The first day back to school after the holidays is a good time for review and a good time to start fresh. I don’t love to dive into anything big or brand new on that day, so we get out our sketchbooks and get reflective. I spread out a bunch of colorful papers with lots of different words on them, like Play, Adventure, Pray, Create, Breathe, Accept, and Forgive (there are a ton more, too).
The students have to get up and go through the papers and find 3 words that respond to new year’s resolutions that they would like to try to do. Then, they glue their words in their sketchbooks and for each word, they write a specific goal including how they plan on meeting that goal and a time frame to complete it in (ex. every day, once per week, or within this 9 weeks). Periodically, we’ll check back on the goals to see if they’ve made any progress. There’s no way for me to grade this assignment based on whether or not they complete their goals, and I don’t think it’s my business. To be honest, I try not to even read them too closely, I just check that it’s done. My aim for the assignment is to teach the students how to come up with an attainable personal goal. The rest is up to them.
Since that doesn’t take up a great deal of time (about… 20 minutes total?), I also found another idea online and adapted it to suit our needs. I wrote the following on the board:
2020
WANT
NEED
GIVE
SUCCEED
The students were to think about the entire next year and write down what they want, what they need, what they will give (I explained this as either a physical or monetary donation or something like volunteerism or even just helping around the house), and what they *will* succeed in, in 2020. Sometimes you just have to tell yourself what you want and need.
One of my kids said, Mrs. Wilson, are you gonna do this or what? So I did. And I posted it on the bulletin board over my desk so I and everyone else can see it every day.
2020
Want: Do more things, Go to concerts, Experience new places (particularly parts of our state we’ve never seen)
Need: Me time! Make time to make art
Give: More time at the humane society, more time playing games with the kids
Succeed: Prepare to have a TAB classroom!
Finally, to finish off the class period, I asked the students to think back through all of 2019. Many of them were still in middle school at the start of the year. I told them to think about the end of last school year, the entire summer, and the first semester of this year. I wanted them to list any and all accomplishments and things that they were proud of doing in 2019, even if it was trying something new, like going to a new place, trying a food you’ve never tried, or making new friends.
To return to my original format…
Successes: I’m glad for students to know that they’re allowed to declare what that they want and need. For some, this is an easy thing to do. For others, this is a tough concept to grasp.
Failures: most bought into the lesson and participated. As usual, some weren’t willing to take it seriously and that’s just too bad. *shrugging emoji*
What I learned: A lot of them struggled to think of things that they were proud of doing, or anything that they accomplished, even in an entire year.
What I can try next time: I think a good idea would be to make up one or two goals together first, as an example. Maybe make a real whole-class goal and post it on the board for the rest of the year. It would be a good reminder to check in on the class goal and the personal goals throughout the next few months. I’d also encourage the students to be much more thoughtful about their accomplishments. What is an accomplishment? Does it have to be huge or life changing? Can it be a small victory? What counts? For some people, Making a ‘B’ on a report card is an accomplishment. Trying sushi for the first time is something you can be proud of. Helping a new student find their next class definitely counts! Maybe next time I should make them list at least 5 things they’re proud of doing over the past year.
quirks in the classroom 