How to Set a Goal (and Actually Follow Through With It)


My big goal before I turn the big 4-0 is to read 40 books. You may remember I wrote about it and shared the heck out of that post. That sharing part was pretty important because I knew that accountability would be a key factor in my fulfillment of my #40_by_40 goal.

As it turns out, accountability is one of several factors necessary for setting and accomplishing goals. Vanessa Van Edwards from Science of People has put together a pretty comprehensive article about what it takes stick with a goal.

In her article, The Science of Goal Setting, she lays out 10 steps for goal setting, many of which you might be familiar with, like make it measurable or break it into pieces. What makes her article unique is that it pulls the separate bits and pieces we all know and combines it with some serious soul-searching in the form of emotional temperature and legacy. This means that your goal is built on the foundation of who you are. It is something that really matters to YOU!

I spent some time with her Goal Wheel (seriously, print that thing and get your colored pencils out to make it pretty!). I thought about that personal passions dimension and realized that my book-reading goal fit nicely there. For those of us who are parents, teachers, or in a relationship (or any combination of those), it's really easy to put our personal passions aside, which was clear as I looked at my Goal Wheel. Teaching is a service role, a job that expects a lot of giving without always refilling that bucket. For me, reconnecting with my passion for reading has also had a positive influence on my other pieces of my Goal Wheel. While reading may not be your personal passion, imagine what refilling your bucket might do for your health, profession, or family satisfaction.

Van Edwards also helped me rethink intentions. While setting positive intentions is still something I consider to be a critical piece of my overall well-being, goal setting and intention setting are not exactly the same. Her outcome + process approach is something to consider if you've ever fizzled out on a goal before (hello, every new year's resolution ever). In fact, this outcome + process approach pushed me to look back at my reading goal. I actually had all the pieces in place.

What I hadn't done recently is look back at those process steps to keep myself on track. Van Edwards recommends revisiting your Goal Wheel and the associated goals every couple of weeks, which I think is a piece that I have been missing. My progress toward 40 books had slowed recently, so The Science of Goal Setting refocused me and gave me the tools I needed to get back on track. 

Have you taken your emotional temperature recently?  If not, print off Van Edwards' worksheet and get to coloring. You might find just what you needed to rekindle your own goals or set new ones with the confidence that you have what it takes to accomplish them! 

Let's be accountable to each other. Share one of your goals in the comments or on Twitter with #40_by_40.
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Why Every Teacher Needs a Smile File


"My mom sent this," said one of my fifth graders as he handed me an envelope.

"For me or the intern?" I asked, unsure if this was for me or my student teacher from the local university.

"For you." With that he walked back to his seat to begin the day. I took the envelope and a few other materials and left the room while my intern conducted her full time teaching. After getting settled in the work room, I opened the envelope and began to read.

The note was from the student's mother, written on notebook paper in pencil. "I heard you were a good teacher, but I don't see it," it said. My heart pounded, my stomach turned and my hands shook. I walked straight into my administrator's office and cried. Bawled. Shoulder-shaking sobs as I handed him the letter.

He did two things that day that helped me. He let me cry and, more importantly, he kept the letter.

This happened over ten years ago and I can still visualize that letter in my mind. Just writing about it feels like I am teleported back to the very moment I read those poisonous words.  I remember what the paper felt like and the loops of her cursive handwriting. It's burned into my memory like a cattle brand.

If I still had the letter, I would have memorized it and all the flaws she pointed out. It would haunt me sitting in a drawer. That's why I'm so grateful my supervisor took the letter away because all I can remember is that one line. And that one line is enough to get my pulse racing so that I can hear my heartbeat in my ears a decade after it happened.

Holding on to those negative memories is actually common, perhaps even human nature. I know I've had parents send me lovely notes and messages in my career, but this stinker of a comment is the one I can quote. And I will likely remember it for a lot longer than those nice messages because research indicates that the memories of the bad news tends to linger.

So the question becomes, how do you combat the inevitable negativity?  For me the answer is a smile file.

My Smile File is called HAPPY!
Now, you don't really have to call it a smile file and it doesn't even have to be a real file.  As a classroom teacher, I had an actual file folder where I would drop printouts of nice messages, letters from parents, student drawings, notes from colleagues, etc. Now,  I keep mine on email, since I don't get nearly as many handwritten and hand-drawn notes. I call it HAPPY. Every so often I get a nice message that makes me feel good, so I plop it in the HAPPY folder.

How does a smile file combat the Negative Nelly comments? Well, it turns out that researchers have looked into the impact of praise versus criticism in various settings--business and marriage are two commonly referenced settings. Most of the research suggests that there is a sweet spot of positive and negative reviews, which is 5:1. That means it takes about five positive events to overcome just one negative one.  I think my parent note required 25:1!

Having that smile file handy means that when the big negative hits and you're feeling low, you have instant, unsolicited happy at your fingertips. In fact, I often determine what I need to put in my own HAPPY file based on how specific the praise is. For my situation, parent notes about how much I had helped their child or observation notes from other teachers would have helped me attack the "terrible teacher" story that I was telling myself.

Brené Brown, researcher and author calls the "terrible teacher" story your SFD, or shoddy first draft, based on the work of Anne Lamott. (Truth be told,  "shoddy" is a less colorful phrase for what Anne actually means by SFD!) In Brown's interpretation, she used SFD to describe the story we tell ourselves based on the evidence provided, even if our interpretation has big holes. What gets you to start revising that first draft of the story you tell yourself can be some evidence to the contrary. If the 5:1 is accurate, a healthy smile file might be what moves you into revising that SFD.

We are often willing to share negative, embarrassing or awful stories about ourselves, but use this as your chance to brag on how great you really are. And then print it for your smile file...you might need it someday. You might also want to find a colleague who needs a little something for her smile file, so send a note with some specifics about what you appreciate about them.

In the spirit of 5:1, share the good stuff in the comments or tweet it out. Remember to tag your friends and colleagues! We'll call it our #SmileFileRevolution!
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3 Secrets to Supporting Innovation



I can find inspiration in some unlikely places. This quote from Just Listen is a prime example. While Sarah Dessen is a lovely writer, I prefer dystopia to suburbia when reading YA, but this line from a decade-old novel for teenage girls has really hits home when I think about how we function in a team.

I hear from teachers about their fear of speaking up in planning meetings, PLCs, or the teacher work room. This is especially true of beginning teachers, who are still learning the norms of their buildings. Teachers--new and veteran-- often keep ideas to themselves, protected from the judgement of colleagues who aren't always good at hiding disapproval.

New ideas often mean change, which is scary. It's even scarier to think that maybe change is necessary. While new and better are not synonymous, teachers often scrunch their noses with suspicion of anything touted as the latest and greatest.

Ever uttered the phrase, "What we've always done is..."? Yeah, me too.  It's a creativity crusher.

Colleagues learn to keep ideas to themselves bypassing judgment. But what they are also bypassing is the opportunity to grow as  professionals, being part of a community, and building relationships.

So how can we support beginning teachers--or any teachers-- who want to try new things?  I think these questions might be part of the secret sauce. 

3 Questions that Support Innovation

If you're a teacher who has an idea to share, spend some time thinking about the answers to the following questions. It will help you determine if your idea has legs and give you some selling points when you talk to colleagues.

If you're working with a beginning teacher, consider asking these questions to the newbie to help develop the idea. It will help the new teacher grow as a reflective educator. These questions are not about judgement; they're about understanding each other's perspectives.

Just working through these questions will support you as a growing professional, who wants to be part of a community and build relationships. 

1. What is the motivation for trying this new thing? 
Knowing the root of an idea can be the key piece of information to help everyone understand. 

2. Who are other folks who have tried this? 
Whether it is a pillar of educational research or the teacher down the hall, knowing that a strategy or lesson has been successful elsewhere can often sway the seemingly unswayable. 

3. What do I have to know about myself for this to be successful? 
New strategies can rarely be effective if the teacher is not mentally prepared for the task.

    Motivation

    Often, just answering the first question can open up a dialogue between teachers. Figure out what itch you're trying to scratch.  There is rarely an easy answer for challenges we face, though we may operate under that belief. The new idea should be one of several that the team of teachers should explore as a solution to the problem. Seize the opportunity for community building as teachers share their own experiences tackling similar problems.  Read more about how we can get in the way of our own creativity.  If the idea still seems viable, move on to the second question.

    Research

    Do I think that every idea you ever put into place has to have a peer-reviewed publication to support it? Nope. Do I think your super innovative way to solve XYZ problem in the classroom is 100% original? Nope. 

    That's the thing about education. Even when we have these amazing ideas that we've never seen done in a classroom, there's usually something out there that is similar. That's NOT a bad thing! Evidence from professional reading, colleagues, teacher blogs, or wherever reinforces an argument for trying something new. 

    Know your audience. Some teachers are only willing to listen to ideas that have been classroom-tested in similar schools, while others want strategies grounded in valid and reliable research. Plan accordingly. While it may seem like extra work, looking at an idea through the lens of research also helps make a vapor of an idea into something solid to implement. 

    Know Thyself

    You can't argue with Greek philosophers. If the idea has survived the first two questions, it's the third one that will help you determine if you are ready to put into place in your classroom. 

    Being honest about your strengths and weaknesses in a classroom is important. Though that doesn't mean that you must resign yourself to the way things are. Implementing a whole class workshop model or inquiry-based teaching may not go well if classroom management is a challenge. The problem is not in the model, but the setting. Tightening up your management skills and then try something new.

    Whether it is a strong technology skill set or tolerance for noise and movement during a lesson, plan ways to overcome barriers to success a teacher might encounter when trying this new idea. Having a trusted colleague, teammate or mentor can help shine a light on some areas that may interfere with success.

    Holding it In

    “Sometimes it seems safer to hold it all in, where the only person who can judge is yourself.” 
    Putting yourself out there can be a scary place. One of my heroes, Brené Brown wrote a whole book on it. But that doesn't mean it's not worth it.

    Reflect on times in your career where you've pushed yourself to try something new. How did that work for you? Are you holding back something right now because it feels safer?  How's that working for you? Share your stories in the comments. 
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    The Most Underrated Professional Development Tool

    If I could guarantee that you could get something good out of every professional development experience you participate in, you'd probably ask me if I'd sold magic beans to Jack recently. I know it sounds like a fairy tale or some gimmick, but I think there is one tool in a teacher's toolkit that is underrated, overlooked, or unrecognized.

    If you're like a typical 21st century teacher, you've probably seen a few memes like this floating around social media. If you've ever said anything like this before walking into a PD session or faculty meeting, you were actually using the best PD tool out there. Just like The Force, it can be used for both good and evil. And this guy is setting himself up for a disastrous professional development session because he has set an intention of being bored.

    Yup, intention is the most underrated professional development tool and until recently, I didn't realize how much power it had.

    Last year, I had beginning teachers share a piece of advice with the next cohort and one teacher's words really struck me. She said, "Go to every induction seminar with an open mind.  You will get out of it what you put in, so have a good attitude and be thankful for the opportunity you have to become a better teacher!”

    That statement stuck with me. Honestly, I reread it multiple times and was so excited to share that with future induction teachers. Of course, I hadn't realized that teacher was speaking as much to me as she was her fellow newbies. She understood intention better than I did.

    You Get Out of It What You Put In

    This bit of wisdom resurfaced a few months later as I sat in a professional development training on coaching with Elena Aguilar in which she began every day with an intention-setting activity. I had never started a meeting with a formalized written intention, but in doing so, I realized how powerful that small moment was. I jotted it at the top of my daily agenda and found myself referring back to it all day.

    One day, my intention was to be present in the training. Seems silly, right?  How could I not be present if my rear end is in the chair?  But I think we all have had the experience of drifting to our to-do list, thinking about what else I need to work on, or even mindlessly scroll through social media or email on your phone. It's that last one--checking email--that sent up a red flag.

    I avoid lengthy phone usage out of respect to the presenter, but I often do a quick email check to see if the world is falling apart without my attention. (Dear Self, An ego check is needed ASAP!) So when I grabbed my phone to check in as usual, my written intention was looking back at me in my  own purple cursive writing.  I set my intention about being focused and, in that moment, it occurred to me that that email check was bigger than being a disengaged participant. I was actually going against my own intention of being present. The phone went back in my bag and I've been a believer in intention ever since.

    Beginning with Intention

    I am certainly no expert, and I still have to make a conscious decision to set positive intentions. Sometimes I forget, but I've learned I can set an intention at anytime, even if it's halfway through a meeting.

    For me, it's a work in progress. One statement I am leaning heavily on during those must-do activities is "I intend to learn something new or expand my understanding." Mostly it's a mental intention, but reflecting on my experience with Elena, I think more written intentions will be helpful to me as well. I've even tried to incorporate some intention setting for participants at the beginning of PD sessions that I am leading.

    What about you? What could be the intention mantra for you? Share in the comments below.

    Want some resources? Here is a great beginning step to setting intentions. Just three things to consider as you create and set your intentions. Tip #1 is the antidote for the grumpy meme above. :)



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