Goal Setting

We are now in that time of year where the really big push before state testing begins. I know the students well and I'm ready to tackle the heavy duty stuff.

One of those things is goal setting. I think it is so important that students are aware of what they are striving for and how they are going to get there. The way I show them is by them setting goals and action steps for reaching their goals. I think the students are much more invested in their education when they understand the importance of the next milestone and how they will get there.

The first thing I start with is myself. I know I have to be strategic about what I teach and how. I have so little time, and I need to do the important things. I have a learning target poster that helps me stay focused on my mission that week or day.

 I made this into a poster and laminated it for my board.

The next thing I do is complete graphing of each students score with them. They color and label their graph. My school does NWEA Literacy and Math and DRA as our main points of data. The students graph their scores as well as their goal before and after a testing session.

 In addition to graphing data and goals, I am also having students complete weekly reflection sheets on their goals for the week as well as their action steps for completing each item.

On Monday they will make goals and action steps and Friday they will reflect on how their week went. I think this is an excellent way to keep students accountable.

I made up a packet for TpT that hopefully more than just me will be able to use!

It includes:
* graphing pages for DRA and NWEA as well as a blank template
*weekly goal setting sheets with and without cute pics for the older grades!
*Classroom posters of SMART goals and learning targets
*Bulletin board activity with goal t-shirts and conversation bubbles. Super cute! Trust me!
* I reached my goal class poster for weekly use
* End of year learning reflection
*Goal sheet specifically for testing with action steps for writing down all those good skills like rereading and showing work.
Click here to purchase {Student Goal Setting Packet}.

Do you use goal setting in your classroom? What has been successful for you?

Conferences: DONE!

I finished up conferences yesterday. Woo hoo! I felt like I was explaining advanced calculus during some parts. Explaining Common Core philosophies and the new report card was not fun! Anyone else doing standards based report cards? It is so difficult to give a student that is proficient in what I taught a 1 because I haven't taught the whole standard. Frustrating! Anyways, I was happy that most of the parents were happy and understood Common Core by the time I was finished.

I'm going to enjoy my long weekend very much. Drinking lots of these:

Pumpkin Spice Latte!!!! Photo from Starbucks website, don't get me copyright police, it's a free ad!

 I'll be glad to be back to a normal week not filled with conferences, but it does have Halloween. Anyone else dread Halloween on a school day like I do? Or even worse, the day after?  If you are looking for Halloween items, check out my Halloween Literacy Packet and Halloween Addition, Subtraction or Multiplication Game.

Maybe these games and centers will help the Halloween blahs!