August 2019

I'm embarrassed that it's been over a year since I've posted on this blog. I have good intentions and then I get sidetracked. Getting sidetracked at a school site is not uncommon, so I don't feel guilty about it. However, keeping this blog current was a goal of mine last year that I obviously failed at miserably. Yet that is the great thing about goals and having perseverance. I'm setting some new goals this year and revisiting ones I didn't get to last year, this blog being one of them.

What are my goals for this year? Well, let's see:

• Initiate a "Student Voices" project here at school. We have 180 days with students and our student population is about 185. I plan to interview one student EVERY DAY of the year (some days will have to be two) and ask them various questions about Lake School. The only instruction is that they have to keep their answer under 30 seconds. I'm excited to hear their answers, their honesty about being a Lake Panther. My purpose of this project is to make sure every student is heard because every student has a voice. 
• Visit two classrooms per week for at least 30 minutes. (Sadly, a repeat goal from 2018-19.)
• Leave school by 4:30 p.m. I love my job, yet I am also a wife and mother. If I don't take care of my personal life, my professional life suffers. (Oh my, another goal from 2018-19.)
• Update the Lake Panther Blog at least monthly.

I won't be alone in setting goals for this year. During one of our staff days, I will be asking all staff members to write one or two goals for themselves. We started doing this last year and I'm excited to implement it again. 

Why is this important to me? A few years ago, the teachers and I began looking at research in which students who had developed and monitored goals saw gains in academics and/or behavior, dependent on their goal. We began to dabble in the idea of students setting goals and have seen increased student performance based on their goals. We intend on continuing guiding students in identifying and setting goals, and more importantly, achieving them. You might consider talking with your children about goals you have set in your life, when you were successful and when you weren't, because a goal without a plan is just a wish.