Small steps to big goals: My contribution to the #SMILEgoal Challenge!

It’s such a great pleasure to take part in Josette’s blog challenge and it was truly motivational to watch her explain what SMILE stands for in her session on iTDI’s summer intensive. It’s not the first time Josette has been a source of inspiration for me. In fact, it was because of her that I wrote two of my latest blog posts (found here and here) People like Josette inspire us by simply being who they are. It was no different when I attended her iTDI presentation. I couldn’t miss it for two main reasons; first, because of Josette and secondly because goal setting matters so much in my life. A procrastinator by nature, setting goals and planning how to accomplish them have done wonders for me and have helped me have a clearer perception of what lies ahead. What I loved about Josette’s approach though, is how she transformed her goal setting approach into a positive, motivating experience that makes you SMILE at the end of the day. I felt that it was as if somebody was reading my mind, because she represented exactly how I feel about setting goals -taking small, yet meaningful, steps that give you the stength, inspiration and courage to move towards achieving one (or more) bigger goal(s).
Goal setting is also a major part of my teaching since I always work on such activities with my classes. In fact, her approach has also inspired a SMILE worksheet that I’m going to prepare for my students for our first back-to-school activities. However, school hasn’t started yet, so I’m here to share the goals I also shared with the wonderful iTDI community on the day of Josette’s presentation. There will be more goals to share once I’m back in school mode 🙂

 
***Background to the Goals: Goal 1: I’ve had a blog for the past 4 years, but I would like to enrich it more so as to create a bank of resources. Goal 2: Apart from blogging, I’ve realized that it helps me write down observations/comments/feelings related to my lessons immediately after my classes, so I’m also starting a reflections and positive thinking journal this year. Both goals will allow me to reflect on my teaching, assess my strenghts and weaknesses as a teacher and connect with more educators.***

Goals: To share more class activities on my blog and therefore create a bank of materials that could be useful to me and other educators. Also, I’m starting a reflections journal to better evaluate the outcomes of my lessons.

Simplify: My first goal is to write 2 posts per week, so I plan on spending 10-15 mins every day writing. Along with the blog, I will also keep a reflections and positive thinking journal which I will inform every day.
Measure: I will write on my journal every night and I will have two posts on my blog per week.
Integrate: Since I mostly teach in the afternoons, I will have my blogging time in the morning, preferrably after breakfast. I will do my reflections writing in the evening.
Lean in & Let go: This is the trickiest part for me as I need to work on my time management, especially when I’m busy preparing for school. My back-up plan is to write at the weekend if I’m unable to stick to my initial plan.
Enjoy: I will follow Josette’s advice and smile once I have completed my goals. Besides…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *