Setting Goals

One of the goals I've set for myself this year is to help students set goals for themselves. If this sounds a bit convoluted, let me explain. I see goal-setting as a way for the boys and girls to begin to take charge of their own learning; to be reflective about what they've already done and to challenge themselves to do even better. Taking this kind of ownership for learning, even in small ways, means that children are likely to be more motivated and successful. With practice, goal-setting becomes an important habit of the mind and heart.

Since the beginning of the school year, our class has talked about goals. We discussed how goals need to be specific and realistic, and how they need to have a deadline. The first goals we set were class, or community, goals for reading and writing stamina. Being able to read and write in quiet, focused ways is important, we agreed, because this creates an environment where we can practice our skills.

We reviewed our stamina goals this week. The boys and girls were tough on themselves and decided that they hadn't quite met our goals of staying on-task for 30 minutes a day for each subject. So we revised our Sept. 30th deadlines, discussed some new strategies, and are trying again.

The children had better luck meeting their individual goals. For these, they chose particular ways in which

they hoped to improve their own reading and writing. I suggested the kinds of goals they might consider, but I held back from laying out specific goals for students to tackle. I wanted this to come from them. I was impressed by how accurately students saw their strengths and needs, how willing they were to take risks, and then how honest they were in assessing whether they'd achieved their goals. Once goals are reached (with some evidence to prove it), we post them on large bulletin boards in our classroom. Then, new goals are set. "It's a cycle," one student said. "We'll just keep going and going." Exactly!

Here are examples of second-round, individual reading and writing goals. Notice the common language. I think this is helping children to understand achievement as a consequence of their own actions and to express this clearly.

• I hope to bring my stories to life so I will add thinking and feeling to my next three stories.
• I hope to read bigger words so I will figure them out chunk by chunk until the end of October.
• I hope to stay focused on my books so I will move away from my friends until November 1.
• I hope to get better at comprehension so I will ask myself questions about my next two books.
• I hope to read longer books so I will try a chapter book series by Oct. 14.
• I hope to write about my reading so I will write down my ideas about my next five books.

In other news from the classroom this week, we continued to solve word problems in math, wrote small moment stories about everything from lost teeth to lost cats, played with word patterns, read from our book boxes, visited the book fair, smiled for our class picture, and put the finishing touches on our hallway display about lessons we learned from Leo Lionni books (check it out more closely when you come for conferences).

Mark Your Calendars:

Tues., Oct. 11 - Second-grade field trip to Bookworm Gardens, 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM. Thank you to Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Langerman, and Mrs. Duback for joining us as chaperones.

Wed., Oct. 12 - No school

Wed. Oct. 19 - Fire Safety program

Thurs., Oct. 20, Wed., Oct. 26, and Thurs., Oct. 27 - Parent-Teacher Conferences. I look forward to meeting with you. 

Mon., Oct. 31 - Class Halloween Party. If you would be willing to plan or help plan a small class party (about 30 minutes of fun activities and a treat), please let me know.