As a student, I always saw September as an opportunity to rewrite my story. I could make a good impression on my new teachers. I would keep better track of my materials and assignments and maybe even be one of those kids that seemed to “have it all together.” These days, I still find myself resolving to do better every September, and… I’ve gotten much better at actually making progress toward the goals I set!
One goal at a time. I am more likely to make progress toward my goal if I focus on one at a time. This is really hard for me, but I remind myself that it worked the year I vowed to “use a classroom website in a meaningful way” as well as the year I hoped to “involve families in academics.” The years I pledged to significantly change my assessment methods, overhaul reading conferences and exercise every day, I did not feel nearly as successful.
Share with a supportive colleague. This makes all the difference in the world for me! Having the opportunity to share my goal and talk through it with someone is valuable, especially if we schedule time to reflect on it regularly, and check in on each other. Having a partner prevents me from getting stuck and giving up because we can trouble shoot together and provide support and encouragement. Feeling responsible to someone else keeps me focused and decreases the likelihood that I will get so busy I completely forget that I set a goal!
Know Success. I am much more likely to be successful if I decide in advance what achieving my goal will look like. The year I set a goal to “be more organized” (always a much needed goal for me) I never felt like I had achieved it. I definitely made positive changes in planning and tried out a binder system an amazingly organized colleague showed me… but, I wasn’t clear with myself from the start. Now, I like to brainstorm what success might look like and revisit it and revise it as I work to make progress. (Here are my ideas about what this year’s goal might look like in action.) This way, once I’ve achieved my goal I can think clearly about moving on to another or expanding my work in the same are.
Self-assessing followed by goal setting is a process that supports me in developing or changing my practices. What goal are you working toward this year?
image from doblelol.com
What do you think?