My kids... By LindaR

My students became more focused when I pulled them in for a goal setting session. I made overheads of their test scores (these were grade level chart comparisons, not indiv.), and they saw immediately how low they were. They had never seen anything like this before. I told them that I would help them take charge of their learning by having them set goals for themselves.

We started out with a simple goal of spelling. Their scores were miserably low, so I taught them the Pyramid style of practice (which they loved), and then had them write down what their goal would be for the end-of-the-week test. They were then to draw three boxes to show me what steps they were going to take to reach their goal.

I was AMAZED by how well they did on the test! They compared their score with the previous week's score and then wrote to me in their journal about it (if they reached their goal, why/why not, by how much, etc.).

We then did this goal setting activity with another subject. I'm leading them towards bigger goals, of course, but the point is: THEY are now in charge of their learning---NOT ME.

This has given me greater freedom to teach as I remind the students of their responsibility to learn.

I believe when students set goals, chart their progress, and are held accountable for it, then they tend to rise to the expectations.

Your students are old enough to chart their progress on graph paper, which will help them to "compete" with themselves for improvement. Third grade is not easy in many ways, and I've noticed that they don't usually have an awareness of the importance of grades.

I hope I've helped a little! I wish you the best... test pressures are on me, too!