Setting Goals and Sticking to Them [freebie]

I know it’s hard to believe, but another year is coming to a close and you know what that means...  'TIS THE SEASON FOR SETTING GOALS!

This is the time of year when everyone gets all excited about New Year's resolutions. I know that I get pumped up at the thought of a new beginning, a chance to start all over again,  a real life do over just like in the movie Groundhog Day! 

But how many of us set goals and ACTUALLY stick to them? 

Let’s be honest here, folks! I’ll go first...

I LOVE to set goals! I really do... I usually have them all mapped out in my head (mistake #1) and I start off really psyched. Then some times life gets crazy busy and I end up falling into my old routines and out the door goes some of my goals. When this happens my motivation quickly follows.

That's why I've come up with 5 tips for setting goals and STICKING TO THEM! These tips will come in handy when we return in January. We're going to spend the first few days working on these New Year booklets where we look back at 2015 and then plan goals for the New Year.

To make sure that we succeed, 

here are the 5 tips that we're going to stick to...

The first thing that I've learned about Goal Setting is KISS or KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! Limit the number of goals you make. I know that around the New Year there's so much we want to do, and accomplish but it's best to start off with fewer goals and once you accomplish those move on to others. 

Having too many goals is difficult to keep track of and nothing ends up getting done. For students in 3rd grade and above I recommend setting a reading, math, and perhaps even a writing goal. With younger students you might want to focus on one goal at a time.

Coming up with goals that are EASY to achieve will mean students will experience small successes. This will then motivate them to keep on going and deter them from giving up. In the beginning it's important for our students to feel success with goal setting. Especially, if we want them to adopt this type of mentality for the future.

It's been proven time and time again (I'm proof of this one) that simply thinking or speaking your goals isn't enough to make them happen. You actually need to set aside some class time to brainstorm. Then have your students WRITE them down. 

Once students have written down their goals, it's important to post them up somewhere in the classroom where they will have a constant reminder of what they should be working towards. Remember... OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND! That's part of the reason Tip #3 is so important.

Make time to reflect. After coming up with goals, decide how much time you're going to give your students to work towards their goals before you have them reflect on their progress. 

Keep in mind that you don't want to wait too long or you run the risk of students forgetting about their goals. I suggest waiting between 1-2 weeks and then discussing how they did. This might be a good time to discuss that sometimes when we don't meet our goals we need to figure out what may have gone wrong and what they should do differently going forward. 

It's important to stress the importance of not giving up! Why weren't they able to reach their goal? Was their goal unrealistic? Did they not put in the effort or did they simply forget about their resolutions?

If you're interested in any of the resources in this blog post you can download them for FREE here or by clicking the picture below. 

So friends, have you used goal setting with your students before? If so, how do you introduce it in your classroom and what have you learned about the process? I'd love to hear your ideas!