Benchmark 4: “Putting Your Best Self Forward”

Project Ready 2.0

Benchmark 4:

“Putting Your Best

Self Forward”

Goal of Social Development Component:

Enable students to develop age-appropriate life skills.

Student Outcome:

Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of multiple forms of leadership.

Objective:

Students will learn how to apply their learning style to developing better self-advocacy skills.

Skills: Listening, Public Speaking, Leadership, Problem Solving

Suggested Vocabulary Words: Advocacy, Hostility, Incredulity, Empathy, Assertiveness, Communication,

Preparation, Articulation

Overview of Benchmark 4

Knowing how to work with teachers/professors is another crucial step in getting ready for college. Having cordial relationships with your teachers can determine your overall grade in a class or whether you receive a letter of recommendation for college. How many times have we heard a student say “Mr. B in my math class doesn’t like me, that’s why I got that grade,” Or “I’m not even going to talk to Ms. Y after school, she is not going to listen anyway.” Unfortunately, it is common for students to encounter teachers who are hostile to, or unsupportive of students. Yet students must learn to work through this in an efficient manner to achieve their objectives. The goal of this benchmark is to enable students in Project Ready to apply their own personal and academic capabilities to becoming better self-advocates.

Benchmark 4: “Putting Your Best Self Forward”

Lecture

Many times students will back away from teachers they view as “hostile” or become “incredulous” when confronted by a teacher on a particular issue or concern. Just like in the concept of “multiple intelligences” we have “multiple approaches” to dealing with people in life. Psychologists argue that as higher order thinkers, humans have ways of adjusting to different environments and social relationships. Moreover, we are “empathic” by nature, sensing what others are feeling and responding accordingly. Therefore, it essential that as students, you learn to apply your skills and learn to adapt to a variety of circumstances in and out of school.

Benchmark 4: “Putting Your Best Self Forward”

Open Ended

Reflection: Describe in at least 5 sentences a time when you needed to stand up for yourself in a classroom, school or in your community. How did you do this? What was the result?

***Caution: Make sure you don't use real names of teachers or other students in the description. Using real names may create unforeseen problems of confidentiality.

VOcabulary

Review the following vocabulary words:

• Advocacy- public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy

• Hostility- unfriendliness or opposition

• Incredulity- the state of being unwilling or unable to believe something

• Empathy- the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

• Assertiveness- confident and forceful behavior

• Communication- the imparting or exchanging of information or news.

• Preparation- something done to get ready for an event or task

• Articulation- the formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech

Benchmark 4: “Putting Your Best Self Forward”

How to become a self-advocate

The four areas are known under the acronym of “PACC”:

*Preparation: The key to students being strong self-advocates is preparation. Preparation can take many forms. Students could prepare themselves mentally for an encounter, for instance, talking with a teacher that is perceived as hostile or physically writing down notes and/or questions they would like to ask. Either way, preparation is crucial.

*Assertiveness: Many students confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness. Inform them that being aggressive is from a place of insecurity, while being assertive is from a place of security. Usually people are aggressive when they feel that they are going to be denied something, or they feel a person is a barrier to something they

need. Whereas being assertive is about respecting oneself and someone else, and asking for what one wants, not at the expense of someone else.

*Communication: Students should know that we as humans spoke before we wrote. That language and communication need at least two entities to be labeled such. Students must learn to communicate effectively, orally and in writing. Being able to articulate a point enables you to get your needs met and work toward

effective solutions. Also, effective communication relies on effective listening skills. Students should learn to listen carefully to another person, taking notes, if needed.

*Compromise: Students should know that compromise does not mean “win or lose,” but means resolution. If you are advocating for yourself with a teacher, it will be important to come to some kind of compromise so that the situation does not spin out of control. Students should be clear that teachers are individuals with feelings and insecurities just like anyone else. So showing an attempt to compromise, particularly on a contentious issue will go further than attempting to try to “win.”

Benchmark 4: “Putting Your Best Self Forward”

Open Ended

Explain in at least 5 sentences how would you use the PACC techniques to resolve the issue of a failing test grade with a “Hostile Teacher".

Open Ended

Explain in at least 5 sentences how would you use the PACC techniques to resolve the issue of a need for explanation of a difficult math problem with the “Busy Teacher”

Open Ended

Explain in at least 5 sentences how would you use the PACC techniques to resolve the issue of a need to talk with the “Disorganized Teacher” who lost a major assignment you handed in a week ago.

Open Ended

Explain in at least 5 sentences how the PACC techniques you learned can influence

your behavior when dealing with these types of situations.