Virginia Nicolson)

Option 2: Dreams Do Not Just Happen
Have students complete the Dreams Do Not Just Happen Worksheet (pdf). Explain to students that we all have areas in which we could improve. This worksheet will help students discover ways to improve and to feel better about themselves.

Option 3: Goal Contract
Complete the Goal Contract Worksheet (pdf). After completion of their goals, have students write an evaluation on the back of their paper. Did they reach their goal? Were they early or late? What resources did they use to reach their goal? How did they manage their resources to help them reach their goal(s)?

Option 4: Life Map
Give each student a poster and have them draw their life map from the present day and extend it until their fortieth birthday (or another designated age). They should include the times they want major events and changes to take place. They could include high school graduation, college or post-secondary school graduation, beginning of a career, marriage, beginning of a family, when they might get an apartment, buy a house, buy a car, become famous, etc. Each student's map will differ according to what they want to be and accomplish. Have them include roadblocks or rocks along the way that may make it difficult or impossible to accomplish those goals. These could include bad grades, early marriage, lack of money, laziness, illness, injury, etc. These roadblocks should be realistic to them.

Option 5: Long-Term Goals
After discussing goals and how to achieve them, have the students write a letter to themselves about what it is they want to accomplish in their lives within the next couple of years. They should be specific, naming the goal, what resources are needed to accomplish the goal, how they plan to achieve the goal, etc. The letters are then placed in a self-addressed, stamped envelope and turned in to the teacher. After two years, mail the letters, along with any other assignments you may choose to keep, back to the students.

Option 6: Setting Financial Goals
Family Economics and Financial Education (FEFE) Lesson Plan Students will learn the five elements of a well written financial goal. They will evaluate goals to identify the missing element and write a personal financial goal.

Step #1: Go to http://www.fefe.arizona.edu/download-lessons. (You will need to register and log into this website prior to use)
Step #2: Click on Curriculum then click on 17.0 Values & Goals Setting.
Step #3: Click on 1.17.3 Setting Financial Goals and download the lesson plan and resources.
Step #4: Gather the following items for the lesson:

Setting Financial Goals PowerPoint Presentation -- 1.17.3.G1
Goal Setting note taking guide -- 1.17.3.L1
Shake Out My Future worksheet -- 1.17.3.A1
Setting a Financial Goal worksheet -- 1.17.3.A2
Setting an Education Goal worksheet -- 1.17.3.A3
Setting a Goal worksheet -- 1.17.3.A4
Setting Financial Goals information sheet -- 1.17.3.F1

Option 7: What Would You Do?
Family Economics and Financial Education (FEFE) Lesson Plan Students will examine different scenarios and set short and long term goals.

Step #1: Go to http://www.fefe.arizona.edu/download-lessons. (You will need to register and log into this website prior to use)
Step #2: Click on Curriculum then click on 17.0 Values & Goals Setting.
Step #3: Click on 1.17.6 What Would You Do? and download the lesson plan and resources.
Step #4: Gather the following items for the lesson:

What Would You Do? Worksheet -- 1.17.6.A1
My Long-term and Short-term Goals Worksheet -- 1.17.6.A2
What Would You Do? scenarios -- 1.17.6.E1
What Would You Do? chance cards -- 1.17.6.H1

Option 8: FEFE Goals Galore
Family Economics and Financial Education (FEFE) Lesson Plan Students will learn the benefits of setting goals, about short and long term goals, and apply the goal setting process.

Step #1: Go to http://www.fefe.arizona.edu/download-lessons. (You will need to register and log into this website prior to use.)
Step #2; Click on Curriculum then click on 17.0 Values & Goals Setting.
Step #3: Click on 2.17.1 Goals Galore! and download the lesson plan and resources.
Step #4: Gather the following items for the lesson:

Goals Galore! PowerPoint presentation -- 2.17.1.G1
Goals Galore! note taking guide -- 2.17.1.L1
Practicing SMART Goals worksheet -- 2.17.1.A1
Goals Galore! worksheet -- 2.17.1.A2
Goals Galore! information sheet -- 2.17.1.F1
Short and Long Term Goals posters -- 2.17.1.H1
Short or Long Term goals game cards -- 2.17.1

Option 9: NEFE Your Financial Plan: Where It All Begins
Students learn about setting SMART goals, keeping an income and expense record, and how to set financial goals. (National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) High School Planning Program)

Use Unit 1 Your Financial Plan: Where It All Begins in the NEFE Instructor Manual and the corresponding Student Guide

Possible Activities from Unit 1:

• Exercise 1B on page 5: How Long Will It Take? Helps students categorize goals into short, intermediate, or long term goals.
• Review over SMART goals criteria. Exercise 1C: Are the Goals SMART? (page 6) will help students analyze goals and what SMART criteria are missing.
• Assignment 1-1 on page 7: My SMART Goals. Students will decide on their own financial goals -- one each that is shot- intermediate- and long-term. They will also evaluate whether each is a need or want and that the goals are SMART.
• Assignment 1-2 on page 8: 30 Day Countdown to Goal. Students will choose one short-term financial goal that they want to achieve over the next month and track their progress.
• Assignment 1-3 on page 8: My Personal Spending Log. Students will track spending for one week and see how their spending matches their financial goals.

You can order free Instructor Manuals and Student Guides by going to the following website: http://hsfpp.nefe.org/home/

Summary/Evaluation
Goals are an important part of becoming the person you want to be. If you change goals often, you change directions. Therefore you may not accomplish the things that are important to you. People who have mapped out their lives and know where they want to go are more apt to be successful than someone who has not given it much thought. Although we cannot control all roadblocks in our lives, we can avoid many of them. Knowing our destination will help us avoid making wrong turns.