How to Motivate Students to Learn Better Through Goal Setting
- 1). Activate prior knowledge by brainstorming about the process of goal setting. While your students may not have composed academic goals in the past, they have likely set a goal at some point in time. Introduce the concept of goal setting by asking students for times when they have set goals. Make a list of student suggestions on the chalk board.
- 2). Discuss the purpose of goal setting. After building an extensive list of previous goal experiences, ask students what their purpose behind setting these goals may have been. Students will likely quickly arrive at the consensus that goals are set to remind you of something that you want to accomplish or to challenge yourself to complete a difficult task.
- 3). Explain S.M.A.R.T. goals to your students. Write the acronym S.M.A.R.T. on the board, and explain to students that effective goals must be smart. Write specific next to the S, measurable next to the M, attainable next to the A, relevant next to the R and time-bound next to the T. Discuss each of these terms with your students, explaining to them that a goal must be all of these things to be optimally effective.
- 4). Give students goal setting journals. Provide each student with a spiral bound notebook or theme book to use specifically for the purpose of setting goals. Allow students to decorate the cover of their notebook so that they take ownership of it.
- 5). Compose S.M.A.R.T. goals. Instruct students to write their first S.M.A.R.T. goal on the first page of their journal. Encourage students to select a goal that they will accomplish within the next week instead of a lofty goal that may take years to complete. Help students as they compose their goals as composing S.M.A.R.T. goals can initially be difficult.
- 6). Ask students to reflect upon their accomplishment of set goals. After the passage of a week, return to the goal setting journal and instruct each student to compose several sentences stating whether or not they accomplished their goal or what steps they have made towards the accomplishment of the goal.
- 7). Compose new goals regularly. Keep adding short and long term goals to the journal. Encourage students to keep notes about their goals and check them off after they have accomplished them.
- 8). Speak with students individually about the goal setting process. Check in with students periodically and discuss the goal setting process with them. If you encourage students to keep up with their goal setting they will be more likely to take their goals seriously and strive to achieve them.