Portfolio 2018-19

Soft Skills: Setting Personal Goals

What are soft skills?
Soft skills are a combination of interpersonal people skills, social skills, and communication
skills. In the workplace and school environment, soft skills are considered a complement to hard
skills, which refer to a person's knowledge and technical expertise.

Your task:
From the list below, choose ​two soft skills​ that you would like to work on over the course of the
school year. Do NOT choose the same skills you have chosen previously.

​Common soft skills for college/career readiness:

● Self advocacy​ – Identify your needs and be able to explain them to others; ask for help when
you need it.
● Responsibility​ – You are held accountable for their actions in academic, personal and social
contexts.
● Self management​ – Self management includes all aspects of taking control of your life
including monitoring your own health, eating habits, self care, laundry, finances, etc.
● Communication​ – Listen and express yourself so you may communicate effectively with other
people both orally and in writing.
● Teamwork and collaboration​ – Work effectively with others to successfully complete
projects as part of a group.
● Critical thinking and problem solving​ – Think critically and analytically, both in the
classroom and in other aspects of her life, in order to make decisions, solve problems, etc.
● Study skills​ – Work independently, organize work, read carefully, prepare for tests, plan
ahead, use different strategies to practice and memorize, be comfortable writing in many forms.
● Comfort with technology​ – Be comfortable and proficient with online research, e-mail
communication, and various software programs like Google Slides, Sheets, etc.
● Tolerate ambiguity​ – Know that life isn’t always black and white; understand and work in a
“gray” area to be more comfortable and to understand subtleties better.
● Comfort with diversity​ – Be open to new people, different cultures, different lifestyles, and
different ways of thinking and behaving.
● Innovation and creative thinking​ – Be willing and able to “think outside the box” and apply
new approaches.
● Ability to work independently​ – Do large blocks of work on your own and keep track of your
work and responsibilities.
● Ability to follow directions​ – You need to be able to follow both simple and more complex
directions.
 ● Have personal goals​ – Have strong personal goals -- even if they change over time -- to help
yourself be engaged and stay on track.
● Be engaged​ – Participate actively in your own education, expect to work hard, and stay
involved.

What would you like to work on this year? Select two and write your thoughts below.

Skill #1​:
Why did you select this skill? Consider why it is important to you and why you think you need
to work on this skill.
Responsibility, I picked this skill because I think if someone doesn’t have responsibility then you
will not have a job and you will probably be a nobody in life.

Name three ways you can work on developing this skill. Consider what you can do both inside
and outside of school.
Inside of school you have a responsibility to do your homework and if you aren’t responsible
then you are going to fail the class and also if you don’t have responsibility inside of school then
you won’t be able to graduate. If you don’t have responsibility outside of school you won’t be
able to get a job or a house and then you are going to live on the streets.

Skill #2​:
Why did you select this skill? Consider why it is important to you and why you think you need
to work on this skill.
I picked communication, communication is key to most things like for example if you need help
on something and you don’t know how to communicate then you won’t get the help that you
need and you are never going to get the thing that you needed help on. Also if you have a fast
food job you are going to need to communicate to the customer if you don’t know how to
communicate to a customer then the fast food manager is going to fire you and then you won’t
have a job.
Name three ways you can work on developing this skill. Consider what you can do both inside
and outside of school.
If you work at fast food place you are going to need to communicate to the customer if you
don’t know how to communicate to a customer then the fast food manager is going to fire you
and then you won’t have a job. Inside of school if you don’t communicate with the teachers that
you are failing then the teachers will assume that you don’t care about your grade and they will
fail you, Also if you are stuck with a question and you don’t communicate with the teacher then
you are never going to pass the question that you are struggling with.

At the end of the year, you will reflect on your soft skills progress in your final presentation.