Write it down. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants; cant’s into cans; dreams into plans; and plans into reality. Don’t just think it – ink it! Michael Korda
When I taught 8th grade English on the first day of each quarter, I would have my students journal their goals for the quarter. The task of actually writing down what you want to accomplish makes it real. The last day of the quarter I would have the students look back over their goals and see what they had and had not accomplished.
I think goal setting is so important, especially as an educator. One of my favorite things to do each summer is sit down and brainstorm a list of all I want to accomplish for the upcoming school year. Last year in taking this new job, I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish. On the last day of school, I looked over my goals and I was very pleased to see I had accomplished all but two on my list of 10. One of the goals was to blog more and I did accomplish blogging a few times throughout the year, but not as much as I would have liked!
As I sat down last week after attending ISTE 2014 in Atlanta, I was inspired to write my goals out for this year as well. To start with, I want to be more intentional with my time; I pride myself on the fact that if I say I will do something; I do it. Sometimes, that means I spread myself too thin because I don't like to say no or let anyone down. If I'm more intentional with my time, I can hopefully do all the things I need to do without feeling like I'm spreading myself too thin. I also want to work with as many teachers as I can this year; I want to help put our school on the map and be a school others want to visit! I want to do a big collaborative CBL project partnering with our Mooresville friends in North Carolina; I want to transform our library into a 21st century media center; I want to become Google certified; I want to do a big digital citizenship project incorporating students writing their own iBooks. I want to write an ISTE proposal for next year and be accepted! I have more but those are at the top of my list. I have personal goals as well.. I want to be more intentional with my time at home as well. I want to soak up as much time with my kiddos as I can before my oldest goes to college in a couple of years; I want to continue to try and live a healthier lifestyle and I want to strive be a person that my friends and family enjoy spending time with. I am fortunate that I am one of the people who love my job and love the people I get the joy of working with every day, so I want to make sure they feel the same way:) They truly help make me a better person and educator and I'd like to do the same for them. Hopefully, I will achieve all my goals this year. If I don't, they will go back on the list for next year and I'll keep trying! I would encourage you all to write down a few things you want to accomplish and periodically refer to it through out the year to remind yourself of what you want to accomplish. Ink it and achieve it! Have a great school year!
