Do Your Students Know Their Goals? + FREEBIE!
When you look out at the smiling faces in your classroom, you probably can name the goals that you need to target for each student.
- Jack needs to work on fluency.
- Alisha is working on sight words.
- Rasheen is working on comprehension.
- And Kylie is working on staying in her seat.
Every child has between 1-3 goals to work on at any given time. And each one is different.
But do your students know their goals?
When you ask, ” What is your goal?” they should be able to respond with: “I’m working on raising my hand,” or I’m working on knowing my sight words,” or “I’m working on retelling.”
If your students can’t tell you what their goals are, then YOU are doing all the work. In other words,
In order for your students to succeed, students and teacher together must:
- Set periodic goals based on testing
- Know their goal(s) and the steps they need to take to reach the goal(s)
- Be able to verbalize those goals and steps when asked.
- Share those goals with their guardians at home so they can get the appropriate support needed at home.
For example, after testing a student’s reading fluency, you might have the student fill in this graph with their score for that week. Then together, talk about their new goal for the next testing period.
You might also talk about what the student needs to do in the next week or so to reach that new goal. Maybe they need to work on reading sight words more automatically. Maybe they need to do timing at home to read more smoothly.
Decide together on the GOAL and then the STEPS NEEDED TO REACH THE GOAL.
Meet it or Beat it Club FREEBIE!
Tip: Start a Meet It or Beat It Club to CELEBRATE students who achieve their goals!
- Write Meet it or Beat It Club on the board, and display the words on a bulletin board or just poster board.
- When students meet their goals or better yet, BEAT their goals, they get to sign their names under the heading Meet It or Beat It Club!
- Their names remain up until the next testing period when new goals are made or old goals are attempted again.
- Send a note home to parents letting them know their child met/beat their goal and what that goal was.
