Short Term vs. Long Term Goals

Short Term vs. Long Term Goals

Lesson:

Liv practices crevasse rescue. Learning crevasse rescue was an important short-term goal that would help Ann and Liv reach their long-term goal of crossing Antarctica.

Grade Levels: K-6 (with alternative activities for lower-grade students)

Time: 1-2 class periods

Materials:

Handouts -- Short-term and Long-term Goals

Objectives:

Students will:

  • Differentiate between short- and long-term goals.
  • Articulate Ann's and Liv's short- and long-term goals.
  • Develop short-term goals in support of a long-term goal.

Full Group (discussion by teacher with student participation)

  1. Explain to students that there are two types of goals: short-term and long-term.

  2. Help students understand that short-term goals can be achieved in an hour, a day, or even a week. They're things that can be done in a relatively short amount of time. Short-term goals include things such as making chocolate chip cookies, completing your book report, feeding the animals and cleaning a room.

  3. Then, introduce the concept of long-term goals, which are goals that take longer to achieve. Not only do they require more time, they generally require more effort. Long-term goals include things such as becoming a veterinarian, representing your country in the Olympics and getting married.

    • In addition to their current trip (which was a long-term goal when they first talked about it two years ago and is now a short-term goal as they near their destination), Ann and Liv have other long-term goals.

    • Ann's long-term goal is to write a book about her trips to both the South and North Poles.

    • Liv's long-term goal is to write a book for children about setting and achieving goals.

  4. Oftentimes, long-term goals are broken down into several short-term goals. These short-term goals make achieving your long-term goals more manageable. They help you break your bigger goals into bite-size pieces. It's sort of like eating an apple. You'd choke if you tried to do it in one bite.

    • Take Ann and Liv, for instance. Their long-term goal (a goal they set nearly two years ago) is to be the first all-women's team to ski across Antarctica

    • Along the way, they set and achieved several short-term goals: raising a certain amount of money, getting all their equipment and food for the trip, completing travel plans, training a certain number of hours every week, etc.

    • Even while on the trip, they're setting and working to achieve other short-term goals: ski 25 miles a day, write in their journals at least three times a week, reach their destination by the end of the year, etc.

    • Have students help list Ann and Liv's goals on the board. Once you have a list of 8-10 goals, have students identify which ones are short-term goals and which ones are long-term goals.

Individual Exercise

  1. Pass out the handout "Short-term and Long-term Goals." Ask students to pick a long-term goal and break it into smaller short-term goals.

Class Exercise

  1. If you are doing the optional class exercise "Go the Distance" , ask students to brainstorm ways of breaking the long-term goal (2,400 miles/3,814 kilometers) into short-term goals. Illustrate to students that this can be done in a variety of ways.

Additional Exercises:

  1. Journal: Ask students to write about a time they achieved a goal by breaking it into several smaller goals.
  2. Conversation Starter: Have students ask their parents to identify one short-term goal they hope to accomplish during the upcoming week.

Resources:

  • Sergio Garcia of Spain, who became an international golf celebrity before he was 20, established a long-term goal of being the world's No. 1 golfer, at an early age. Nicknamed "El Nino," Sergio began playing golf when he was three. At 10, he was national junior champion; at 12, he became a club champion. At 14, he declared he wanted to be No. 1 in the world. With his determination, being No. 1 could be just around the corner.

Teachers will assess:

  • Student's ability to differentiate between short- and long-term goals.
  • Student's understanding of how a long-term goal can be broken into several more manageable short-term goals.
  • Student's ability to apply short- and long-term goals to their own lives.