I am a very goal orientated person and therefore believe that setting goals lead you on the path to achievement. I set goals for myself all the time, but haven't had as much experience setting goals for my future students. I think this has been a worth while task and has helped me to think broadly about my student's education.
As a future elementary teacher, I frequently think about what objectives and goals I would want my 3rd, 2nd, or 1st graders to meet or surpass, but haven't thought a lot about what I need to do to prepare them beyond their year with me. More specifically, what threads should be continuous in every grade level? I'm not quite sure how to answer this questions yet, but I do know that it's important to view elementary education as a whole as well as separate units.
I feel feel confident in the goals we have created as a class and believe they address important aspects of our student's education and success. After reviewing the goals I tried to decide on 2 or 3 of my favorites but I couldn't do it! However, I do think that a couple of the goals could be consolidated into one, such as #5 and #10. 5 states: Students will understand and demonstrate respect for their surroundings. 10 states: Students will be responsible and accountable. What if respect was added into #10? Although I do know respect and responsibility can be set apart, I find it hard to distinguish the two in my mind.
I agree that the goals we set in class address important aspects of our student's education and success. Viewing the elementary education as a whole and as seperate units may be difficult at first, but if you start out creating goals for the whole education then it may be easier to break the goals down to seperate units. Every year we will be able to modify and recreate goals.
ReplyDeleteI think our goals as a class are excellent as well, and I think they will act as a personal guide for me. I hope to look back, perhaps when I'm not feeling great about what is going on in my classroom for the present moment, and do a little "check" to see if I can at least focus on one of these on our list.
ReplyDeleteI hope we get to keep referring to this list so that the goals will be in my forward schemas and easily recalled when I am teaching. I think this exercise, and more discussion will help me flush out more how to lead students towards the goals. I certainly can model some of the actions, or show them proper safety procedures, but to have students be their own best judge in their actions in the classroom, would be most ideal.
Hi Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI had to comment on your blog entry because I was having some of the same reflections after class last week that you expressed in this post. Since I have been at Drake, I have written countless "classroom rules for my future students," as well as an ever-evolving philosophy of teaching. On the bright side, these "tasks" have been evloving for the better as I advance in my own education, but I have never been asked to consider goals for my students; definitely not goals that will carry my students through elementary school to graduation. Honestly, I don't even have that many goals for myself that span the rest of my life- besides my role as a parent. I guess thinking about, modifying our thinking as we progress, and being reflective throughout the process of setting goals is a goal within itself.
As you mention, many of the goals we chose as a class could probably be combined into fewer goals. I completely agree, but maybe having these goals listed separately places more emphasis on the importance of the goals...Just a thought, but I agree that some stated goals could also be actions for other goals.
I appreciate your reflective nature when you say, "As a future elementary teacher, I frequently think about what objectives and goals I would want my 3rd, 2nd, or 1st graders to meet or surpass, but haven't thought a lot about what I need to do to prepare them beyond their year with me." Your thoughts portray a soon-to-be reflective and effective teacher. I additionally appreciate your comments because the feelings connect to my own. Setting and working toward goals that span K-12 students is important, yet the idea is somewhat daunting as well.
ReplyDeleteI think it is so important as a teacher, or future teacher for that matter, to be reflective. Setting goals and constantly reflecting needs to be present in the classroom. I really liked how Lindsay talked about setting goals for herself and her future students. When you take the time to reflect, you are taking the time to assess your own goals and your students' goals, which allows you to really step back and understand what needs to be done to achieve these goals.
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