Wednesday, January 21, 2015

New Year, New Goals

It's a brand new year!  Can you believe it is 2015 already?  Time has flown by.  In my classroom, we talked about the New Year celebration and what we celebrate on this holiday.  Students made goals at the beginning of the year.  So, I had students look at their goals in their data notebooks.  Then, I had the students revise their goals or make new goals to help them reach their end of the year goal.  We used goal sheets from Create-Abilities and you can find it for free by clicking here.

 


We also made the fun New Year craft where they cut out the face and hat.  We also used a thin strip of paper to make a party blower.  Be sure to roll the paper up and glue one end of the paper to the mouth.  This way it looks like the person is blowing the party blower.


We also set classroom goals each month.  We follow our school motto - Learn Lead Love.  So, we have a category for learning - focuses on academic, a category for lead - focuses on how to be a better person following the 7 Habits, and a category for love - focuses on our service learning project.

We gather around the table, and my students inform me what they want the goals to be for the month. We made a reading and math goal this month.  Then, for our leadership goal we decided to focus on being nice to others because sadly, my class has been struggling in this area.  Our love goal was to become experts in learning about our topic for our service learning project, which is ducks!  We want to help save ducks in the world and raise awareness.


Each week we also set a Big Rock goal, which is something more specific we want to work on.  It could go with our monthly goals or be something different.  

We review our goals at the end of each week, and if we worked toward our goal then we earn a shoe. I also change what we earn each month.  Last month we earned bubblegum and when we earned 12 pieces, we got to chew gum for a day.  This month, if we earn 12 shoes, then we get to have a no shoe day!



Students set personal goals each month as well.  They make a goal sheet and fill out their goal for the month.  Then, they write down the steps they will take to reach that goal.  Then, they place it in their data notebook. 

 I meet with them to discuss their goal, and I record notes in my notebook.  I use a three ring binder and separate each student by tabs.  Each tab is numbered and that matches their student number.  


We also place their goal in the front of their reading notebook to help remind them what they are focusing on each day when they read.  Then, they record in their notebook notes that follow their goal.  I meet with them at least once a week and discuss their goal and how they have worked to achieve it.  I also periodically check their reading journals at night.  If they have been working hard, they receive a note and get to grab a prize from the treasure chest!  




You can find my papers by clicking here! Enjoy. :]


Each child has their own data notebook where they track certain things each week.  Every Friday, students get out their notebooks and record their progress.  You can find my data notebook materials by clicking on the picture below.  There are also class tracking sheets where we keep track of our weekly progress as a class based on our class goals.  I love it and my students are able to use them independently!



We separate our notebooks by Who Am I, Data Tracking, Evidence, and Celebrations.  




The Who Am I? section is where students place their personal inventory, family projects, personal mission statement, class mission statement, etc. 





The Data Tracking section is focused primarily on academics.  Students track how many pages they read at home each week, their spelling tests, reading tests, math tests, timed tests, fluency phrases, etc.  They may also track their behavior and attendance in this section.  There are a variety of tracking sheets!







The Evidence section contains their tests or assignments they want to include in their binder that show how they have worked towards their goals. 




The Celebrations section has their rewards or certificates they receive.  They may also contain an activity or event that praises them for their hard work!




Do you set goals in your classroom?  How do you track your goals?

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