I had a sweet conversation with my daughter on New Year’s day about reflecting and setting goals for the new year. At first, she was very apprehensive and didn’t have any ideas of what kind of goal to set. I provided several prompts to help her think about what she wanted to do better, learn more about, remember to do more often, or improve on. In prompting her, I realized I needed to take time to reflect on these same prompts before setting goals for myself! When I told her that I wanted to be a better mom, wife, and principal, she was quick to tell me that I didn’t need to improve – I was already a grown up!
Ahhh how sweet! I need to soak that up before she notices all the imperfections… but truly.. this led to an awesome conversation where I got to share that as humans we are never done growing and learning and getting better and that I was definitely going to be thinking and reflecting and setting goals for improvement, too.
The past several years, I have set a one word goal each year. I haven’t come to that one word yet this year, but I have taken time (and am continuing) to reflect on a few prompts as we step into this new year:
- I want to learn more about…
- I want to remember to…
- I want to stop…
- I want to improve on…
- I will not be afraid to…
- A school goal I have…
- A personal goal I have…
I haven’t completed all of these reflections yet, but I whole-heartedly believe in taking time to reflect on my own actions and set goals for my personal improvement.
Want to help students reflect and set goals for the new year? Here are two templates that might interest you:
One Word Collaborative Slides Activity
Take the time to self-reflect and consider how you will make this year a better year for your own personal growth!
Written by Meredith Akers, Principal
