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Goal-setting, metacognition, critical thinking, and creativity/innovation are the four skills considered most important for effective learning.

Goal-setting

Extensive research has shown that a scaffolded and supported goal-setting process, particularly one where students choose their own goals, enhances student motivation and academic achievement85 and specifically helps in developing second-language proficiency.86

Researchers typically divide goals into two types – learning goals (also known as mastery goals) and performance goals. Learning goals are motivated by a desire to increase one's skills and ability in an area or in accomplishing a task, while performance goals tend to be more motivated by a desire for recognition – from friends, teachers, or family – and a competitive desire to “be better” than others. Students have been found to persist more when they face obstacles if they are focusing on learning, rather than on performance goals.87

This heightened level of perseverance is generated because learning goals can often be more likely achieved by effort without a finite end point (“I want to be more focused in class” or “I want to speak English more clearly and with more confidence”). Performance goals are more easily attributed to innate ability with a more definitive ending – that is also based on an outsider recognizing it – so a student can give up on working toward achieving it more easily if it doesn't appear in reach at some point (“I want to get an ‘A’ this semester” or “I want to read 10 books this semester”) or cease trying once it's assured.

Interestingly, those who make a higher priority of learning goals have been shown to achieve higher performance levels than those who actually emphasize performance goals.88 When students are focused on a performance goal, they tend to pay less attention to “understanding” and more on “the score.” For example, one of the formative assessment tools we regularly use with our students is having them read passages to us – individually – for a minute each and then count the number of words they read accurately, while at the same time noting their level of prosody (reading with feeling and intonation). A performance-goal-oriented student might try to rush through this evaluation of reading fluency to get the highest word count number possible, notwithstanding our cautions about accuracy and prosody, and may not care if they know the meaning of many the words they are reading. On the other hand, a student with a learning goal of improving their reading comprehension, fluency, and prosody is likely to have a much higher increase in their overall literacy level.

That is not to say that performance goals are evil. We live in the world as it is, not the world as we would like it to be. In the world as it is, most school cultures (and the culture outside the four walls of educational institutions) put a high value on performance goals – grades, test scores, and so forth. As you will see in the Goal Setting and Planning Sheet (see Exhibit 2.1), the form does include space for one performance goal, with several other spaces for learning ones. As with most things, it's not a question of either/or. Rather, it's more of a question of where we place an emphasis. Researchers suggest that including a performance goal is fine as long as the person “has the knowledge to attain it.”89 This is just one of many reasons we began this section discussing a “scaffolded and supported” goal-setting process. Teachers can play a key role in helping students choose challenging, yet realistic, goals. However, it's critical that students take the lead in setting their goals because of the effect it can have on increasing intrinsic motivation, its effectiveness in helping them more ably suppress distractions, and its impact on strengthening perseverance.90

Recent research suggests that self-perception also plays a major role in accomplishing goals, and that it might be valuable to say, “I am a writer, and will learn the skills needed to write better in English over the next two months” instead of just saying “I will learn the skills needed to be better in English over the next two months.”91

The next “Goal-Setting Lesson Plan” provides step-by-step instructions on how to apply these points in the classroom. You can also find additional lesson plans and other resources about goals in our previous book, The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide92 and in Larry's books, Helping Students Motivate Themselves,93 Self-Driven Learning,94 and Building a Community of Self-Motivated Learners.95

Goal-setting Lesson Plan

This lesson is designed for Early Intermediate ELLs and above, but can easily be modified for Beginners with even more simplified sentence frames.

Instructional Objectives

Students will:

1. Practice English reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

2. Write a list of personal learning goals.

3. Develop a system of self-assessing their progress toward those goals.

Duration

Forty minutes, plus 15 minutes each week or every other week for self-assessment of progress.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards

Writing

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Speaking and Listening

• Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

• Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Language

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Materials

• Access to the Internet and a computer projector to show a video from the Best Video Clips on Goal Setting (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/07/11/the-best-video-clips-on-goal-setting-help-me-find-more/).

• Student copies of the Goal Setting and Planning Sheet (Exhibit 2.1).

• Student copies of the Goals Feedback Form (Exhibit 2.2) when self-assessments are done weekly or biweekly.

• Individual notebooks or folders for each student.

Procedure

First Day

1. The teacher writes the word “goal” on the board and asks students to write down anything they know about the word or any similar or related words. Students share what they wrote with a partner, and the teacher invites some to share with the entire class. Once the definition is clear, the teacher tells students that scientists have found that people tend to be more successful – they accomplish more of what they want – by setting goals and regularly checking to see how they are doing in achieving them.

2. The teacher then shares an example from her life in which she set a goal and accomplished it, and how she felt that setting a goal helped her (for example, when she felt discouraged, remembering her goal kept her going).

3. Next, the teacher shows a video of the 2012 Volkswagen commercial titled “Dog Strikes Back” or another video of her choice at the Best Video Clips on Goal Setting (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2013/07/11/the-best-video-clips-on-goal-setting-help-me-find-more/).

4. The teacher then lists these questions on the overhead and asks students to work in pairs and write down the answers in complete sentences (the questions can be modified for different video clips):

• What was the dog's goal?

• What actions did the dog take to accomplish his goal?

• How did the dog check to see if he was making progress in accomplishing his goal?

• What obstacles (problems) do you think the dog had when trying to accomplish his goal?

• Did he accomplish the goal?

• Students share their answers with a partner and then the teacher reviews them with the entire class and collects the responses.

5. Then, the teacher explains that she's given an example of goal setting in her life, they've seen a commercial about goal setting, and that now it's time for students to set their own goals. She then distributes a copy of the Goal Setting and Planning Sheet (Exhibit 2.1). The teacher completes a model for the “Attitude” section for herself, and then students work on that section. She may need to explain the meanings of some words, and can ask more fluent English students to assist others. The whole class should go through the form together section by section.

6. Students can then share their completed forms in groups of three or four, and be told that they can make changes to their forms if they hear ideas they like from their classmates.

7. Students should have regular class notebooks or folders where they can tape or glue their Goal Sheets. The teacher will need to review the completed forms in order to follow up with each student in individual conversations. If the teacher does not have regular access to student folders/notebooks, she can collect the forms to photocopy. She can return them the next day and ask students to then glue them in their notebooks.

Weekly or Biweekly

1. Feedback, including self-feedback, is a critical component of successful goal-setting.96 Therefore, each week or every 2 weeks, perhaps on Mondays, students can review their goals and complete the Goals Feedback Form (Exhibit 2.2). Students can be given the option to share with classmates before turning in their forms to the teacher. This kind of regular self-monitoring and evaluating is also considered a hallmark of metacognition,97 the next skill we'll be discussing.

Assessment

• Collect and review video answers and completed goal forms.

• If the teacher feels a more involved assessment is necessary, you can develop a simple rubric appropriate for your class situation. Free online resources to both find premade rubrics and create your own can be found at the Best Rubric Sites and a Beginning Discussion about Their Use (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/09/18/the-best-rubric-sites-and-a-beginning-discussion-about-their-use/).

Possible Extensions and Modifications

• Students can make posters about their goals, which can be hung up around the classroom or on windows for others to see.

• The teacher can take a photo of student written goals or a poster and have students do an audio recording. See the next Tech Tools box for more information.

• Recent research suggests that intrinsic motivation can be increased further if students take another step after the three listed in Exhibit 2.1. In this fourth step, students could be asked “to write about the impact that achieving each goal would have on specific aspects of their lives and the lives of others.”98 As long as the teacher provides a model, this can be a useful extension activity.

Tech Tools

Voice Recording for Speaking Practice

If students create posters (or even any written work), turning them into a slideshow with audio narration of students saying their goals aloud provides great speaking practice for ELLs. There are many easy and free iPhone/iPad apps for making these presentations, including Shadow Puppet (http://get-puppet.co/education/), Fotobabble (http://www.fotobabble.com/) and VoiceThread (https://voicethread.com/). The slideshows can then be posted on a class blog for viewing (see Chapter 4 for a discussion of blogs).

Exhibit 2.1 . Goal Setting and Planning Sheet

Name ______________________

ATTITUDE

Goal: I am a ______________________(good learner, respectful person, helpful person, etc.) and I want to be even___________________________________ (more positive, more respectful, more eager to learn, more eager to help others, etc.).

Action: I will ________________________________ (remind myself each day that what I'm learning today will help me achieve my life dreams, offer to help another student each day, offer to help the teacher each day, etc.).

Obstacle: If __________________________ (I let boyfriend/girlfriend problems start affecting how I act in class, I feel sad in class about missing my family in Mexico, etc.), then I will _______________________ (ask to see the school counselor, write a letter to my sister, etc.).

ENGLISH

Goal: I am a _____________________ (writer, reader, good speaker, etc.) and I want to become a better ____________________ (writer, reader, speaker) in English.

Action: I will _____________________________ (do Duolingo or another computer site one half hour a day at home, ask the teacher for more challenging work, attend seventh period, etc.).

Obstacle: If __________________________ (I get distracted by Facebook, I start feeling like I don't want to do my homework), then I will __________________________ (stop being online and read an English book instead, think about how learning English will help me become successful in my long-term goal of becoming a doctor/lawyer/restaurant owner/etc.).

BEHAVIOR

Goal: I am a _______________________________ (serious student, a role model for my classmates, etc.) and I want to become _______________________________ (more focused, less talkative in class, more prepared, more respectful, etc. ).

Action: I will ____________________________________ (change my seat to sit farther away from a person I talk with too much, help other students more when I'm done with my work, ask the teacher how I can help, apologize when I do something wrong, etc.).

Obstacle: If ______________________________________ (I get distracted from my work, I don't feel like working, (talk to my friends too much in class), then I will ________________________ (ask to go outside for two minutes to collect my thoughts, ask to change seats, think about what a person I respect would do, etc.).

ACADEMIC

Goal: I am a _______________________ (scholar, serious student, etc.), and I want to get a(n) _______________________ (A, B, C) in class.

Action: I will __________________________________ (do my best work all the time, do harder projects on the computer, ask for extra credit work, etc.).

Obstacle: If __________________________________ (I get behind on doing my homework, I don't understand something in class , I don't feel like doing my best on an assignment, etc), then I will _____________________ (ask the teacher for a one-time extension on due date for homework, ask the teacher or a classmate about what I don't understand, remember how learning English will help me become successful in my long term goal of becoming a doctor/lawyer/restaurant owner/etc.).

Exhibit 2.2 . Goals Feedback Form

Name __________________________

Date ___________________________

ATTITUDE

Copy your goal here:

Did you make progress toward achieving your goal in the past week?

What did you do to make progress toward achieving your goal?

What can you do this week to make progress toward achieving your goal?

ENGLISH

Copy your goal here:

Did you make progress toward achieving your goal in the past week?

What did you do to make progress toward achieving your goal?

What can you do this week to make progress toward achieving your goal?

BEHAVIOR

Copy your goal here:

Did you make progress toward achieving your goal in the past week?

What did you do to make progress toward achieving your goal?

What can you do this week to make progress toward achieving your goal?

ACADEMIC

Copy your goal here:

Did you make progress toward achieving your goal in the past week?

What did you do to make progress toward achieving your goal?

What can you do this week to make progress toward achieving your goal?

Is there anything your teacher can do to help you achieve your goals?