SMART Goal Setting

In order to help you set and meet your individual goals, we are going to look at protocol for goal setting that professionals use. The idea is to set smart goals that you can accomplish. So why do we call them SMART goals? Take a minute right now and think about each letter in the word SMART: S-M-A-R-T. What word might each letter stand for that would help you set and meet goals? Try and figure out at least one and leave your inference as a comment.

SMART goal indicators

• S - Simple - keep your goals directly related to the task at hand. Use your backwards plans.
• M - Measurable - your goal should show growth with demonstrable evidence.
  
• A - Achievable - your goal should be something that you can accomplish with effort.
• R - Realistic - no amount of effort or hard work can overcome an unrealistic goal.
• T - Time Table - your goal should have a deadline.

After looking at some examples of student goals, which can be found on any of the student blogs, you have to re-assess your own goals and see if they are SMART goals. If you feel that your goals aren't smart or are missing any of the indicators you can use the following template to help you set or re-set your goals.

SMART Goal template

By next blank blankI will blank blank blankand I will know I achieved blank blank blankbecause blank blank.

Does your 4th weekly goal include all the information that the SMART template provides? Everyone can practice using the template by restating your 4th weekly goal using the template and add it as a comment to your original post.

Searching For An Expert

By now everyone should have developed a list of questions and an introduction you would like to ask an expert in your project area. But how do we find experts? While there are some experts in the school that you can contact, everyone in here can start searching for an outside expert to ask for help and briefly interview with your questions. In fact, one of the best ways to gain new knowledge is to interview a person. That way, they share their knowledge in their own words, which means they are putting that knowledge in their own words from their perspective. This is a higher order of thinking that just giving you a list of facts and/or advice.

To start your expert search, you should begin by searching locally in Brooklyn and New York City in general for people with careers related to your field. For example, Mariah might search for chefs, television, New York

Let's look up the results that pop up and see if we can find contact info like an email address for Mariah.

Now that you've seen it's possible, spend some time trying different combinations of keywords in Google and see if you can find as many contacts to email your interview questions. Send me an email at the end of the period with all the contacts your are able to discover. Include the person or business's name, email address, and area of expertise.

Goal Reflection #2 and Goal Setting #3

Well, today it should be pretty clear that when you set your mind to something, you can achieve it. Before you reflect on last weeks goals and set new ones to move your project forward, consider what President-elect Barack Obama has achieved. It is a historic moment for America.

Think about Obama's path to becoming the next President of the United States. What goals do you think he set for himself? What was the most challenging one and how do you think he met that goal? Leave a comment below.

Your individual project should seem a little easier today, considering what Obama achieved yesterday after years (maybe decades) of hard work. Now you need to reflect on last week's goals and set new goals for yourself. Tomorrow you must present written or physical evidence that you met your most recent goals. Please follow the protocol for goal setting:

• Go to your project blog and leave a comment on last week's goal setting post reflecting on whether or not you achieved your goals.
  
• If you met your goals, please clearly explain how and what evidence you will show me tomorrow.
• If you did not meet your goals, clearly explain why you did not and what roadblocks impeded your progress. At this point, you must also answer the question "How will failure to meet my own goals affect me in life?"
• Post a NEW entry on your goals for next Tuesday, November 11th with the title GOALS #3.

Editing, Revision, and Introduction

Yesterday you submitted (or should be finishing) a minimum of seven questions for an outside expert in your field. Before you start searching for experts to contact you need to revise your questions for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. You need to make sure all your words are spelled correctly with proper capitalization. If we are going to ask people for help we need to convince them with both the questions we and how we ask them. Appearances are incredibly important when dealing with new people and new circumstances.

Based on the questions I've seen so far, everyone needs to go to their SENT box and open the email with the questions. Copy and Paste the questions into a new email and use the CHECK SPELLING feature in the top right of the tool bar. Send the questions again to me AND your feedback partner to double-check your spelling and grammar.

When you have finished revising your questions, you need to write a brief introductory preface for the email that you will send out to potential experts in your field. The preface should cover the following items:

• Introduce yourself and explain that you are working on an independent portfolio project at Brooklyn Prep High School.
  
• Explain how your project connects back to you and your interests.
• Explain how you discovered the person, group, or business's contact information.
• Ask them if they (or someone they know) would be willing to share their experience with you through a short email interview.
  
• Thank them in advance for any help that they may provide in your efforts.

Please save the preface as NAME_preface in your Google Documents and share the file with me.

Finding an Expert

Many of you are struggling with the idea of how to start your project, because there is an overwhelming amount of information on the Internet. As you know, information is nothing unless you are able to comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate it. In order to help find some guidance we will be searching for experts, or people who have already applied the kind of higher order thinking you will have to, to help us out with the project.

We happen to live in a city of experts. In terms of your projects, many of you will be able to find help and ideas within the school and others will have to look beyond the school walls. How you do find an expert? You search for people and contact information in the industry you are researching and you reach out to several of them until someone responds. I was contacted by a student at the Young Writer's Academy to talk about my work as a writer in Brooklyn. I sat down for an interview about my writing process. The student found my email on the Internet and contacted me. I responded because I thought it would be good for the community.

Before you start searching for an expert on your project (or area of interest), you will need to think of several questions to ask your expert. For example, Dominique wants to make an autobiographical film. She might ask an expert on film "Why did you get into film-making?", "What are the basic steps to making a film?", or "How can I plan out my film?"

Each of you needs to write a series of at least seven questions for an expert about your project. They should not be yes or no questions, but ones that will help guide your work. Email me your questions today at mr.powhida@gmail.com

If you finish your questions early, start searching for people in your field of interest or if you know a faculty member that might be able to help, include them in your email today. So, if you are making a video/film search for "Brooklyn, Film makers, production companies". If you are doing fashion, search for "Brooklyn, fashion designers," If you find any contact information, save it in your RESEARCH DOCUMENT in google docs.

Goal Reflection #1 and Goal Setting #2

Tuesday is goal reflection and goal setting day in class. Today, I would like you to honestly answer the question "Have you met the goal you set for yourself last week?" This is a yes or no answer, which will decide your next response:

• If you answered yes, please briefly summarize how you met your goal and what describe what evidence you have to prove it.
• If you answered no, please explain why you did not meet your goal. List and explain the reasons you could not meet your goal. Please be honest.

Please post your first goal reflection as a comment on your first goal setting post on your blog.

Goal Setting #2
Please post your new goals for next Wednesday (Tuesday is election day!), which will give you a full day off to work on meeting your goals for next week. Again, this should be a next step for most of you in class. Post your new goals on your blog as "Weekly Goals #2" by the end of class.

Evidence #1:
On edline one of your grades in this class will be providing evidence of achieving your weekly goals. You must show me the evidence in some form. Use Gmail, Google Documents, or your blog to share electronic evidence with me such as research or typed lists. Please ask to start a folder today for written or gathered materials such as photographs or drawings.

Weekly Goal Setting Introduction

Now that you have a preliminary 'backwards plan' for your project you will start a weekly routine of setting personal goals for your individual project. The goals you set for your project should be based on your backwards plan, which many of you will update with new steps that you find out you need to accomplish as you work on your project.

Every Tuesday from here on out you will set new goals to be accomplished by the following Tuesday. Today you will set a realistic goal to accomplish by next Tuesday. Depending on how complex or difficult the goal you may want to set one large, detailed goal or a few small, easily accomplished goals. As we move through the semester you will have project time in class at least once a week, but right now you will have to get some of the work done outside of class.

Next Tuesday, your warm-up in class will be to update your progress on your blog by leaving a comment. Your comments should explain not only whether or not you met your goal, but why or why not. Then, after you've commented on your previous goals, you have to set new ones for the following week as new post.

Today, we will look briefly at some of your backwards plan posts and/comments and try to set some possible goals together. Then you will set your goals based on your backwards plan. Goals must be posted on your blog along with your backwards plan.