SMART Goals and E-Portfolios

Next week, students will lead conferences with their parents.  I am very excited about what the ASPIRE 5 class has to share.  First, students have been working hard writing their SMART goals for the new year.  SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  We are writing three different goals for the 2014-2015 school year.  Academic goals will be focused on a specific content area and skill students want to improve.  Career goals will focus on a strategy that could help them in a future career.  It could be specific like equations, or more general such as problem solving or leadership skills.  In addition, a personal goal has been set to help them with life skills such as organization or collaborative learning.

The students are also working hard to prepare their new e-portfolio.  All GCISD students will use e-portfolios in future years.  Many classes across the district are currently piloting the program.  While ASPIRE is not part of the official pilot, we are using them so that students can showcase their digital work.  After uploading their SMART goals, students will customize their webpages with their favorite digital work samples.  The exciting part is how they will be able to reflect on their work as they progress through every grade level.  The e-portfolio will stay with them as long as they are in GCISD, which will give them an opportunity to see their academic growth.  This has the potential to be a very powerful tool, and I can’t wait for the students to unveil their creations next week!