1 Simple Way for Students to Monitor Goals

Use an anchor chart with Post-it notes for goal setting and review.

Did you ever have students set goals, determine that this time you will have them frequently reflect on their progress, and then forget? Or the goal papers settle to the bottom of backpacks, and you can’t take the 10 minutes out of class to have everyone find them?

I do it all the time.

I finally beat the system!

This week I made a poster of the options (in this case, the criteria for my group discussion rubric). Then I had students write their names on a Post-it note and stick it by the criteria they want to focus on this unit. Now at the beginning of each discussion time, I simply gesture toward the poster, ask students to remember which criteria they are targeting, and then begin their discussion.

Now if I could just hack a couple of my own goals that easily!

Do you have any tricks for helping students regularly reflect on goals?