The purpose of using goal setting with students is to help understand their role during the

learning process. To frame this discussion, I want to use the letters in the word G.O.A.L. to define the
importance of establishing goals with our students.
 Growth. Without setting how goals, how will students know when they are learning and
improving? We certainly cannot rely on grades to be a measure of growth. In fact, grades
measure compliance more than student growth. Grades are teacher directed and involve no
collaboration. On the other hand, goals should be collaborative decisions made by the teacher
and the student and include various measurements of progress along the way.
 Ownership. Through goal setting, students become owners of their learning. They are not able to
be passive participants who await for the teacher to determine if they have mastered the
learning objectives. When students own their learning, they understand the standards that have
been set, and through scaffolding and support from the teacher, they have a clear path on how
to improve. Standards should be written in student-friendly language so that students can
articulate exactly what is expected of them. Students should be given exemplars for self-
evaluation and reflection, as well as a place to collect evidence that demonstrates their progress
toward the learning standards. Lastly, when students are able to facilitate a student-centered
conference about their progress, it gives them the opportunity to share their learning with their
parents and teachers.
 Awareness. Typically, student awareness toward progress occurs during progress or report card
time. On most occasions when students receive graded work, they often look at the grade
without little thought about the learning that occurred. Goal setting helps students to be more
aware of the learning that they are expected to experience. This awareness helps students to be
engaged in the learning process. Mastery-oriented goals give students the opportunity to focus
on learning standards and their own growth. Without goals, student motivation and
engagement decreases because students are not aware of what they should be learning and
have no idea about their role in the learning process.
 Learning. Learning cannot occur in the absence of feedback. Goal-setting with students must be
accompanied with individualized, targeted feedback. Goals without feedback will not increase
student achievement. Choosing a limited number of goals will help teachers focus on the most
important needs of the student, and will help students focus on the most critical areas of their
learning. Goals should be individualized for each student, and an entry point that is challenging
but attainable for the student is a great starting place when it comes to setting goals. When
students experience success, they are motivated to continue to push themselves.
 Setting goals with students informs teacher practice, engages and motivates students during the
learning process, and creates a partnership between the teacher, student, and parents.

 Having goals helps students focus and create a set of achievements during a specific time in
school. Through goal-setting, you will learn to focus your time and resources more efficiently. In
addition, by referring to the goals, you will gain motivation when you may lack motivation or
simply want to give up. 
 From an educational perspective, academic goals for high school and academic goals for middle
school improve performance by ensuring students remain accountable for their own decisions,
habits, and successes. 
  This propels middle school and high school students forward through a selection of small
achievements designed to break down a larger purpose. For example, at boarding schools,
students typically set academic goals to improve grades, study habits, and college planning. 
 What’s more, it is important to set goals to gain confidence and personal efficacy, once a goal is
achieved. 

Goals Keep Students Moving Forward

 Writing down specific goals gives students something to work toward. When written down,
goals form an external representation of inner desires and establish a plan for actual
achievement. 
 For example, if a student wishes to get a higher grade, improve athletic skills, or achieve a new
leadership position, they must firstset goals for success. They must then figure out and break
down a way to accomplish goals through a series of strategies and tactics. 
 In short, goals are a constant reminder of what you want to accomplish. Goal setting will fuel
your ambition and offer you a sense of pride when success finally arrives.
 Without set goals, you know how you can float from one area of school life to the next.
Establishing a goal creates a sense of clarity and correlation between the process of working
hard and accomplishing something significant. Because of this, you will access the motivational
energy you need to work through periods when your focus and motivation may begin to wane. 

Parents serve as the first teachers of their kids during the early years. The responsibility of teaching
doesn’t end when a child starts going to school. Often, children will need help in their assignments – in
math, science, and social studies. It is the parent’s job to show how exciting and useful learning can be.
Through proper guidance, parents can help their kids manage their time and strike a balance between
recreation (watching TV, playing games, surfing the net) and school.

Tools

Teaching materials come in many shapes and sizes, but they all have in common the ability to support
learning. The purpose and importance of teaching and learning materials is to make lessons interesting,
learning easy and enable teachers to easily express concepts.

Learning support

Learning materials can significantly increase learners’ achievement by supporting learning. For example,
an educational video may provide a learner with new insights and an appealing worksheet may provide
the learner with new opportunities to practice a new skill gained in class. This process aids in the
learning process by allowing the learner to explore the knowledge independently as well as providing
repetition. Learning materials, regardless of what kind, all have some function in student learning.

Lesson structure

Teaching and learning materials can also add important structure to lesson planning and the delivery of
instruction. Learning materials act as a guide for both the teacher and the learner. They can provide a
valuable routine in the teaching and learning process. For example, by providing a summarizing poster
or video after each topic.

Differentiation of instruction

In addition to supporting learning more generally, teaching and learning materials can assist teachers in
the differentiation of instruction. Differentiation of instruction is the tailoring of lessons and instruction
to the different learning styles and capacities within your classroom. Learning materials such as
worksheets, videos, group activity instructions, or any other, all allow teachers to modify them to best
activate each individual learner's needs or learning style, for example by using different media.

AGENT
TEACHER

Being a teacher means you help enrich children’s lives, not just through core educational skills like
mathematics, reading, and science, but also responsibility, analytical skills, and building self-confidence.

Nothing makes a teacher prouder than seeing their students succeed, knowing they have helped give
kids the skills they need for the future. You’ll find that many teachers relish in their teaching careers due
to the rewarding aspects of the job.

Influencing the Future

As a teacher, you are giving children the skills they need to go out into the world and succeed. It really
doesn’t matter at what stage in a child’s life this happens, so whether you are teaching five-year-olds
letter sounds or high schoolers about photosynthesis, you are giving them what they need to go on and
do bigger and better things and build upon those skills.

Help Build Self-Esteem

Teaching isn’t all about learning ABC’s and 123’s. It’s about building confidence in students to help them
with the drive to succeed. Academically, this could be helping a child get through a lesson they find
particularly difficult. Spending that little bit of extra time to get them through something they’re
struggling with and seeing how excited they are when they start to make connections makes it all worth
it.

This isn’t just when it comes to academic things too; it can be about making friends, finding the
encouragement to present in front of the class or even with some guidance on what to do for the future
and applying for university. You are your students’ biggest cheerleader in school, so let them know
about it and give them the self-confidence they need to keep going.

You Get to Work in a Fun, Creative Setting

Long gone are the days where classrooms were drab and dull, and the only colour around was that on
the textbooks. Now classrooms are fun, vibrant places of learning where creativity is encouraged.
Teachers often get a bit of creative freedom when it comes to how they want to arrange their
classroom. It should emulate a positive feeling and create a pleasant learning environment. You get to
make it a welcoming place that your students (and you!) will want to spend their days in. How many
other professions allow you to do that?

Every Day is Different and Exciting

Teaching means that every day is different, no mundane or repetitive work here! Sure, you will have to
grade papers, have routine meetings, and do paperwork, but for the most part, no two days are the
same. Every day you will work on different tasks with your students, and of course, they will never bore
you either!

Each day is a chance to work with young minds and teach new things. One thing you will see every day,
though, is the smiles on children’s faces as they work and play in the classroom you have set up for
them.

You Make Learning Fun

Kids will come into your classroom excited to learn when you make lessons more fun and enjoyable, and
there is really nothing better than seeing your students eager to learn. Reading about a topic is great,
but putting it into action is even better, such as running an experiment or doing a particular kind of art
project whilst incorporating new skills. Often, kids are excited to tell their parents about what they did
that day when learning is fun!

PARENTS
 The teachers and parents should closely work together in ensuring that learning in its real sense
really takes place at home. Parents should also know what the tasks of learning facilitators are.
They guide and assist their children in learning for themselves. They emphasize time
management, reading and comprehension strategies, maintaining focus, making the children
see the relevance of the lesson etc. These are all needed to make the children learn
independently. In remote learning, students must see the need of fully immersing themselves in
the learning process. Truly, there is much to be done as we continue embracing distance
education. This entails tough adjustment for everyone- the teachers, parents, and the students.
It starts with our limitless willingness to do what is asked from us, and what is necessary for
education to be delivered effectively.
 A parent is the most important partner in a child’s education. Successful parent involvement in
the child’s education means active, ongoing participation of a parent in the education of his or
her child.
 ‘When parents get involved in their children’s education, children are more likely to do better in
school, be better behaved, have more positive attitudestoward school, and grow up to be more
successful in life’. Colorín Colorado (2008)
 Schools exist to provide children with an education and opportunity to succeed and both
parents and teachers need to be involved in the education of children. Teachers, the principal,
and the school governing body (SGB) have responsibility for the education and well-being of
children while at school. Parents are their children’s first and most important teachers, they
influence and shape their children’s behaviour, discipline and habits. Children need to feel
supported both at home and at school and to have learning environments where they can grow
and develop to their full potential. Parents and schools need to work together to educate their
children, helping them to develop into young adults who are confident, successful and are able
to contribute to the growth of the country. Parents, regardless of the level of education or
income, race, ethnicity or religion have the responsibility to be involved in their children’s
education. If parents are actively involved in their children’s education, teaching and learning at
school can be optimised.
 By involving themselves in their child’s educational life, parents demonstrate that schooling is
worthy of interest and time. Parents can spark enthusiasm in their children and lead them to a
very important understanding that learning can be enjoyable as well as rewarding and is well
worth the effort required. By paying attention, showing interest and praising good performance
and behaviour, parents motivate their children to maintain the spirit of hard work and doing
more of what leads to success. Parents can influence their children by direct instruction, which
takes two primary forms: a. Closed-ended instruction: This involves giving orders, commands
and requests for correct answers or the right way of working. These tend to promote factual
learning and knowledge but will not necessarily influence your child towards higher levels of
cognitive complexity. b. Open-ended instruction: This involves questions and requests to plan,
anticipate and explain that tend to promote higher levels of cognitive complexity and ability as
well as factual knowledge in your child. Role-modelling by parents is an enabling factor for a for
their child’s positive educational outcomes. Children are likely to behave in the same manner as
their parents, for example if parents are unhappy about some matters at school; they should
communicate the issue in a cordial manner to the school. The tone used at home during
discussion of the issue should demonstrate respect for the teacher by the parent; this will go a
long way in encouraging children to respect their teachers. Parent’s positive attitude to learning
will shape the children’s attitude and success at school.
As educators, our task is to empower students and help them grow into lifelong learners. The purpose for
goal-setting with students should be no different. Here are a few ways teachers can use goal-setting to
empower students to become lifelong learners:
 Expand the options: Many teachers limit student’s goals to current class topics or important
grade-level benchmarks. While this is a well intentioned strategy, if we are serious about
empowering students we should allow them to set their own goals. When we allow them to do
this their goals become personal and they are invested in accomplishing them. We can help them
create goals that are important to them by expanding the options. When setting goals with
students I ask them to not only think about academics but also behavior, character traits, a sport
or hobby of interest or even something at home.
 Leverage parent support: If we want students (especially our youngest ones) to set goals that
have any personal meaning, those goals need to be transferrable from school to home.
 In this sense, parents are a key player. One easy idea is to have students draft multiple goals and
then review them with parents to identify those in which the parents can support from home. For
me, these conversations have led to parents verifying goals they could support from home,
excluding those they could not and adding some they felt were important to them. Goals that are
meaningful for both students and parents are key in fostering long-term growth.
 Track and evaluate progress: For any goal, tracking and evaluating progress is key, Far too often,
however, teachers dictate how students should track their progress and even set benchmarks to
tell students if they are on track to accomplish their goals. If we really want students to be
accountable, however, we need them to not only create their own goals but also to design ways
to track their progress. Students need to consider how they will evaluate their progress, how
often, who their evaluator will be, and ultimately, and if they have met their goal. In addition,
students also need to reflect on if they should keep working on a goal, modify it or create a new
one.
 Goal-setting does not only have to be a way for teachers to get students to meet an academic
standard. By allowing students to set their own goals, including their parents, and developing
ways to track and evaluate them, goal-setting can also help teachers achieve their higher
purpose: fostering lifelong learning.