Girl, you need Goal Setting in your Classroom Today

We all know that goal setting is essential in life. But when exactly do we learn what this even means? How do we practice this skill? Do we even try to teach our kids what it is and how to master it? I’m not so sure that we do an excellent job of teaching kids how to set goals or their importance at all. So, I put it at the top of my list of things to start teaching my students after reading Girl, Wash Your Face and beginning to write my own goals down using the Start Today Journal, and I think you should too.

What is Goal Setting?

This was a question I had not that long ago. You see, goal setting is something that has not been a part of my life until the last couple of months. Shocking I know! Don’t get me wrong; I did have goals before. But it was not apart of my daily mindset. Yes, I had goals. Like graduate from college, earn a master’s degree, become a teacher, wife, and mother. But I never had a specific plan of how to achieve these things. To me, that is what goal setting is, a plan. Having a specific plan in place to keep you focused on what your goals are so that you can reach them. When your “eye is on the prize” you are more likely to achieve your goals.

Why do kids need to set goals?

Have you ever felt like some people seem to have it all? Or at least they seem to be able to want something and then it happens for them. Their secret weapon all begins with setting goals. You see most people are not born with the knowledge of how to set and achieve goals.

I have come to realize that knowing how to set goals is a life skill! Yes, it is that important. If kids don’t understand the connection between goal setting and becoming successful they will struggle to transform their dreams into reality. Goal setting will help children learn many different skills. For example, responsibility, hard work, patience, and the power of a dream.

How setting goals teaches Responsibility

Just by taking the initiative to set a goal we are taking responsibility for our selves. By deciding to create goals you have made to choice to take control of your life. Life is no longer happening to you; it is happening for you. I’m not sure there is a more powerful lesson we can give our children. If we teach kids how to set goals we are teaching them how to take control of their future. Can you think of anything more important?

A few examples of how goal setting can be used in your classroom are reading goals, math fluency, or even behavior goals. In my class, we track our reading fluency every month. The kids love to see how they improve each month. We also do the Forty Book Challenge. The kids keep a log in their reading notebook of all the books they have read during the year. I’ve also had kids graph their pre-assessment and post-assessment scores so they can see their growth. This simple five-minute activity allows students to see their growth and leads to new goals. If you are interested in learning more about that check out my blog post here.

Setting Goals teaches Kids to make plans for the future

The simple act of setting goals for yourself is the first step to creating a plan of action. When we teach our children that we need plans in life, we are teaching them to look to the future. We need to show our kids that creating goals is essential. Making a plan will help set them up for success, by teaching them how to plan we set them up for the future. If you want something in life, you have to work hard to achieve it because we all know that anything worth having doesn’t come easy. Some of the goals we set are easy to accomplish, while others take more time. What they both have in common is they need a plan of action to be carried out.

What Does Goal Setting Look Like for short term goals?

Goal setting is terrific for short term goals. At all the schools I’ve worked at Accelerated Reader is a program that has been used to help motivate students to read more. Depending on the school, students can earn points to buy things or earn rewards. You could have your kids plan to read a specific number of books each week, month, or 9 weeks. This is a great place to start with goal setting because kids can see quickly how working hard to reach a goal pays off. I have my kids set a goal of reading for 20 minutes each day and taking an Accelerated Reader Test at least once a week. This shows them the need to work towards the goal each day. Only through persistence will the goal be met.

What Does Goal Setting Look Like for long term goals?

Long term goal setting is important for kids to master also. We must teach our children to dream big then use those dreams to work backward to create a plan to make it happen. They need to have at least one big dream they are working towards. It will help give a sense of direction for them.

For example, one of my students has a dream of becoming a professional soccer player. To make his dream become a reality, he will have to start working on achieving this goal as soon as possible. In his journal, one of the things he wrote down was watching youtube videos of goalies to learn new tips and tricks. By researching experts in this field, he will be improving his own game. He will be able to use other experts throughout his middle school and high school career which will lead him to earn a spot on a college team possibly. His continued hard work could lead him to his ultimate goal of becoming a professional soccer player.

Work Ethic

If we don’t teach kids to set goals, we also forget to teach them what work ethic is all about. Work ethic as defined in Merriam Websters is the following: a belief in work as a moral good. A set of values centered on the importance of doing work. A reflected desire or determination to work hard. To set goals, we need to realize that our desires and determination for a specific thing is required to achieve the goal. We must show kids that all goals will take effort on their part. We are teaching them to work hard for the things in life that they want. There is no substitute for persistence.

What Goal Setting Looks like in My classroom

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The best thing about goal setting is you only need something to write with and paper to write on. You can have your kids use a notebook to do their daily goal setting if you want. In my class, we write down three things we are thankful for each day in their goal setting journal. Then we write down five things we want to happen, but we write these dreams as if they have already happened. Hello Rachel Hollis, we love this strategy. Then we write down the one thing we are going to do that day to reach our goals. It is amazing!

Thankful Hearts

This type of goal setting helps kids to appreciate the people and things that are in their life currently. It fosters a thankful attitude in young minds. I’m sure we can all agree this is a needed character trait.

Setting up our Dreams

Then we write our goals/dreams as if they have already been accomplished, we are planting the seed of desire. When we continue to write these goals day in and day out it becomes real for the kids. They can see themselves working hard to achieve these goals. We try to set some long term and short term goals. I want my kids to have some early success with this, so they can see how it works.

Plan of Action

The last aspect is to write down the one thing they will be doing that day to work towards the goal. This is where the work ethic comes into play. They are working daily with a persistent attitude to achieve their goals. By doing this daily it becomes apart of what they do and they look forward to doing it.

Are you Ready to start using Goal Setting in your classroom?

Have I convinced you that you need to use goal setting in your classroom? The great thing about goal setting is you don’t need any fancy tools to start doing it. The idea hit me on the first day back from Christmas break. I was running behind and didn’t get my Start Today Journal done before leaving my house that morning. So, I brought it with me and was working on it when my kids came in my classroom. That is when it hit me that I needed to share this with them. I quickly whipped up a powerpoint version for my kids and printed them out during my planning period. The rest is history. We’ve been doing these for months and if I forget the kids remind me that we have not had our journal time yet. What could be better than that?

I loved the idea of having a special goal-setting journal for my kids to use just like I had my Start Today Journal. So, I have fancied up my original thrown together goal setting journal to use with my classroom. They now have a beautiful cover with gorgeous fonts. If you also love the idea of having a specific journal to use with your kids you are in luck. Grab them here. They come in two different sizes and a color or black and white version. Download them today, and you and your students will be rocking goal setting in no time at all.