Creating Goal-Getters In Kindergarten

When I moved from pre-k to kindergarten I set some rather lofty goals for myself and my students.  All based around the concept of growth mindset and goal setting.  I know many people think that’s way too much to ask of a 5 year old but I am here to tell you it’s not!  This goal really came out of my frustration. Just stay with me I'll explain.  Early childhood education has always been my passion.  I feel the sooner a child can start their educational journey the better.  I believe that the future of our students doesn't wait until a testing grade to develop ... no those 4 year old pre-k students are just as important as those students tested by the state.  I have sat in meetings and listened to people regard pre-k and kindergarten as play and disregard the tireless investment teachers and assistants make for kids in those grade levels.  I've worked long nights and early mornings and I am hear to tell you yes we play!  Not in the sense that we are lollygagging around not learning. More in the sense that research shows young children learn through exploration and play thus that is what we do in a very purposeful way. So let me step down from my soapbox and tie this all together.  So when I was offered a kindergarten position I accepted and with that I made a promise to myself and my future students to prove the naysayers wrong.  The buzz word today is growth mindset, blended learning, goal setting etc.  But seldom do you see or hear it being implemented in early childhood.  Challenge accepted!  My students were going to show the world kindergarten students are beyond capable of growth mindset they are where it all begins we were going to set the bar! I started the year by creating simple goal setting binders for each child.  The binders were simple they contained the beginning of the year character survey each child completed with their families, their goal setting conference sheet, and some tabs that would give us room to store some of their work samples if needed.  We also enacted the use of the Class Dojo app.  Not only does the app record behavioral goals and conduct it’s also a way for us to share student work samples and communicate with parents.  All was going swimmingly and then HARVEY!  UGH!  No one enjoyed that guy’s visit.  I was very concerned about the impact this would have on the timeline I had for goal setting.  Honestly at that point I was ready to just say forget it and give it another try the next year but instead we persisted.  The first round of goal setting conferences were very helpful not only to gather information on what the students wanted to accomplish but to also connect with them and just show them that I really believe in them and I care about their desires and interests!  To say they all just poured out their hopes and dreams without any issues would be a lie I still have a few that just stared at me with big doe eyes wanting me to give them the answers.   The thing about goal setting is well I can’t give you the answers that defeats the whole personalized aspect of it.  For those kiddos I had open ended questions that helped to ease their anxiety and help us to develop their plan for their learning journey.  Each student was asked to set one or two academic goals and one social goal.  Interestingly all the academic goals centered on reading and phonics.  Some just wanted to learn all their letters and sounds before they went to first grade.  Others wanted to read and then make movies from what they read.  Some just wanted to learn how to read.  All totally obtainable!  The social goals centered more on making friends, being kind, setting a good example, being good citizens etc.  The one thing to keep in mind when goal setting is to have measureable goals so we were sure to word the goals in a way that was measureable.  Now this is my first time implementing a more elaborate goal setting program so we didn’t set a concrete time line on when it should be achieved.  To me in kindergarten they don’t have a real grasp on time in general so I feel not having a set in stone completion date is fine.  I from there took their goals and aligned them with our TEKS.  I created a graph on the wall titled “Tackling our goals” our room is football themed so this fit perfectly.   The cool thing was even though you can look and see the learning gaps you can look and see what each and every student is accomplishing at their current place.  No time is wasted there is a celebration at all times for our goals.   Each student colored their football player and we labeled it with their name.  It’s so great to see them go and find their name and see where they are and then to hear them discuss this with their friends.  While we are all learning as we go I am really enjoying having a growth mindset learner centered approach in my classroom.  Many times people think that at this age they are not capable of this way of thinking.  My philosophy has always been that children will achieve on the level you believe they can.  We have done so much this year others said wasn't possible for this age group.  So in room B109 at Ridgecrest Elementary we will continue setting goals, accomplishing those goals and setting new ones.  Each and every day is a learning adventure lead by kindergarteners with a growth mindset and a teacher who believes in them! You can follow our learning adventure on my Twitter page follow @notjustcrayons !