I feel good about math!
I set my goals.
I work on my goals.
I reflect on my progress.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
What is Student Agency?
Student Agency refers to the goal setting, reflection, and responsible actions of students that effect changes in their learning.
When students have agency they are empowered to:
- have ownership,
- make choices,
- give voice to and about their learning,
in ways that are meaningful and promote learning.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Agency in the classroom environment must foster trust between teachers and students. Agency is a responsibility that has to be built so that students can understand the choices they are making.
For Student Agency to occur, teachers must invite students to be part of their learning experiences and then give them the authority to have a voice in how their learning is being shaped.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Agency gives the students voice and choice in ways that are meaningful and promote student growth.
Students should be given agency in regards to the goals they set, the actions they take to achieve them, and the adjustments they make to their goals based on their progress.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Students develop confidence and recognize their progress and growth by setting goals.
Why is setting goals so important?
ST Math Camps are designed to support students in building agency, confidence, perseverance, and intrinsic motivation. An important part of the ST Math Camp experience is setting goals.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Goal setting supports student growth and development by increasing opportunities:
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for student agency,
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to communicate accomplishments,
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to identify areas for improvement,
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to encourage time management,
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to focus on strategies that overcome challenges.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
As students go through ST Math Camps, engage them in goal-setting conversations to help them develop key skills.
Click below to go deeper with goal setting!
Establish appropriate goals.
Become self-directed learners.
Build strategies to monitor progress toward the goals.
Plan strategies focused on achieving the goals.
Adjust goals based on quantitative and qualitative data.
Identify challenges to achieving the goals.
Establish success criteria:
How will they know if they have achieved their goal?
What evidence do they have that they have achieved their goal?
Evaluate the opportunity, reasonableness, and effectiveness of their goals.
Goal setting
helps students...
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Each week as you discuss goal setting with students select one of the key skills to focus on developing students skills. Take time to answer questions:
Identify challenges to achieving the goals.
What does it mean?
What does it look like in ST Math?
What specific actions will help develop that skill?
How can students evaluate the effectiveness of the skill?
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Use the weekly goal-setting discussions as an opportunity to promote:
growth mindset
confidence
perseverance
agency
Click below to learn more about the Goal Setting Guide for:
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Students record the goal and date for each ST Math login throughout all five weeks.
At the conclusion of the week, students record the total number of minutes spent on ST Math and puzzles earned.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Students set one goal for each station. In addition to the goal, have students think about how they will achieve it.
At the end of the week, have students write a success or a challenge they encountered related to their goals.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Students set at least one goal per week depending on the length of the program. Students can set up to seven goals per sheet.
As students reach their goals, they can color the corresponding area on their sheet.
Celebrations
Remember to celebrate when students achieve their goals!
Give students one of our celebration notes. Check out our Celebration Resources page for more ideas. For information on celebrating students, visit our Focus on Celebrating page.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
Click here to go deeper with celebrations.
Developing Agency Through Goal Setting
A few things to remember:
Student Agency is about empowering students to promote learning.
Teachers must invite students to be part of their learning experiences.
Settings goals is an important skill for students to learn.
Goal setting supports student growth and development.
Conversations about goal setting help students develop their skills.