Father's Day and Goal Setting!

Happy Father's Day! For me, I felt like today would be the perfect day to incorporate goal setting with Father's Day since my dad has always played a large role in me reaching my goals in life. I am so fortunate that I grew up in a home with both parents who were very supportive and involved in my life. My dad is, and has always been, a huge part of my life. My dad is a very faitful, hard working, driven man. Many of those qualities of which I have inherited from him. I am certainly my father's daughter when it comes to work ethic and athletics. It is not unusual for my father to easily work 70 hours a week. As a teacher, it is not unusual for me to work at least 10 hours each day all week, and then still spend 5-6 hours on Sunday at school. My father has always modeled that you work hard and you always do you best. Most importantly, he taught me that you always take pride in what you do and always have faith. My father is a huge baseball fan and used to play softball for the Army. When I was in first grade he really wanted my mom to let me play ball. My mom didn't really want any part of this because I was into dance and gymnastics, but she agreed. I took the field in lace socks and bows. Little did I know that the day I stepped on that field, that my dad would use this as an opportunity to teach me about life.  Thank goodness I was really good, because it would have been very easy to make fun of that girl in lace socks and bows that could not hit or catch. In fact I was so good, I didn't want to let anyone else have the ball. I would literally run the ball from base to base because I was so competitive and I didn't think anyone else could catch. Lesson from dad: You have to be a team player. After this year, I came to love softball and it was something my dad and I could do together. My dad always coached my teams, and we were always the best. Why? Because he taught fundamentals. You couldn't be a strong ball player, if you didn't have strong fundamentals. Anyone who has ever played for my dad knows these phrases to this day: set- break- throw, squash the bug, mike-ike and yes-the elbow should actually be down. Lesson from dad: Fundamentals build a strong foundation for success. I graduated from coaches pitch and it was on to minors where there was live pitching. I gave it a shot and ended up being pretty good at it. The older I got, the more I began to pitch. My dad made me pitch pretty much every single night. Which was fun at first, but I was just starting to get at that age where I was really developing a social life. There were nights I would rather hang out with friends, but dad said I had to pitch first. I would be madder than fire and he would say "Okay, you don't have to go pitch, but then you need to find a different position to play." I would give in and go throw, but I would not be happy about it. Lesson from dad: Practice makes perfect and if you are going to do something, be dedicated and committed and always give your best. As I continued to play and get better, my dad continued to push me. I was a good hitter, but that wasn't good enough. Dad introduced bunting, and when that was mastered we switched to the left side and began slapping. About this time caged helmets came about. I was literally the first girl to have this type of helmet at our little league and I was not going to look like a huge dork and wear that helmet. My dad gave it to me the first time when he and I were out practicing and told me to wear it and that we were going to work on slapping. I said no way and chose to wear no helmet at all. What happened....took a pitch right to the face and busted my lip. I think that cage would have come in handy that day, but I learned quickly to love that helmet. Lesson from dad:Your father always knows best and it doesn't matter what you look like or what others think. A few more years passed and I continued playing softball. I was playing varsity softball at the high school level and was batting second as a sophomore.I was having a great year and was in the top 10 in the county for doubles and hits. It was sectional time and I was up to bat and given the dreaded bunt sign. I hated bunting and furthermore, bunting didn't get me in the top ten for hits and doubles. So being the stubborn girl I was, I purposely missed bunts and struck out on purpose. My dad was not happy, and even left the game. My dad always took me home from the games so we could talk about it, but that day I hitched a ride home with mom. I knew that I had really let him down and I had really disappointed him. A few days later, another sectional game was upon us. I was up to bat, and once again, given the bunt sign. First pitch, I laid down the best bunt in my whole entire life and scored in a vital run. As I stood on first, I looked up and saw my dad smiling and blowing me a kiss. I knew I had made him proud. Lesson from dad: You will make mistakes in your life, but you can either let them defeat you or you can use them as a learning experience to better yourself, but the choice is yours. I never realized how much my father and I's bond over softball helped him build my character. He taught me passion, love, perseverance, and many other life skills I would need to be successful. I am a very lucky girl. Not every girl has a father that is as dedicated and involved in their lives as my father. My father came to every single sporting event I think I ever participated in, no matter how far away it was. He showed up to every softball game with my favorite Gatorade and crackers. He drove 30 minutes both ways to Ball State to bring me my black Old Navy flip flops that I had forgotten at home. He sacrificed many hours of working fundraisers, so that I could go to Disney World for cheerleading nationals. He learned my friends names, life stories, and treated them like his own daughter so that they too could have a positive male in their life. He worked extra hard and long, so that I could always have not only what I needed, but what I wanted. I am who I am today because God has blessed me with two wonderful, supportive parents, who have never shown me anything less than love. They have helped me create goals, reach goals, and celebrate goals. They have sacrificed the world for me and I know that one day when I have a family of my own, I will know what it takes to raise children into successfuo adults. Happy Father's Day!

Teaching elementary students, I never really thought about how goal setting pertained to them or at least I didn't recognize why they needed to be active in goal setting. Of course I set individual and whole class goals for all my students in the past, but these were things I kept to myself and monitored on my own. This past year, I sat back and thought about how I set goals for myself so that I have a baseline and something to work towards. I always know the expectations I had to reach the goal and I know how to monitor my progress. What I didn't realize was that I was setting goals for my students and monitoring those goals, but I was never really discussing these goals or making them an active participant in them. At the start of last year, one of my goals was to incorporate my students into their goal setting and progress monitoring. Kinda funny I set a goal, to help make students aware of their goals. This was one of the best things I have ever done with my students. It got them motivated and excited, and it gave them ownership over their learning. This year, when I progress monitored a student, I explained to them what  I was doing and why. Once their assessment was complete, we would discuss their data and what it meant. In the past, I was so afraid I might ruin their self-esteem if I showed them when they didn't do well, but now I think it is important that they are aware  of their learning, even if their score is not where it should be. I was amazed at the conversations the students and I would had this year about their progress or lack of. I think it was motivating to them and made them feel empowered. For Guided Reading I made a wall visual of where students were at the beginning of the year and where they needed to end to make one year worth of growth. I taught third and fourth grade Guided Reading and as we moved levels through out the year, we moved our levels on our wall chart. The students got very excited when we moved up a level and it gave them a visual, concrete representation to show them where they were, and where they needed to be. Below is the wall chart we used as a group for Guided Reading.

I also taught a small group for math. I did the same wall chart with their unit assessment scores. Our goal was to always get a class average above 75%, but also to always get a better class average than the test before. Students also tracked their personal scores in their math folders, with the same goals: above 75% and/or better than your last test. The students got so excited to put up their scores and would always say before tests "Remember...we need to do better than..." I loved seeing the motivation and I love the ownership it gave them over their learning. Goal setting is something I want to continue and do more of next year. After all, this is a life skill necessary for them to be successful.

Good night all!