6. What's the purpose?

The first thing I need to do is to make a clear purpose not only for students but also for ME! As a teacher, if I do not have clear expectations, things could go everywhere that I have not anticipated. Well-designed courses should articulate the manifest goals to achieve and what students who finished the course successfully can do.

Frankly speaking, I am also not able to relate to the purpose of this course 100%. Sometimes, I feel like doing redundant and wasting our time dealing with similar things again and again. That kind of thought came getting bigger when I listened to the recorded interviews that other researchers did with the same students I have right now. Some of them already confess that they do not really like the way it goes and the idea, Social and Emotional Learning. Even though SEL ideas and components were kept used in the program, they did not believe it brought behavior or attitude changes since they all know each other pretty well and have lived their teenagers' culture. Group processing should have been roled as a time to reflect and improve SEL skills but it just became a time to rest and cool down to prepare for the next class. Many of them seemed this does not really serious issue.

I believe that this is because there are no clear expectations and checkpoints to identify where they are right now and where they should head for the next step. Qualitative researchers who hope to understand something hidden and invisible  should accept these sorts of limitations though, that does not mean students have to go through the same limitations throughout the course. Without a clear guideline, they will not go deep into the class and could think it is nothing important. What I need to do is to put the whole picture in front of them as a teacher and a guide on this journey. I do not want to see hustle and bustle in my classroom.

My clear goal is an "Application". No matter how much knowledge they have, no matter how much experience they go through, without application it means nothing. What we are trying to achieve throughout the course is to learn health-related knowledge and experience SEL-related activities. After then, the application process will be followed. They will reflect and look back on what they just did and put those in real-life situations. As a result, students will be able to apply, employ, examine, operate, solve, practice, utilize, interpret, illustrate, and operate what they have.