How will implementing SMART goals enhance motivation and academic success for second grade students?

Seminar Title

How will implementing SMART goals enhance motivation and academic success for second grade students?

SMART goals

2nd Grade

Elementary

Other

All Disciplines

Have you ever played the board game Chutes and Ladders? The amount of times a player gets to take a ladder using a shortcut is minimal, as in life, there are very few shortcuts. What I have learned is that a person must never give up even if the process seems slow. A successful destination can be reached as long as a person keeps trying. I am excited about my research because my students learned about setting goal by playing one of my favorite childhood games, Chutes and Ladders. Many of my students had never heard of Chutes and Ladders. It was a great connection and opportunity for students to learn about goal setting in a unique way. Students learned that goal setting is a lifelong skill that they can practice at anytime. I believe that my research is applicable for any age level and can be easily adapted to fit your classroom. My main concept was identifying and creating specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time oriented (SMART) goals. Throughout my research, I also focused on the process of achieving the determined SMART goal. Goal setting touches on motivation, responsibility, collaboration, and communication. So if a person is looking for an opportunity to learn about setting goals in a unique and engaging way this is the session for you!

How will implementing SMART goals enhance motivation and academic success for second grade students? (INTRO TO AR) The question guiding my research is as follows: How will implementing SMART goals enhance motivation and academic success for second grade students? A review of the literature suggested several strategy areas of practice that could help me bring the changes I am seeking. As a result of my literature review, the areas I targeted for change included skill development for my students in 1) setting SMART goals independently 2) determining appropriate action plan to achieve goal and 3) celebrating success. I also set goals for myself, including individual conferences with each student and whole group lessons using differentiated instruction strategies. Assessment was one of the ways these changes make a difference in the learning climate, in student learning, and in my ability to use differentiated instruction strategies. The strategies I focused on included 1) individual self-assessments 2) weekly math and reading logs tracking their growth visually and 3) individual conferences addressing the quality, timely completion of, and interest in the work of achieving their goal. (METHOD AND DATA) Through my research, I learned how to model the appropriate steps to set SMART goals, how to prepare my students to monitor their own learning and encourage the students to use critical thinking to problem solve. The number of times I needed to meet with students to track their data decreased dramatically because students took responsibility each week. I continued to have weekly conferences with students to discuss their growth or discuss the events that interfered with their growth based on data scores. Students and I also discussed ways to improve the data to better reach his/her target goal. I found, however, I need to create specific practice experiences for my students to get comfortable setting any type of goals not only SMART goals. I also discovered setting realistic SMART goals was too difficult for second grade students. Students were able to understand the steps necessary to achieve their goals but struggled with the importance and meaning of SMART goals. Students were motivated to set goals and were excited to reach their target goal. Celebrating success was a huge factor that motivated students to want to achieve their goals. All students were excited to achieve the success and expressed interest in setting another goal higher. (CONCLUSION) After implementing the SMART goal research, I learned that SMART goals were far too difficult for second grade students. I should have focused more attention on the steps to achieve a goal. Although, having observed how much goal setting enhances motivation and academic success, I will continue to explore information on goal setting and enhancing self-regulation for younger students.