Goal! Helping Students Set and Reach Goals

Spring is here which means the energy level goes up and the focus level can go down if we aren't careful.

The easiest students to teach are those that want to learn.  One of the ways to foster the desire to learn is to have students set goals for themselves and plan out steps for reaching that goal.

My current 5th grade intervention group is working on adding and subtracting mixed numbers.   Well, that is what the intervention referral was for.  What became clear to me right away was that some students needed so much more.

Students come to me for intervention while their class is at Fitness, Art or the Computer Lab ("Specials").  Teacher typically refer kids to me for 1 to 3 weeks.  While my Kinders and first graders love coming and getting special attention, the upper grade kids are motivated to prove they know something and go back to Specials.  This motivation leads to kids begging me to take tests. 

I stand firm.  You can't take the test until you have met your goals.  This week, even though our goal is to add and subtract mixed numbers, some students had the goal of simplifying correctly while others had the goal of changing fractions to a common denominator.  I love having students enthusiastically prove they know something.

Today, I have a freebie to share with you that can help you help your students set and attain their goals.

This freebie has a few different versions and some tips on how to help your students exceed their own expectations.

Feel free to stop by my blog to read a bit more about it.

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