Weekly Goal Setting

Hello ATUE Readers,

It's Kristy from the 2 Peas and a Dog blog. It has been a while since I last posted due to report card writing and moving. I do not recommend combining these two major events together as they are both stressful and time consuming.

While I am writing the learning skills part of my report card - I report on the student's ability to set, monitor and follow through on their goals. This can be difficult to monitor without a formal goal setting tracking program. Where does the time come from? How can this be managed? These are all questions I asked myself when I started teaching.

I have tried different systems: goal setting duotangs, writing in their agendas, handing in loose papers. IT WAS ALL TOO MUCH TO MANAGE on top of our required teaching duties. Then I saw a Grade 5 teacher at my school use cue cards on student desks as a visual reminder to each student of their goals. This was a brilliant idea so I asked her if I could borrow it and make it rotary applicable.

How Does This Work?

1. Hand out a cue card to each student once a week, once a month, once a term - what suits your schedule.
2. Have them write one academic goal and one life goal. Depending the length of time the goals will need to be adjusted. "Getting an A in French won't happen until the end of the term." but "Reading 20 pages a night" can happen on a weekly basis.
3. Use packing tape to tape the cue card to the desk as a constant visual reminder for your students of what they need to be working on. 
4. Walk around once a week to have an informal chat with each student on how they are doing with their goals and offer them ideas on how they can keep up their goals. Use a class list and create columns that say: Goals Met, Still Working, Starting Over or something similar that meets your classes needs. 

Got Rotary?

Clearly this taping system will not work if you have more than one class visiting the classroom on a daily or weekly basis. 

Some other ideas include: 

• having students store them in their agendas, binders or notebooks and put them out on their desks when they arrive in your class
• creating a goal setting bulletin board and use smaller cue cards so all your classes can fit on it
• buy one of those 3 panel stand up display boards and adhere the goal cue cards to the board - this can be easily folded up and taken out as needed. Plus it uses less space than a traditional bulletin board
• collect them for the students and hand them out on an as needed bases

I hope this goal setting tip helps reduce your stress level come report card time as you will have great anecdotal notes to work from.

Thanks for reading,

Kristy @ 2 Peas and a Dog