Who do I want to be?

What does success mean to me?

Learning Intentions Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to explore personal aspirations

…to develop an argument and justify opinions.
Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

…to communicate ideas clearly and persuasively
Communication

Initial personal reflection

In their personal journals, pupils put the word success at the centre of a page and draw ten branches from it. They spend a couple of minutes writing words associated with success on each of the ten branches.

They join up with three other pupils and predict how many words will be common to everyone in the group. As each member reads out their list, they underline the words that are common to all.

• Was the result surprising?
• Why do you think this is?
• What does this tell you about the perception of success?

Class debate

Success = Money?

Elect two teams of four. One team will argue that ‘success = money’, the other team will argue against the statement. Both teams must provide evidence to back up their argument and disprove the opposing team’s argument.

After an agreed time, the debate closes and the whole class votes on the statement based on the evidence they have heard.
(Opportunity to assess communication)

Does success change at different stages of life?

Learning Intentions Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to explore and express a sense of self
Self Management

Pupils create a time line to describe what success has meant for them at different stages in their life so far, for example, as a baby or toddler, in nursery school, primary school, post-primary school and the present day.

Questions for discussion:

• Has your idea of success always been the same?
• Why do you think this is?
• What things influence your idea of success?
• Are these mainly external influences or internal influences?
• Was your vision of success the same at each stage of life?
• If not, what causes your vision to change?

Now extend the timeline into the future. Pupils consider what success might look like at the flowing stages:

• Year 12;
• Aged 18;
• Aged 21;
• Aged 40;
• Aged 60.

How would you recognise success?

Learning Intentions Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to use the senses to generate ideas

…to present ideas in a personal an creative way
Being Creative

… to evaluate and appreciate their own and other’s work.

If success is constantly changing, how do we know when we get there?

Ask pupils to think about this statement and consider how they could recognise success.

Create a visual representation of the characteristics of success using the five headings;

What does success:

• look like?
• feel like?
• taste like?
• smell like?
• sound like?

Ask for volunteers to describe their representation to the class. Can they provide an example of when they experienced these characteristics of success?

Which representations were most stimulating, striking, interesting, original etc?

What motivates me to keep going?

Learning Intentions Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to recognise influences on self
…to be aware of influences on others
Self Management

…to analyse findings and draw conclusions
Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

Remind the class of the saying, ‘If at first you don’t succeed… try, try again’.

What do you do when the going gets tough?

Ask pupils to think about what motivates them to keep going. Get them to record their thoughts in their personal journal.

In groups, pupils share their thoughts and explain why they work for them. Try to extract a top five of motivational factors that are common to the group.

Whole class feedback: one member from each group reports back on their top five motivators.

Hold a class discussion using the following questions;

• Can you identify and common factors for motivation?
• Do the same factors motivate everyone?
• What have you learnt about the intensity of motivation created by some factors?
• Was there a clear winner for your class?
• What conclusions can you come to regarding what motivates people towards success?
• What led you to these conclusions?

Can thinking help me to be successful?

Learning Intentions Pupils are learning …

Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities

…to know of strategies to develop self esteem.
Self Management

Ask the class to suggest what type of self-talk or thoughts can:

• Improve your chances of success.
• Reduce your chances of success.

The power of positive thinking.

Self-belief and positive thinking are directly linked with success and good health. Negative thinking is more likely to lead to failure. Therefore learning to think more positively will enhance our chances of achieving success in life.

Using the statements below, or some that the class may have suggested, turn the negative statement into a positive one:

• ‘There’s no point in trying…’
• ‘It’s a problem…’
• ‘I’m not good enough…’
• ‘Life’s a struggle…’
• ‘If only things were…’
• ‘I can’t…’
• ‘I’m never going to be able to…’

Give the pupils an opportunity to read their positive alternative statements aloud. Ask how it feels to read a positive statement.

Personal Journal

Programming yourself for success.

If you focus on positive thinking and repeat positive statements about yourself, your self-belief and chances of being successful will improve.

Pupils create a set of statements using the starter sentences below in relation to real life goals:

• ‘It’s OK to…’
• ‘I can…’
• ‘I will…’
• ‘I am…’

Now create similar statements in relation to learning goals.

These statements must be positive and accurate. If negative thinking is dominating thoughts and affecting performance, reading these statements will help re-programme your thinking and allow you to get going!

Development of Learning Outcomes

• Research and manage information to investigate PD issues , using Mathematics and ICT where appropriate.
• Show deeper understanding, by thinking critically and flexibly, solving problems and making informed judgments, using Mathematics and ICT where appropriate.
• Demonstrate creativity and initiative when developing own ideas and following them through.
• Demonstrate self-management by working systematically, persisting with tasks, evaluating and improving own performance.
• Communicate effectively in visual, oral, written, mathematical and ICT formats, showing clear awareness of audience and purpose.

Links with Key Element:

Links with Learning for Life and Work

Employability

Personal Understanding

Moral Character

Spiritual Awareness.

Employability

Key Concept - Career Management