LLCC Learning Lab 1-11 Choices of Successful Students From On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life by Skip Downing SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS. . . STRUGGLING STUDENTS. . . 1. . . ACCEPT SELF RESPONSIBILITY, seeing themselves as the primary cause of their outcomes and experiences. 1. . .see themselves as Victims, believing that what happens to them is determined primarily by external forces such as fate, luck, and powerful others. 2. . .DISCOVER SELF-MOTIVATION, finding purpose in their lives by discovering personally meaningful goals and dreams. 2. . .have difficulty sustaining motivation, often feeling depressed, frustrated, and/or resentful about a lack of direction in their lives. 3. . . MASTER SELF-MANAGEMENT, consistently planning and taking purposeful actions in pursuit of their goals and dreams. 3. . .seldom identify specific actions needed to accomplish a desired outcome. And when they do, they tend to procrastinate. 4. . . .EMPLOY INTERDEPENDENCE, building mutually supportive relationships that help them achieve their goals and dreams (while helping others to do the same.) 4. . . are solitary, seldom requesting, even rejecting offers of assistance from those who could help. 5. . . GAIN SELF AWARENESS, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that keep them on course. 5. . . make important choices unconsciously, 6.. . ADOPT LIFE-LONG LEARNING, finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience they have. 6. . . Resist learning new ideas and skills, viewing learning as fearful or boring rather than as mental play. 7. . .DEVELOP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, effectively managing their emotions in support of their goals and dreams. 7. . . live at the mercy of strong emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety, or a need for instant gratification. 8. . . BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES, seeing themselves capable, lovable, and unconditionally worthy as human beings. 8. . .doubt their competence and personal value, feeling inadequate to create their desired outcomes and experiences. being directed by self-sabotaging habits and outdated life scripts. “To learn is to change. Education is a process that changes the learner. George Leonard Major Points About Learning From We’re Born to Learn by Rita Smilkstein 1. Your brain was born to learn, loves to learn, and knows how to learn. 2. You learn what you practice. Practice is making mistakes, correcting mistakes, learning from them, and trying over, again and again. Making and learning from mistakes is a natural and necessary part of learning. 3. You learn what you practice because when you are practicing your brain is growing new fibers (dendrites) and connecting them (as synapses). This is what learning is. 4. Learning takes time because you need time to grow and connect dendrites. 5. If you don’t use it, you can lose it. Dendrites and synapses can begin to disappear if you don’t use them (if you don’t practice or use what you have learned). 6. Your emotions affect your brain’s ability to learn, think, and remember. Self-doubt, fear, etc., prevent your brain from learning, thinking, and remember. Confidence, interest, etc. help your brain learn, think, and remember. 7. Remember, you are a natural-born learner.
