The Three Imperatives 

Students in every class I would ever teach would get quick history lesson of the Great John Wooden and how important goal setting is through his goal pyramid. As a class and as individuals  we would focus on how to set SMART goals and set one for success in the class as well as for the entire year. Students would create a modified goal pyramid and would hang it above their seats so they could have a visual daily reminder of why they are there. It was truly powerful and when they felt like getting off task, I could ask them to check their pyramid of success. It would often curb effort, attitude and discipline issues before they got bad. Throughout the semester, it’s fairly straight forward for students to be able to set their own educational goals because they have already mastered the hardest part: setting goals and making them specific. It’s kind of funny as I took my five-day lesson in OTL502 and based it off goal setting in athletics for my new job as district Athletic Director. Oftentimes, as educators, we have to scaffold or differentiate for every class because of the differing levels of our students, having students create their own goals allows them to take a couple steps out of your differentiating because they have already determined what they need to do in order to master the content. It also encourages them to push themselves when you aren’t always sitting next to them to instruct them what to do next. It has been said that goal setting motivates students to take charge of their own learning and promotes self-efficacy. Spending time in the classroom teaches you quickly that students who struggle with emotional or behavioral disorders often struggle to be self-motivated learners.