In Colossians 1:27 and 28 Paul said he wanted to motivate new believers to be closer to Christ, and he had a plan to accomplish this! Motivation is all about moving from one place to another. Paul had a goal, and we can teach our students to set goals as well. It’s important for student to know where they are going, but they also need to know the limits and boundaries along the way. Violating boundaries and failing to achieve goals have consequences, and students need to understand how they can affect the outcome of their choices.
Setting a goal is more than just deciding to do something. We actually have to be motivated to follow through with the goal. Careful planning goes a long way toward motivating students, or anyone, to follow through with a goal. Start by talking with your class about individual goals. Individual goals could be memorizing ten of the quarter’s verses, not complaining once in a whole Sunday School class, or having perfect attendance for an entire quarter. Help the students individualize goals based on their own needs.
Helping your students decide on a goal is only the first step in achieving the goal. Students need to identify the specific steps they will use to achieve their goals. Since it’s best to have the specific action steps written down, have each student trace his hand on a piece of paper and cut it out. Ask each student to write his goal on the palm of the paper hand. On the fingers and thumb, have the students write down five specific action steps they will take to accomplish their goal. You will have to guide them in making these steps specific and realistic. Younger primaries might need your help in writing their action steps. If the goal is to memorize ten of the quarter’s verses, the action steps could be: recite verse with class, say verse two times daily, look up verse in Bible, recite verse to friend, make up song for verse. Post the hands in the classroom to encourage students as they work toward their goals. Children need to be reminded to follow through with their action steps in order to accomplish their goals. “Courtney, great job reciting our verse with the class. Don’t forget to say it two times every day this week.”
Now that your students know how they will reach their goals, they need to know how to evaluate whether the goal was met. If praying every day for a week is the goal, have the student make a chart to bring to class so he can show you his goal was met. The more support you can provide, the more success your students will have in achieving a goal. Help them evaluate their progress. “Joey, I like how you kept your hands to yourself during the story. That shows me you were paying attention.”
(The ideas in this article are adapted from Motivating the Unmotivated by Bob Wack and Effective Learning Resources. )
