New Year! Set Goals!

As teachers, we have goals for almost everything.  

Students should be reading ___ words per minute. 

Students should know ___ letters and sounds by ___.  

Students should know addition and subtraction facts 10, 20 ... by ____.  

The list goes on... These goals may be helpful to us as teachers, but do they mean anything to students?

The answer is often a resounding no.  If students aren't part of the goal-making process, they won't be invested in their learning.   

Students work harder towards the goals they set!

There are many benefits of student goal-setting: students setting their own goals can be mighty and valuable, encouraging them to work harder, learn about themselves, and learn life skills. When students are part of setting their goals for learning, they are motivated to accomplish these goals.

1. Students are enthusiastic about working towards their goals. What better motivation than getting a choice as to which areas to want to improve on? 

2. Sets a focal point. Students need to funnel down a significant goal into smaller attainable goals. For example, reading can be overwhelming because it involves so many facets- decoding, fluency, comprehension, etc. Having students focus on precise goals makes this duty easier to approach.

3. Increase confidence. Instead of sharing a common goal as everyone else and feeling defeated if they fail, students can make individual goals they can meet.  

4. They learn about themselves as a learner. Setting goals can help students learn which habits will make them successful. Students get a chance to find out which practices work best for them and which they feel unsuccessful with as a learner.  

5. You can hold them accountable. If a student isn't working hard, you can remind them of the goal they set for themselves and ask them if what they're doing will help them achieve it.  

6. They learn life skills. Goal setting, planning, reflecting, and problem-solving are all parts of everyday life, and learning to do these effectively will benefit students throughout their lives.  

Students can set their own goals!

It may seem intimidating to think of kindergartners and first graders setting their own goals, but IT IS POSSIBLE with some guidance. It's essential to guide students to set realistic goals. Students also must have a plan to reflect and revise as they learn. To help students understand, I like to use a video game analogy. You wouldn't expect to beat all levels of a video game the first time you play it. But you also wouldn't give up right away, so remember that if you don't have success the first time, think about what needs to change next time. Goal setting looks different depending on grade level and subject area. Goal trackers are a concrete tool to help kids keep track of their progress. They also serve as motivation to keep working hard. They provide a great visual to let kids see how they progress and come close to their goals. Here are some ideas:

• Goal-setting sheet: Students write out a goal, as well as how they'll take to get there. This will also include the goal date.
• Post-its: Create an anchor chart for a subject area- reading, for example: Discuss possible areas of improvement and ask questions about which area they can focus on. Students can write their goals on post-it notes and add them to the chart (you can also write for developing writers). It's vital to refer back to this chart to check student growth. You may want to give them a goal sheet to keep as a reminder. This chart can group students by goals and collaborate on ideas to meet their goals.  
• Goal Slips: I use these goal slips to help my students set goals to learn High-Frequency words. They choose how many words they will know by a specific date. We brainstorm some ideas of how they can get there: study their word rings for 5 minutes a day, work in a small group with me to practice, read their word list nighly at home.

                                   

Celebrate! When students have achieved their goals, they need to celebrate and be rewarded. Students earn a certificate of recognition, a prize, and a class cheer. Then they can set a new goal.  

Data- Also, it's important to remember to keep track of all data to help students reflect.

There are so many things students can set goals for-

• Sight words, letters/sounds...
• Fluency scores
• Writing- more details, proper punctuation, adding feeling...
• Reading more books
• Doing their homework every night
• Daily routines
• Math Facts
• Behavior management

As you can see, you can have students set all kinds of goals! Start with one area you want to see student improvement in and work on that first. Don't try to have students set goals for every area. After all small steps are part of goal-setting.  

 

Positively Teaching,

Randi Muehlen

@positively_teaching