“Back to school” will be here before you know it! Here’s how to set goals with your student for the new school year.
You’re More Likely to Achieve Goals When They’re S.M.A.R.T
When it comes to developing any academic habits, we recommend taking a SMART approach! What are SMART goals? Well, SMART is a handy mnemonic device to help students set goals for themselves that are both reasonable and obtainable.
Make no mistake – we love hearing students express their aspirational undertakings! However, oftentimes these goals are somewhat vague. “I’m going to do better this year” or “I’m going to do well in my math classes” are respectable sentiments, but how do you measure progress? Not to get all philosophical, but what exactly does “do better this year” actually mean? This is where SMART criteria really help!
- S: Specific. Goals should be specific. For example, if a student received a C in a math class, a specific plan would be to a) work on improving their study habits, and b) attend after-school classes or work with a tutor with the goal of increasing their letter grade.
- M: Measurable. Goals also need to be easily measurable using a common metric or scale. As in the above example, “do well in my math classes” isn’t a measurable goal. If a student received a 75% on their last report card, a measurable goal would be to increase their test average to 85% to obtain a higher letter grade by the next report card.
- A: Achievable. This is a big one – as we said, there’s nothing more rewarding for an educator than hearing a student express their dreams and aspirations. When it comes to setting goals, we try to remind students that these goals need to be reasonable – and more importantly, achievable. If a student is struggling to pass their classes sets a lofty goal for themselves of “getting straight A’s” – as much as we respect the confident attitude, moving up several letter grades within a year is extremely difficult (and highly unlikely). Ultimately, we want students to challenge themselves and learn to appreciate the hiccups along the way. At the same time, we encourage parents to help children set goals that are reasonable to avoid unnecessary self-criticism.
- R: Relevant. A student’s goals should be relevant to what they are trying to accomplish. Perhaps this quote from Michael Scott, regional manager on NBC’s The Office, best exemplifies this sentiment: “I remember in high school, my math teacher told me I was gonna flunk out. And know what I did? The very next day I went out and I scored more goals than anyone else in the history of the hockey team.” A commendable achievement nonetheless, but not exactly relevant!
- T: Time-bound. One of the most important parts of setting any goal is specifying the time in which it takes to accomplish said goal. When a student says “I want to do better in math class,” we encourage them to think in terms of “I want to show improvement on my math scores by my 10-week report card.” When students outline a specific timeline and duration for their goals, it’s much easier to plan out the individual steps to get there!