Lesson Plan: Activity 3 - NASA

1 Expeditionary for life United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture program/4-h-positive- youth - development National Aeronautics and Space Administration skills A FederAl PArtnershiP For steM educAtion Lesson plan: Activity planning time Lesson details introduction C. age/grade level hoosing priorities, or deciding what High School prep tiMe to spend less time on or cut out of 30 minutes your budget completely, is one of learner outcoMes the most important steps in managing your youth will assess what occupies their Activity tiMe time. Sometimes we have to choose priori.

2 Time, determine time efficiencies, 1 hour, 35 minutes (all activities ties over the long term, and sometimes we and learn to use a time management combined). have to do it day to day. No matter how perfectly you have your time budget Materials list balanced, there will always be unexpected success indicators Chart paper changes and new responsibilities to fit in. youth will conduct and analyze their personal use of time and create a Markers To help you choose priorities when you simple plan to improve their time youth worksheet (Planning and need to, keep these ideas in mind: management. Follow Through).

3 Remember the big things. There are big things youth Worksheet (Time Manage in life, and there are little things, and you've got ment Worksheet). life skills to do your best to tell them apart. Some things Time management, personal Blank Paper that may seem really important today, like accountability, critical thinking, Pencils getting to the hobby shop to buy a pack of self-awareness, personal credibility, problem solving, flexibility collectible cards, might seem a lot less impor . suggested space tant in a few weeks or months. On the other Any hand, doing well on school assignments and national standards completing your family responsibilities are 21st Century: Life and Career Skills /.

4 Always important. These are the big things that INITITATIVE AND SELF-DIRECTION suggested group size / manage goals and time, work Any size you should always consider first when making a independently, be self-directed time budget. Always reserve plenty of time for learners these priorities, and use leftover time for 21st Century: Learning and Innova references things that are less important. tion Skills / CRITICAL THINKING Time Management AND PROBLEM SOLVING / reason Think about what's urgent. You've set aside effectively, use systems thinking, units/be-change-life-skills/time time after school to do some research on your make judgments and decisions, and management history paper, but you also have a big concert solve problems Time Waster coming up and need to practice your cello.

5 21st Century: Life and Career Skills / Which takes priority that day? Well, which PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCOUNT com/free-games-activities/time . management-activities/time-wast deadline is coming up first? If the concert is next ABILITY / manage projects and produce results ers week, but the report's not due until the week Time Management: Choose Priorities after, there's your answer. Knowing which task is more urgent is an easy way to choose priorities..continued next page >>. e x pe d i t i o n a ry pag e 2. for life skills Lesson plan: Activity planning time, Continued >> continued from previous page selves and not get burned out.

6 Think about the consequences of NOT spending time on 3. Talk to the youth about the benefits of having time to it. Can't decide whether something is worth your time? do what they like to do. Tell the youth that today they Ask yourself this: What would happen if you DIDN'T do will learn some strategies for time management that it? For example, should you finish writing up a science might just give them the time to do some of those project or watch a movie on DVD? What are the conse things. quences of NOT doing your science work? What are the 4. On chart paper, create a two-column chart with the consequences of NOT watching the DVD?

7 Title Time. Label one side of the column How I. Sometimes you know when you'll have to choose long spend my time and the other side How I would like term priorities, like when you need to pick activities for the to spend my time. Model for the youth by filling in a upcoming school year. Other times, you're forced to do few items on each side of the chart. Fill in examples, this suddenly because your schedule has become too such as sleep, eat, school and shower on the first side. packed or you have a new goal, like putting in extra Under the second column give a few examples such as basketball practice because you want to get better at exercise and visiting friends.

8 Have the youth give you shooting. To help you make these tough choices on examples and put them on the chart. long-term priorities, ask yourself these questions: 5. Handout the youth worksheet How Do I Use My What do these things mean to my life? Time? and explain that youth are going to work Is this a now-or-never situation? independently on all three sections of the worksheet and will have time to discuss the sections with a Am I doing this for me, or for someone else? partner. This is going to help them understand how they spend their own time. 6. Instruct youth to complete Part I of the worksheet, Activity instruction which addresses how they spent their time yesterday, Activity : spending tiMe (60 Minutes) and Part II, which asks them to rate how well they 1.

9 Do you ever wish you had more hours in the day to do manage their time in relationship to school and things everything you need or want to do? If you had no time like homework. constraints or obligations, like school or jobs, what are 7. At this point, stop and have the youth share their data. two things you would do with your time? Have the How much time did they actually spend on video youth think about these questions, pair up with games, or watching TV? How much time did they another person, and share their answer with the other spend with friends? How much time did they spend person.

10 After they have shared with their partner, on things they wanted to do? Compare these items to discuss this idea as a class, sorting suggested activi the chart they had done before. Ask the youth to talk ties by putting tallies into categories, such as sports/ to their partner about where they wish they had spent exercise, friends, volunteering, relaxing, art, and media. their time when they look back from today. Ask the Discuss which categories most of the activities fall youth whether there are areas where they spend too into. little time or too much time? 2. Now, ask the youth if they can figure out how many 8.