Teaching Goals for the New School Year
Do you want to improve from one year to the next? Pick a few of these teaching goals to level up!
Why Teaching Goals Are Important
No doubt you give your students speeches on the importance of goal setting. You can apply that same reasoning to your profession.
Growing Is Stimulating
Even if you are a great teacher, there is always room to grow. That’s not depressing; it’s exciting!
You still have unrealized potential as a teacher and as a person.
Having a goal keeps you from stagnating by focusing on the next horizon.
You’re in the Same Boat as Your Students
Who you are is as much a lesson to your students as what you teach.
Your character qualities and core values set templates for the students to follow.
You want your students to be lifelong learners…are you?
Goals keep you learning, trying, and sometimes failing…that’s a good thing.
Not only can you relate to your students, but you can also model grit and dedication.
Goals Make You More Productive
When you have a goal, you have to make plans to reach that goal (S.M.A.R.T. plans, to be exact).
By setting individual milestones along the way, you can check off tasks each day or week until you reach your goal.
Having a plan makes you more productive. It’s better than floating through your school year.
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Teaching Goals for the New School Year
Start this year with a plan for professional development.
From bite-size to full-size goals, these professional goals will help you be a better teacher.
Staying on Top of Grading
One constant in teaching is the paperwork. No matter what grade or subject you teach, you have piles of papers in your life.
Make a goal to stay on top of your grading this year.
You can’t just wish this into being; you need a plan to make it happen.
Carve out time on your daily or weekly calendar to get through the paperwork. Time management is a must-have skill for teachers.
Making Efficient and Effective Lesson Plans
Do you wish your lesson plans were, well, better?
Or maybe you have experience designing effective lesson plans, but they take you far too long to write.
Look into an online lesson planning tool like Planbook, that has pre-built templates, stock lesson ideas, and shareable options.
Have some grab-and-go activities that adapt to any subject, like these 5 Hands-On Activities for Any Subject.
Implementing or Updating Centers
Learning centers not only make learning more hands-on, but they also free you up to help individual students.
If you are starting with learning centers, begin with a limited rotation. Plan to add to them over the course of the year.
If you have existing centers, give them a much-needed refresh. Have you tried digital escape rooms? What about file folder games?
Rethinking Classroom Set-Up
Is your room setup optimizing learning?
Consider rearranging your room for the year (or even for a season).
Check out these ideas on classroom set-up.
Help your students focus by adding some alternative seating.
Reorganizing Classroom Library
Do you have a classroom library? Consider how it can work better in your classroom.
Do you have a reading nook? Creating a zone for reading does more than promote literacy; it gives students a space to calm themselves.
Consider reorganizing the books in your classroom library.
Create a feature wall or book display with monthly recommendations.
Sort the books into seasons, levels, or genres.
Are you looking to add some books to your collection? Check out this list of books on back-to-school.
Here are some more book ideas (We have books for every month):
Starting/Updating Your Parent Newsletter
If one of your teaching goals for this school year is better communicating with parents, consider the classroom newsletter.
A classroom newsletter is a place to inform and connect with parents.
If what you have been doing is not working optimally, try something new.
Consider moving to an online teacher newsletter, like this one from Smore.
Organizing Your Bulletin Boards Ahead of Time
Do you feel that your bulletin boards are lackluster? Or maybe they look amazing but take too long to set up.
Make a teaching goal to organize and set up your bulletin boards for the new school year before the year even starts.
You can store your upcoming bulletin board materials for when you need them.
If you need ideas for creative bulletin boards, we have them for every month of the year and special categories like SEL and Black History Month.
Here are some to get you started:
Trying a New Signature Event
Although students often forget the day-to-day, they remember the signature events from the school year.
These events, like dramatic productions, field trips, creative projects, and special activities are highlights for the year.
Try a new event this year. Consider hosting a book tasting.
Take new in-person or virtual field trips.
Dramatize a historical event or one of your literature books.
Doing Individual Professional Development
As a teacher, you have mandatory professional development meetings and courses.
Why not create your own plan and read or listen to something you know will help you?
Check out this list of professional development books for teachers.
You can also find podcasts that focus on professional development. Listen to one a week on your ride to work.
You can also set aside time to read an article per week on this site. We have lots of topics that can help you grow as a teacher.
Consider this series on helping struggling students:
- 10 Tips for Helping Struggling Readers
- How to Help Struggling Writers
- How to Teach Multiplication to Struggling Students
- How to Teach Letter Sounds to Struggling Students
- How to Help Students Who are Discouraged
Taking Care of Yourself
Perhaps you are thinking, “How is this a professional goal?”
If you were run-down or overwhelmed this past year, you need to make a change so you can avoid teacher burnout.
Again, self-care cannot be a wish or an empty resolution. It won’t happen in the busy school year.
Make an action plan to set aside time for these activities for self-care for teachers.
Trying New Classroom Management Techniques
If your classroom isn’t under control, you can’t teach, and students can’t learn. Period.
Try some new classroom management techniques.
Implement some tried and true classroom management strategies and establish classroom norms.
If you think improving your classroom management involves just being stricter, think again.
You can use creative techniques like desk pets to aid in classroom management.
Building Classroom Community
If you have your classroom management skills down pat, you may still need to improve your skills in establishing a classroom community.
Even incremental changes can help. Consider these ideas:
- How a Fun Fact of the Day Can Build Classroom Community
- Accountable Talk in the Elementary Classroom
- Why Jokes for Kids Are Good for Your Classroom
Setting Teaching Goals for the Year
Goals aren’t just for dreamers, they are for teachers who want to make yearly progress in their profession.
You don’t need to work on the entire list, but pick one or two small goals (or one large goals with multiple elements) to work on this year.
You’re on the way to being your best self!
