As students work on their interventions, it's important to build ownership of their learning. Classworks goal tracker is the perfect tool to make student goal setting a reality. Click here to learn how students create SMART goals in Classworks. 

Goals should be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely -- or, SMART. Providing a framework that clearly defines students’ goals and objectives makes it that much more likely they’ll achieve them, and less likely to throw in the towel.

Using this framework, students are able to decide what they want to achieve and exactly how to get there. These may be academic or personal goals. The SMART goal approach gives students just what they need to learn the important life skill of effective self-management.

But, before students decide on which goals they’d like to pursue, it’s important for teachers to show them what makes a goal SMART.

Specific - The goal should be focused around one single activity or idea.

Measurable - How will you measure how you met your goal? There needs to be a way for the student to track their improvement and hold themselves accountable

Actionable - What actions will you take in order to meet your goal?

Realistic - Is this a goal you can confidently achieve?

Timely - Set a timeframe for your goal! Looking at the above, how long do you think it will take for you to reach your goal? Do you want to set a goal for just a specific time frame (ie. turn in all homework on time for the next 2 weeks).

By using the SMART framework to set and surpass goals with students, you’re helping tap into a growth mindset and realize that they can achieve just about anything they set their minds to. It’s a strategy that will help them, not only throughout education but into their future careers and personal lives as well!