Give your students more ownership this year! Helping them set their own goals can be a powerful tool for improving academics, behavior, and effort.
How can you Help Students Set Goals?
Teaching students to set goals is a skill they will benefit from throughout their entire lives. Discuss the importance of setting goals and model setting one for yourself. It’s important to teach students to set realistic and specific goals and how to reflect on and revise these goals. Read my previous blog post for examples and more details on how you can discuss goal-setting with children.
Set a class goal as a model. Some ideas are working on task for 15 uninterrupted minutes, reading independently for 20 minutes, lining up quietly the first time asked, reading 10 books in a week, performing 10 acts of kindness a week.
You can also use Goal-Trackers to help your students set their own goals and keep track of their progress!
How do Goal-Trackers Work?
I created Goal-Trackers to make goal-setting easy for students and manageable for teachers. You can start with one area for all students (for example, Sight Words), or have goals that are more specific to your students’ highest needs. Here is an example for using them with sight words. After assessing your students’ sight word knowledge, have them:
Set a goal, fill out a goal slip, and glue it into their notebooks (3 options).
Choose a tracking board (there are 6 themes) and color in 1 spot for each step accomplished (in this case, each sight word mastered).
Keep data on your students’ goals and meet with them to discuss progress and set new goals.
Students earn certificates when they reach their goals (6 themes)
Goal-trackers can be used for setting goals in many different areas: mastering letters, sight words, math facts, writing name, counting, reading a certain number of books, increasing fluency, editing writing, etc.
In addition to academic goals, they can be used for behavior management, remembering routines, and effort: doing homework daily, raising hand, following directions, completing morning routine, working well with others, staying on task.
The possibilities for uses are endless, really.
Kids will love the fun, motivational sayings on each board.
But can Kindergartners and 1st Graders Really Set Goals?
Yes! Goals can be simple, such as write their name, count to 10, etc. and increase in difficulty as the year goes on. There are 3 goal slip options that range in levels from a simple box and achievement date to a slip with goal, action plan, and reflection. Goals can be easily measurable and students learn how to set realistic goals, track their progress, and feel awesome when they achieve it, no matter what grade they’re in!
You can grab all of the above-pictured resources in my TpT store. Just click here: Goal-Trackers.
What other ideas for goal-setting do you have? Can you think of any other goals your students might use these goal-trackers for? Comment below and let me know!
Thanks for reading,
