As the school year gets ready to start back up, it is time to think about how you will establish your classroom expectations with your students for the year. The tone we set at the beginning of the year can be a huge determining factor in the success of the school year. It is also the ideal time for back to school goal setting with students to help them have a successful year!
Like most classroom teachers, you probably spend an extensive amount of time the first few weeks establishing classroom expectations and a sense of community among students. But as a resource teacher, it can be challenging to set the tone due to my limited time with the students. I have found that by the time students start coming to my small group they have no desire to talk about the rules anymore. At that point, they have already been addressed expectations so much in their classrooms. As a result, each year I strive to find new ways to have students help set their own expectations for our small group intervention so that we can make the most of every minute we have together. So here’s a look at how back to school goal setting might look for a small group!
Back to School Goal Setting
I hung chart paper for students to tell me their reading goals for the year. Students wrote goals such as: read fast, read chapter books, or read hard words. Having students tell you what they want out of your group work, gives them a sense of ownership of their learning. Plus it’s important to let them know your goal is to help them achieve their goals during your time together.
Not only do we want students to know that we value their goals for the year, but we also want them to have input into our instruction. You can hang other chart papers to get more information about their hobbies, topics they want to learn about, and favorite books/genres/authors. Throughout the year, try to incorporate as many of their interests as you can into your instruction. Another way to gather more information about your students is with reading surveys. Making the effort to give students some input into your instruction will lead to an increase in student motivation.
Creating a Student Vision
Instead of going over the rules for our small group intervention, we used our school’s vision words (creative, fun, kind, safe, and hardworking). Students brainstormed what these words look like in our small group intervention. So even though we did not call them rules, this activity served the same purpose!
Baldrige Tools for Classroom Expectations
Previously our school used Baldrige tools to establish classroom rules and expectations (find out more about Baldrige schools). Classroom teachers and students created Quality Student and Quality Teacher posters with words to describe the classroom expectations. Since students completed these with their classroom teachers, the resource teachers all used the same poster instead of making students do the activity multiple times. The poster provided a common language for all teachers (Supportive, Organized, Attentive, and Respectful).
How do you set student goals and classroom expectations for the school year? I am always looking for new ideas to try!
Want to Pin this for later?
