Teaching is one of the most essential careers for the younger generation. Teachers have the heavy responsibility of educating students, which affects their future trajectory in the many years to come.
To be an effective teacher, you can’t forget to set goals for yourself. More precisely, SMART goals are the way to go.
Why? Because they allow you to elevate student learning and engagement to new levels. Here is what you need to know about developing SMART goals as a teacher.
What is a SMART Goal?
To make your goals more powerful, ensure they follow the SMART criteria:
- Specific: Clear, concise, and understandable
- Measurable: Track your progress toward goal attainment
- Attainable: Reasonable and within your abilities
- Relevant: Aligns with your ideal values and long-term ambitions
- Time-based: Have a realistic deadline to pace yourself
Many people hope to become better teachers. But they don’t have any real idea of how to accomplish it. That’s why the SMART framework is your best friend.
The more precisely defined your goal is, the higher your likelihood of completing it. So never underestimate the importance of setting SMART goals.
Why is it Important for Teachers to Set SMART Goals?
As a teacher, you should strive to make learning as engaging as possible for students in the classroom. SMART goals provide educators with the capabilities to increase student motivation and progress.
With more specific and measurable benchmarks, your students have realistic goals to achieve, resulting in positive results. That’s to say, everyone benefits from SMART goal setting.
Using SMART goals will set the foundation for success in your future endeavors. Doing so will allow you and your students to work together to continuously improve in the classroom.
It’s truly inspiring to watch your students upgrade their performance with your support. This will continue to motivate everyone involved to keep setting objectives later down the road.
By the end of the school year, using the SMART goal method will surely get your students to succeed academically.
9 Examples of SMART Goals for Teachers
All teachers should constantly seek to help their students achieve academic success. Below you will find 9 examples of SMART goals for teachers:
1. Increase Student Engagement
SMART Goal: I will aim to increase student engagement in the class by 10% within the next month. To do so, I’ll avoid lectures and rely more on hands-on fun activities.
- Specific: This teacher wants to increase student engagement by 10%, which is a specific goal.
- Measurable: You can track your goal by observing students’ engagement during class and through surveys.
- Attainable: The goal statement is realistic and achievable, given the available resources and time frame.
- Relevant: This is relevant to the teacher’s job because student engagement is important for student success.
- Time-based: This SMART goal has a specific time frame of one month.
2. Encourage Parent Communications
SMART Goal: In the next year, I hope to encourage parent communication by setting monthly meetings with parents. This ensures that the parents know how well their children are doing in class.
- Specific: This is specific because the teacher wants to schedule monthly meetings with parents.
- Measurable: The teacher can measure goal completion by counting the number of monthly meetings.
- Attainable: Communicating more with parents is realistic and achievable.
- Relevant: This relates to a teacher’s job of supporting parent-teacher communication.
- Time-based: There is a deadline of one year for goal completion.
3. Keep an Organized Classroom
SMART Goal: In three weeks, I want to become more organized in the classroom so students can find what they need more easily. I will use shelves and clean up the desks to help everyone be more effective with time.
- Specific: The teacher has explicit actions to be more organized in the classroom and help students find what they need more easily.
- Measurable: You could track goal progress by checking how easily students can find materials in the classroom.
- Attainable: The goal statement is achievable because organizing is not a huge, daunting task.
- Relevant: Staying organized will help the teacher save more time in the long run.
- Time-based: This goal should be accomplished in three weeks.
4. Facilitate Student Learning
SMART Goal: I would like to reduce the number of students failing by 5% within the next semester. I’ll encourage office hours to allow my students to speak with me one-on-one about their concerns and troubles regarding class materials.
- Specific: We want to reduce the number of students failing by 5%.
- Measurable: The teacher could track how many students have failed over time.
- Attainable: Improving student learning and performance is possible with directed effort.
- Relevant: This is related since student success is a significant aspect of a teacher’s responsibilities.
- Time-based: You have a specific end date of one semester for this goal.
5. Improve Test Scores
SMART Goal: I’ll aim to boost average test scores by 3 points over the course of four months. I’ll assign homework and team project assignments to encourage effective learning both in and outside class.
- Specific: The teacher has a specific action of boosting average test scores with educational assignments.
- Measurable: You may determine progress toward your goal by checking the average test score regularly.
- Attainable: Improving test scores is achievable by encouraging efficient learning.
- Relevant: Higher student performance is related to a teacher’s job.
- Time-based: There is a four-month end date to meet this goal.
6. Reduce Student Tardiness
SMART Goal: I want to reduce student tardiness by 5% by the end of the month. I’ll set clear expectations and consequences to ensure students actively attend my class.
- Specific: The specific goal is to cut down student tardiness by 5%.
- Measurable: You can measure this by looking at the number of tardies per class period.
- Attainable: The goal is feasible by drawing the line on expectations for students.
- Relevant: This is relevant to the teacher because it affects classroom management.
- Time-based: You must complete this goal by the end of the month.
7. Track Student Progress
SMART Goal: For three months, I will create a system for tracking student progress to help me identify struggling students sooner. To do this, I’ll check in with each student once a week and keep detailed notes on their performance.
- Specific: This teacher has specific steps for checking in with students and noting their performance.
- Measurable: The teacher might observe how well the system works and whether it helps them identify struggling students sooner.
- Attainable: The SMART goal is realistic because the deadline isn’t too tight.
- Relevant: Supporting struggling students is essential for success as a teacher.
- Time-based: You have a three-month timeline to pursue and reach this goal.
8. Be More Positive
SMART Goal: I want to create a positive learning environment in my classroom for the entire school year. I will try to give encouraging words and avoid negativity when speaking to my students.
- Specific: The teacher wants to be more positive toward their students by encouraging words and avoiding negativity.
- Measurable: Progress can be tracked by how often you use positivity in student interactions.
- Attainable: Becoming more positive is absolutely doable for any teacher out there.
- Relevant: Teachers should create a positive classroom for students to learn effectively.
- Time-based: This has a time frame of one school year for goal attainment.
9. Get Better at Public Speaking
SMART Goal: Within 5 months, I want to improve my public speaking skills to deliver lectures more effectively. I will try to give at least one speech per month.
- Specific: You can improve your public speaking skills by giving more speeches.
- Measurable: The teacher must make sure they give at least one speech each month.
- Attainable: Improving communication skills is relevant to all teachers.
- Relevant: Public speaking is a crucial part of delivering lectures as a teacher.
- Time-based: You have 5 months to finish this certain goal.
Final Thoughts
The above SMART goals examples are only a handful of teachers may set for themselves. If you find the ones listed do not fit your current situation, feel free to explore different goals for yourself.
Remember that the sky’s the limit when setting goals. And if you ever need help achieving your goals, plenty of resources and people are available to support you.
So what are you waiting for? Start establishing some SMART teacher goals today to ensure your students can thrive in the classroom.
