Nassau Community College Future Teachers Club Presents Getting On Course to YOUR SUCCESS! Presented by Michael Raab DO NOW…. List the 5 Biggest Problems You Experienced with or as Students that hindered academic success. Note one situation in your life, that you are willing to share, where you are having difficulty making a decision.

Academic Survival Getting On Course to YOUR SUCCESS! Presentation information based on: Downing, Skip. On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and Life, 3rd Ed.

So what can we do about this? List the biggest problem you experienced with or as a student that hindered academic success. So what can we do about this?

The Challenge for Today’s Educators You know the problem. Many students today fall far short of their potential. Pass rates, especially in developmental and first-year college courses, are painfully low.

The consequence is poor retention and declining graduation rates. Everyone loses – students forfeit their dreams, faculty are frustrated, and colleges scramble to improve retention.

No panacea exists, but educators Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner offered valuable insight when they wrote: “Good learners are good learners precisely because they believe and do certain things that less effective learners do not believe and do. And therein lies the key.”

But just what is it that good learners believe and do? And how can educators get students to believe and do them?

ON COURSE ON COURSE is an intervention process through which educators (re)empower students to be the kind of active, responsible learners who make wise choices at critical forks in the road and, thus, achieve more of their goals in school and in life.

The ON COURSE Success Principles Synthesizing the best wisdom from innovators in psychology, education, business, sports, and personal effectiveness, the ON COURSE Success Principles represent eight of the essential “things” that good learners believe and do.

The ON COURSE Success Principles By guiding students to adopt these principles and tools, you’ll empower them to become effective partners in their own education, giving them the outer behaviors and inner qualities to create greater success in school and in life.

ON COURSE The most successful people are empowered people. In formal education, the deepest learning is provided by well-designed experiences. At the intersection of an empowered person and a well-designed experience lies the path to wisdom and the opportunity to achieve one’s greatest potential.

Getting ON COURSE to Your Success What is your definition of Success?

Success is: Staying on course to your greatest dreams; Creating wisdom; Happiness; and Unconditional self-worth along the way.

Eight Principles of Student Success Personal Responsibility Self-Motivation Self-Management Interdependence Self-Awareness Life-Long Learning Emotional Intelligence Self-Esteem

Personal Responsibility Successful Students Accept personal responsibility seeing themselves as the primary cause of their outcomes & experiences Struggling Students See themselves as victims, believing that what happens to them is determined by external forces such as fate, luck, and powerful others.

Self-Motivation Successful Students discover self-motivation, finding purpose in their lives by discovering personally meaningful goals and dreams. Struggling Students have difficulty sustaining motivation, often feeling depressed, frustrated, and/or resentful about a lack of direction in their lives.

Self Management Successful Students master self-management, consistently planning and taking purposeful actions in pursuit of their goals and dreams. Struggling Students seldom identify specific actions needed to accomplish a desired outcome. And when they do, they tend to procrastinate.

Interdependence Successful Students employ interdependence, building mutually supportive relationships that help them achieve their goals and dreams (while helping others do the same). Struggling Students are solitary, seldom requesting, even rejecting, offers of assistance from those who could help.

Self-Awareness Successful Students gain self-awareness, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that keep them on course. Struggling Students make important choices unconsciously, being directed by self-sabotaging habits and outdated life scripts.

Life-Long Learning Successful Students adopt life-long learning, finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience they have. Struggling Students resist learning new ideas and skills, viewing learning as fearful or boring rather than as mental play.

Emotional Intelligence Successful Students develop emotional-intelligence, effectively managing their emotions in support of their goals and dreams. Struggling Students live at the mercy of strong emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety, or a need for instant gratification.

Self-Esteem Successful Students believe in themselves, seeing themselves as capable, lovable and unconditionally worthy human beings. Struggling Students doubt their competence and personal value, feeling inadequate to create their desired outcomes and experiences.

Who’s in charge of creating my life the way I want it to be? Accepting Personal Responsibility Presentation based on: Downing, Skip. On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and Life, 3rd Ed.

Personal Responsibility Successful Students Adopt the Creator role believing that their choices create the outcomes and experiences of their lives. Struggling Students Accept the Victim role believing that external forces determine the outcomes and experiences of their lives.

Creator versus Victim Creators People who change their beliefs and behaviors to create the best results they can. Victims People who keep doing what they’ve been doing even when it doesn’t work.

Personal Responsibility The essence of being personally responsible is responding effectively to all of life’s opportunities and challenges. The key ingredient of personal responsibility is CHOICE.

Adopting the Creator Role Stimulus Choice Creator Victim Response Seeking solutions Taking action Trying something new Response Blaming Complaining Excusing Repeating behavior Results Often achieves goals Results Seldom achieves goals

The Power of Choice The main ingredient in all success is wise choices. That’s because the quality of our lives is determined by the quality of the choices we make on a daily basis. Successful people stay on course to their destinations by wisely choosing their beliefs and behaviors.

Language of Responsibility VICTIM I can’t concentrate because the room is so cold. Some people keep side-talking which is very annoying. I’ll try to meet you for a walk at seven o’clock. I keep falling asleep during presentations. CREATOR On break, I will get my sweater so I’m not cold. ______________________________________

Personal Responsibility Successful Students Master Creator Language Accept personal responsibility for their results Struggling Students Use Victim Language reject personal responsibility by blaming, complaining, and excusing

The Language of Responsibility Creators Seek solutions Accept responsibility Take action Try something new Choose to do things Own their own problems Commit and follow through Take control of their choices and lives Victims Make excuses Blame Complain Repeat ineffective behavior “Have to” do things Pretend problems belong to others “Try” Give UP

Mastering Creator Language The Inner Critic – is the voice inside each of us that criticizes us for all that goes wrong. The inner critic tells us that everything is our own fault. It judges us harshly. It is like pointing the finger at yourself. The Inner Defendant – is the voice inside that tries to protect us by deflecting criticism outward. The inner defender always blames others for his/her problems. The inner defender points the finger at everyone else. The Inner Guide – is the voice inside that looks at events objectively and ask “Am I on course or off course?” The inner guide then looks for the best route for getting back on course.

Changing Inner Conversations Successful students can learn to dispute irrational beliefs that the inner critic or inner defender suggest by: Offering a positive explanation of the problem. Proving the accusation wrong by offering contrary evidence. Questioning the importance of the problem. Offering a practical plan of action to solve the problem.

Personal Responsibility Successful Students Make wise decisions by consciously designing the future they want Struggling Students Make careless decisions by letting the future happen by chance rather than by choice.

Making Wise Decisions Wise Choice Process What’s my present situation? How would I like my situation to be? Do I have a choice here? What are my possible choices? What’s the likely outcome of each possible choice? Which choice(s) will I commit to doing?

FACILITATE A WISE CHOICE Choose a partner and take turns using the Wise Choice Process to work out the decision that needs to be made in your life. You Are Not Allowed To Give Advice!

CLOSING: Academic Survival Staying On Course to Your Success Presentation based on: On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and Life, 3rd Ed., Skip Downing, author.

Staying On Course Successful Students Struggling Students Gain self-awareness, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that keep them on course. Struggling Students Make important choices unconsciously, being directed by self-sabotaging habits and outdated life scripts.

Staying On Course Successful Students Adopt lifelong learning, finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience they have. Struggling Students Resist learning new ideas and skills, viewing learning as fearful or boring rather than as mental play.

Staying On Course Successful Students Struggling Students Develop emotional intelligence, effectively managing their emotions in support of their goals and dreams. Struggling Students Live at the mercy of strong emotions such as anger, or a need for instant gratification.

Staying On Course Unsuccessful Students Successful Students Doubt their competence and personal value, feeling inadequate to create their desired outcomes and experiences. Successful Students Believe in themselves, seeing themselves as capable, lovable, and unconditionally worthy human beings.

Staying On Course Eight Tenets of Success Personal Responsibility – the ability to make wise choices that keep us on course without interfering with the rights of others to do the same.

Staying On Course Eight Tenets of Success 2) Self Motivation – Choosing meaningful goals and dreams so as to generate a powerful inner drive. When we visualize our future life, we are much more likely to make our goals and dreams a reality.

Staying on Course Eight Tenets of Success Self-Management - Our ability to effectively manage our efforts in achieving our goals and dreams. We consistently do what is important, we manage our time well, and stay committed to our goals and dreams.

Staying On Course Eight Tenets of Success 4) Interdependence - The realization that success requires growth from being a dependent child to an interdependence adult. We realize that we can create most of our goals and dreams through our independence, but acknowledge that we can increase our level of success by building mutually supportive relationships with many others.

Staying On Course Eight Tenets of Success 5) Self-Awareness - Developing an awareness of the scripts that we write for our lives and consciously uncovering self-defeating patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion, as well as our limiting core beliefs.

Staying On Course Eight Tenets of Success 6) Lifelong Learning – Developing awareness of our preferred learning style so we maximize our efforts to learn in college and beyond. We develop a monitoring system for checking our progress toward our goals and making any necessary corrections.

Staying On Course Eight Tenets of Success 7) Emotional Intelligence – Realizing that we are responsible for creating our inner and outer world, we recognize our emotions and develop strategies for dealing with strong emotions.

Believe in Ourselves! Staying On Course Eight Tenets of Success 8) Successful individuals realize the need to make wise choices in all situations and develop a positive, core belief that we can achieve anything that we desire. We simply must Believe in Ourselves!

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