Teaching Guide: The Power Of Choice

This material is from the teaching guide
for the video “The Power of Choice“
in the 12-part DVD series THE POWER OF CHOICE

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is your definition of a “good choice,” and how do you know when you’ve made one?

2. Do you have any guidelines for making good choices?

Part 1 – Growing Up

3. What did you find most meaningful in this segment of the program? Why?

4. One boy said he can’t decide whether to become a lawyer and pursue money, or a game warden and pursue happiness. Can you suggest some criteria for making a choice like that? How might self-knowledge help?

Part 2 – Vision

5. What does it mean to have a vision of yourself? [See V.I.P. guidelines on page 2.]

6. How can vision help you make choices? (Tip): Vision gives you a frame of reference. You can ask, “which of these options is most consistent with my vision of myself?”

7. Pritchard talks about being the hero in your own movie. What does that mean, and how can it help you make choices? (Tip): If we observe ourselves as if we were watching a movie, it’s easier to see if our actions are consistent with who we think we are.

8. What did the discussion about buying a stolen bike have to do with “vision”? (See tip on next page.) (Tip): It made the kids see the conflict or unity between the choices they make and the vision they have of themselves.

This material is from the teaching guide
for the video “The Power Of Choice“
in the 12-part DVD series THE POWER OF CHOICE

 

Part 3 – Initiative

9. What does Pritchard mean when he talks about having initiative? [See V.I.P. guidelines on page 2.]

10. How does taking the initiative help you make good choices? Who is in control? (Tip): You are making the decision based on what’s right for you. You are in control.

11. What happens when you do not take the initiative? Who is in control? (Tip): The situation dictates your actions. You give control to someone or something else, and that often results in poor choices.

12. How cannot making a choice be a choice in itself?

Part 4 – Perspective

13. What does Pritchard mean by perspective? [See V.I.P. guidelines on page 2.]

14. What does perspective have to do with making good choices? (Tip): It keeps us from overreacting. We stay in touch with our priorities, and we don’t lose sight of the consequences of our actions.

15. The girl who overused her mother’s bankcard had lost perspective on what she was doing. What was the result? (Tip): She stole money from the person she loves the most -her mother.

16. What happens to your perspective when you get depressed? How does that affect your ability to make good choices? What can you do about it?

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

1. What is your vision of yourself? Does it help or hinder you? Are you satisfied with that vision? In what ways would you like to improve on it?

2. Are your actions usually consistent with your vision of yourself? In what ways? Give some specific examples.

3. Describe an instance when your actions conflicted with your vision of yourself? Describe it. How did it make you feel?

4. Write about a time when you, or someone you know, made a bad choice by reacting out of fear or guilt or spite? What did it feel like?

5. Describe an instance when you made a choice you felt really proud of. What was so special about that choice? In what ways did that choice show vision, initiative, or
perspective?

6. Write about an incident when you got so carried away with something or someone that you lost perspective and made some bad choices? What was the outcome? What can you do in the future to prevent that from happening?

This material is from the teaching guide
for the video “The Power Of Choice“
in the 12-part DVD series THE POWER OF CHOICE

 

GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. Create a hypothetical problem situation and have your students brainstorm ways to solve it. Write all their potential solutions on the board, then test all these solutions against the V.I.P. guidelines. Determine which is (are) the best solution(s).

2. Have your students keep a V.I.P. journal for a week, a month, or a semester. In these journals they should make note of any choices they make that seem significant, and what those choices reveal about their vision, initiative, and perspective.