A Shared Responsibility

The start of each school year is filled with excitement and possibilities for both staff and students.  We have so many goals that we want to accomplish both professionally and for students that the thought is overwhelming.   We ask students to invest in their learning by writing a speech/language goal to accomplish for the year because education is a shared responsibility.  We have found this process to be invaluable for students as they achieve more than their goal but these skills as well:

• Awareness - Students begin to develop an awareness of what they are learning and that it is found across a variety of subject areas and outside of the classroom.
• Engagement - Students are actively involved in their learning processes.  They understand the whys (why am I learning this?) and the hows (how does this relate to me?)
• Motivation - Students have a concrete means of working toward something and measuring progress.
• Critical Thinking - Students analyze and evaluate what they are doing well and on what can be improved.  They help brainstorm ways to improve their learning.  
• Invested - Students work toward their goal over a long period of time (i.e. quarter, trimester, year, etc.) without instant gratification (i.e. earning a sticker or item from a prize box).
• Teamwork - Students, staff, and family work together to accomplish a common goal.

We have used several different goal writing sheets for students throughout the years and have just created a new one available for FREE at our TpT Store.  (Just click here!)  Please check it out and let us know what you think by leaving your feedback.