Thursday, January 3, 2013

Back so soon! New Year Happenings!

Today was my first day back with the kiddos! Break seems like it just started yesterday :) As much as we needed the time apart from each other, I was so happy to see their smiling faces today!

After we spend the morning sharing all of our special news from winter break, we talked about New Year's resolutions. My kiddos are all about making goals, so this idea really resonated with them!






I am using Anna Brantley's New Year's Resolution template, and an idea from A Cupcake for the Teacher, to make this! I really liked the writing part of this page because it not only asked the kiddos to make their resolutions, but to explain why and how they are going to accomplish it. I think kids miss out on the "accomplishing" part a lot, especially since it is something only they are responsible for.

We also wrote goals for our behavior for the month of January. We have been reading the book The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey and if you have not read it to your kids yet, DO IT! It is a phenomenal way to give your kids a vocabulary on goal setting and being in charge of themselves.

So many of my kiddos wrote their goals for January saying they would "Be Proactive" (Meaning be in charge of themselves) and "Begin with the End in Mind" (Meaning make a plan for themselves). I almost started jumping for joy!




Here are the goal setting sheets I use for each month. I included all 12 months so you could use them anytime. They are just little half sheets so the kids can keep them in their folders and access them quickly.

Luckily, this first week back isn't too bad because we can ease into it with 2 days. Next week is gonna be tough!

Happy (almost) Friday!
Sarah

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Sarah!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and following me! I am your newest follower! You have some super cute products! I will follow your store too!
Kim
TheVeryBusyFirstGraders

O FISH ally a First Grader (Corinna) said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I'm always looking for other first grade teachers to follow. I believe I'm your 110th follower! Congratulations! If you decide to celebrate with a giveaway, let me know. I would be happy to donate something from my store. It looks like you had some great freebies for your Happy Holidays Giveaway. Thanks for sharing!

karen @ Smarticle Particles said...

Hi Sarah,
Thanks for following my blog! I'm now following yours as well. I really liked the New Years Resolution activities you did with your kiddos. I agree with you that the kids miss the "how to" part of goal setting, and that planning, brainstorming and problem solving is part of the process that needs to be taught. I'm going to get the 7 habits book and give it (and your very smart goal setting sheets) a whirl!

Have a great day!
karen
LittleSecond-GradeSomebodies

Anonymous said...

What cute resolutions! I love it that you have your kiddos set goals each month. I jusr recently started talking about goal setting with my own class. I'm hoping it will really work! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm now a new follower of yours!

Karen
anappleadayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I love that your kiddos set goals each month. I have started talking about goal setting with my own class. I hope that it catches on! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am a new follower!

Karen
anappleadayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com

 
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