For the next few weeks, adolescents have their say about Developmental Designs practices. See how declaring goals early in the year helps students stay focused.
by Tyler, JFK Middle School, Hudson MA
Thinking about my aspirations helps me set goals. Stating aspirations allows you to look forward to accomplishing something you need to work on. Making hopes and dreams helps kids work on whatever we need to improve. They can be made for both academic and social skills areas.
Stating my hopes and dreams helped me personally this year.
I was failing a class, so I looked at my goals, and I saw that I had written that I had wanted to do better in it.
I started remembering to focus on achieving that goal. The way I achieved it was by:
- Staying more focused in class
- Not talking to other people
- Picking a seat where I would not get distracted.
If I hadn’t created my goals in the first place, I wouldn’t have had anything to look at when I was down: I wouldn’t be getting the grade that I am today. I can put my mind on one goal at a time. Now I can go on to a new goal.
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While our blogger/consultants are busy facilitating Developmental Designs professional development across the country this summer, we're re-publishing some of our "best of" articles. Read Starting the Year Off Right with First-year Middle Schoolers for additional goal-setting ideas for your class.
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