Are you looking to set some goals this New Year’s with your students? You’ve come to the right place! In this post I’ll share why this is such an important thing to do with your class, some awesome activities, and of course- great resources. And don’t miss out on the magnificent word of the year activity at the end! So what’re we waiting for? This is goal setting for students made simple and fun – let’s get to it!
Why We Set Goals
When children learn the skill of goal setting, not only will they achieve what they want to in life, but it also helps them to develop grit, responsibility, and accountability. When they have experience of setting goals and achieving goals, they’ll tend to be more confident beings who believe they can do anything they set their minds to. There are so many benefits to goal setting and doing it in a fun and hands on way is a sure fire way to get students excited about setting AND reaching them!
Cultivating Growth Mindsets
Goals are reached when you believe they can be achieved. A lot of that has to do with having a growth mindset. Helping our students cultivate a growth mindset will impact them for life and it’s a crucial skill when facing challenges.
I love reading The Bad Seed by Jory Jon with my students. This book is about a baaaaaad seed that does all kinds of terrible things, before eventually showing that it’s never too late to change your ways. Students reflect on some of the not so great things they’ve done and how that made them feel as a person. We discuss that while learning it’s okay to make mistakes because that is how you grow.
THIS resource is the PERFECT companion to this book and is jam packed with a bulletin board display, hands-on sorts about growth and fixed mindsets, and of course a cute writing craft!
Reflection is Key
In working to instill a growth mindset and get good at making goals, students must learn how to reflect. It’s important to look back at how much we’ve grown because it gives us good motivation to keep going. It also brings up memories of lessons we’ve learned and reminds us on how to handle situations better than we may have in the past.
This activity is all about our top ten moments over the past year together. It’s a sweet time to spend with your class to really reflect what you all loved about each other and the learning that took place. It’s also pretty eye-opening to see what really stuck with them throughout the year and what things truly impacted them. Check out this New Year’s Reflection Writing Craft to enjoy reminiscing on some awesome moments of the past year!
Goal Getters
Goal setting for the New Year will always be a thing. It’s a fresh start to a brand new year, we’ve reflected, and now we get to excitedly look to the future on what we’d like to accomplish. Setting goals with your class doesn’t have to be a boring list writing activity. Pump up the fun with these cute and engaging crafts to set some goals with your students!
Check out THESE flip books to construct goals and New Year’s resolutions in a stylish way. They also make the perfect bulletin board display!
Word of the Year
This is a fun and engaging new years activity and it is perfect if setting a bunch of goals seems like a daunting task at first. Rather than a list of things you’d like to achieve, choose a word that can be a reminder to you in many different situations.
We read “The Word Collector” by Peter Reynolds together and discussed the importance of words. While reading, create a chart together of all the words you come across in the story that get you excited, make you wonder about something, or make you go “aha”! After you’ve begun collecting words that stick out to you, you’ll share the significance of this activity and how you will be choosing ONE word to be your word for the whole year. You can read more about this activity HERE!
I hope you enjoyed learning some fun ways to help students set intentional goals for the new year. Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Back From Break Checklist FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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