Lauren McCauley, the team lead for our office, supports schools and districts in SC as they transition to a personalized, competency-based framework. Her post discusses how to set goals that are S.M.A.R.T!
About 9 months ago I added an item to my to-do list: “Brainstorm writing topics.” I’d recently decided that I wanted to write more, in particular about our office’s work with personalized learning. I was inspired by my friend and colleague, Dr. Latoya Dixon, who is a prolific and gifted writer. I don’t particularly love writing, but I recognized that this would be a professional growth opportunity and a chance to stretch outside of my comfort zone. Despite my best intentions, I found myself 9 months later with nothing written other than an item on a to-do list (I am a very gifted to-do list writer). Did I mention that I’m a procrastinator? How in the world was I going to make myself sit down and commit to writing? Then it hit me. It was time to practice what I preach. I needed to set a goal, and I needed to get an accountability partner.
In our #PersonalizeSC professional development, we talk a lot about the importance of goal setting in fostering students’ ownership of their learning. It’s equally important for educators in supporting our own professional and personal growth. We (educators, kids, humans) are actually pretty good at setting goals: “I want to write more.” “I want to start exercising.” “I want to learn more about x topic.” It’s our follow through that’s problematic. So how do we improve? We have to get S.M.A.R.T. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals, that is.
S-Specific-It’s important to be specific so we know exactly what we are trying to achieve.
M-Measurable-Our goal has to be measurable or we won’t know if we’ve actually achieved it.
A-Attainable-We have to set attainable goals or we are setting ourselves up for failure and ultimately giving up. Once we’ve reached our goal, we can always set another goal above and beyond the original.
R-Relevant-Setting a relevant goal is important because it gives us purpose. We shouldn’t be setting goals just for the sake of it.
T-Time Bound- It’s been 9 months since I set my not-so-SMART goal to “write more.” I kept putting it off because it was something that could be done later. By adding the element of time, we add a sense of urgency to our goals.
These principles apply whether we are goal setting as adults or with students. Goal setting is an excellent life skill, and if we start early with students, it might just turn into a life-long habit. For more information on goal setting with students, check out this presentation or join us for professional development.
So what about my writing goal? I finally got SMART: I will write one post for our #PersonalizeSC blog every quarter for a year. That’s four posts a year which is a significant improvement over my current level of zero! Now that I’ve set a S.M.A.R.T. goal, I’m much more likely to follow through because I have a clearer picture of what I need to do to reach my goal. I’m one post down and three to go. I’m feeling pretty good about this goal setting thing. I hope you are too!
A note on accountability:
So what about that accountability partner I mentioned? Well, it’s you of course! I figured there was no better way to make myself accountable than making this as public as possible. In addition to posting my goal here, I recently participated in a Twitter chat discussing goal setting. I tweeted that I had a professional goal of writing more and a personal goal of exercising more. My husband saw my tweet and said, “Wow, you really put it out there.” “Yes,” I said, “I needed to be publicly accountable.” Well, that took an unexpected turn because now, for better or worse, my husband is holding me accountable for that exercise goal. We’ve discussed how to make my exercise goal S.M.A.R.T. and he “reminds” me when I haven’t met my goal for the week. He’s also very supportive and makes sure I have the time I need to make it happen. So find yourself a partner who will hold you accountable and support you on your journey.
To learn more about our #PersonalizeSC Network, visit our website.