by Stephan Jenson

Created on: May 19, 2008

The class room a difficult time and place to be considering the pressures we place on ourselves, be it school, work or any other situations in life, however as at work or in school we have the fear of failure among our friends and our peers. However I believe there is an important lesson and system that could be used at school that would bring about great results and certainly prove the importance of social skills. It doesn't really matter adults young people we all have the same needs and desires some just show it differently, we all love to see quick results in our efforts no matter what we do, in general we don't like being told what to do, and we certainly put enough pressure on ourselves to succeed.When we leave the school system it really becomes apparent the importance of social skills. Like it or not we all get judged by our appearance,our choice of words during interviews even our body language tells a lot about ourselves.

The teachers in our schools know at the beginning of the year what they need to teach each week in order to complete the school year.This is were teaching social skills comes in and the students wouldn't even know that they were not only learning the skills, they were using them in class.Every one of us likes to be rewarded usually quite quickly when we feel we have accomplished something,it is what builds our confidence in the ability to do and complete things successfully.This is called the Steffer system. At the beginning of the week the teacher tells the students this is what we need to get done this week. The proposal from the teacher is simple.The teacher gives the students a chance to read and study the material on their own as a group, when they feel they are ready they approach the teacher for a written test, if they all pass the reward is they get to go home for the rest of the week.

I can assure you,you will find students working together, with other students and helping each other, eventually you will find that even the ones who normally may cause some distraction in class will soon get involved,and it will give them a great sense of accomplishment,this builds confidence. What better social skill can you possibly learn than the skill of communication and the importance of interaction without judgment. These are skill that we would use in our work force even in our homes imagine learning that even in a marriage working together with your partner and your children has tremendous rewards. I believe this one important lesson could be taught at an early age and would have effects on us the rest of our lives.

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