To be honest, teacher classroom goals have been my elusive white whale for quite some time. For years, I’ve spent the majority of my time living into what my life will become.

I will lose more weight.

I will achieve this benchmark in my teaching.

I will see this growth in my business.

But the problem was, I was obsessed with the word “will.” It consumed me so completely that I became paralyzed by the fear of not achieving my “will.” As soon as I uttered the words “I will,” I thought, “but what if I don’t?”

Have you ever experienced this? I have to tell you it has been one of the greatest challenges of my life and once had a profound impact on who I was. I was the woman who was always afraid to fail, so I had to maintain control of everything.

This severely impacted my relationships with my students and my setting classroom goals. Why? Because I couldn’t give them everything they needed and continue in my comfort zone of control. I had to let go.

Are you ready to begin your journey to tripling your impact in the classroom? CLICK HERE for your free guide and ready made templates.

So what are some easy ways you can start using strategies for independent learning and impacting your students more? Glad you asked!

Set small goals in the classroom to celebrate progress

I know this can be easier said than done, especially with the outside pressures of standardized testing and such. We are constantly bombarded with messages that tell us student progress is not as important as student achievement, wrong! Recognizing student progress is so important for their growth and yours. When you’re focused more on the journey than the destination, you start to really see your students’ strengths and development. Look for ways to praise individual students. State specific praise such as, “Wow, Julie, I love the way that you illustrated your journal page!” or “Juan, thank you for sharing your markers, that is so kind!”

Reframe “failure” with differentiation of instruction

Yes I put that in quotation marks because failure doesn’t exist. That’s right, failure is a state of mind and only that. You can do something incorrectly, or with negative consequences, but whether or not you’ve failed is up to you. Whether or not your students have failed is up to you. Read more HERE.

Use strategies for independent learning so your students can guide their experiences

Look for leadership opportunities for your students. See where you can test their ability to learn independently or to help you instruct. One of my favorite ways to do this is letting my students lead our morning meeting time because it makes them feel very important. I am always amazed how well they can lead this daily routine. Try this strategy and I promise they will surprise you every time. Once you begin trusting your students in the process, you can give them more responsibility. Less responsibility for you means more opportunities to serve your students.

Boom cards are ready made resources to guide your students’ independent learning. One of the reasons that I love them so much is because I can use them in centers and they provide great strategies for differentiation!  We have included audio in our Boom decks, so students can work without constantly interrupting you. This frees you up to reach your teacher classroom goals, and the bonus is that students love them! We have them for every subject. See More!

So, I hope if you are like I was that you will try these strategies that will help you meet your teacher classroom goals.

Start by signing up for our FREE teacher guide with ready made templates. 

Until next week,