How Will Implementing Goal Setting and Tracking My Kindergarten Students’ Progress Impact Their Academic Success?

Seminar Title

How Will Implementing Goal Setting and Tracking My Kindergarten Students’ Progress Impact Their Academic Success?

Goal Setting

Kindergarten

1st Grade

Language Arts

Mathematics

Have you ever wondered what you can do to help the struggling learners in your classroom? How do you motivate them to improve their skills? If you are curious how you can help your students set meaningful goals that will help them to grow and succeed in the classroom, then this seminar is for you. I am excited about my research and application because my kindergarten students have been making great progress with their personal literacy goals. They are excited to share their learning with each other and celebrate growth together. While my application for goal setting was in a kindergarten classroom, I believe this is applicable for primary teachers. Through my research, I discovered a variety of concepts connected with goal setting that I have implemented into my classroom including: building relationships, increasing motivation, developing perseverance, and celebrating true achievement. If you are looking for some new ideas to help you and your students set goals and stick with them, I would love to have you join my seminar!

How Will Implementing Goal Setting and Tracking My Kindergarten Students’ Progress Impact Their Academic Success? My burning question started when I wanted to learn how I could help motivate my students to take ownership for their learning through goal setting and help my students track their progress. The purpose behind my research was to help my students reach their full academic potential while meeting kindergarten standards. Through my review of literature, I discovered many important concepts to consider when setting goals for my students. While many authors were in favor of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely (SMART) goals, there were other authors who believed that setting SMART goals was not enough to help people achieve success. Some of the additional ideas and concepts that emerged from these authors included the 1.) the importance of relationship--in this case, between teachers and students 2.) the students’ ability to take ownership of their goals 3.) utilizing different motivation strategies in the classroom 4.) students being able to develop the quality of perseverance and 5.) what it actually means to achieve. Through this research, I was able to broaden my skills and strategies as a teacher in helping my students track their progress and achieve success. I used a progress monitoring tool that my school requires and completed weekly monitoring sessions with my students. I met with my students monthly to measure their progress with their literacy skills starting with uppercase letters. As students mastered a skill, I moved on to additional literacy skills including lowercase letters, letter sounds, mixed up letter fluency, and sight words. After meeting with me, the students received a goal sheet to take home and practice with their families. Students also had goal folders in the classroom that they had access to on a daily basis for additional practice. As a result of implementing goal setting in my classroom, I believe that I have a good understanding of my students’ current literacy skills, and know what skills each student needs to work on next. The students that I have been progress monitoring have made great gains with their skills. My students are excited when it is their turn to meet with me to check their goals. Meeting with students individually is time consuming and I am still trying to figure out realistically how often I should meet with my enthusiastic kindergarteners to review their goals and progress with them.