Collaborative Action Research Project

Reaching the Goal, One Step at a Time

What is a goal? Webster’s Dictionary defines a goal as an end, an objective, the finish line of a race. In any task we set out to accomplish, there has to be a goal, a finishing point. Some who desire to lose weight will not just say I’m going to lose a few pounds, they will set a goal of maybe 10 pounds to strive for. When going into college, one does not say I am going to take some classes just for the fun of it, they will set a goal of attaining a certain degree and go to the classes to reach that goal. Something as simple as cooking a meal requires a goal. I am going to put these ingredients together and my goal is to create a delicious dish. Goals lead us, guide us and give us direction as we set out to accomplish.

Goals are such an important part of our lives, and without them, it would be difficult to accomplish success. According to Jim Desrosiers, who wrote the book Young People’s Guide to Goal Setting, success means setting goals. In our schools and the classes that are taught, there are always goals. We set out on the course with a desired finish point, we are there to accomplish something. When we do accomplish and reach our goal or finish point, that is when we have reached success. Every goal reached is a success whether big or small and success, breeds success. Success builds character, builds confidence, increases motivation, and gives one a great sense of accomplishment.

Goals are so key in education. It is important that students know and understand the goals that have been set for them in class, but it is also important that the students know how to set and reach goals themselves. When students clearly understand the goals they are striving for in a class, it gives them direction in their work. When one understands why they are working on a task, the motivation to accomplish the task is greater. One is more likely to stay committed and focused on what they are doing when they clearly know what they are striving to accomplish.

Creating and coming up with goals for our classes, our lives and many other areas can sometimes be the most difficult step of meeting success. Goal setting is a process that can and should be taught in our schools. Desrosiers explains that “in our society we have it backwards, we expect young people to be successful before we teach them how to succeed.”  He claims that the goal setting process is the same for our young adults as it is for the professional in the middle of their career. It is simply broken down into a process described as this: “Determine what you want. Determine a deadline to achieve that goal  as to eliminate procrastination. Determine why you want it, what it will take to get it, when you will do each step, what obstacles will come up, and how you will overcome them.”

If setting is a goal seems to be that easy, why isn’t everyone successful, and why do we need to take time to teach it in our schools? The problem is that one can hear and even be taught the steps to setting a goal, but never trained to take the appropriate action and follow the steps in order to meet that goal. The goals that get set need to be attainable and need to have a plan of attack. A goal with no plan is useless.

Now we know the goal is what we want to achieve, what do we do in order to achieve it? First, we make a plan. Every goal has steps or also stated a process that one must go through in order to get to the end. If one was running a race, he would have to take a certain number of steps before reaching the finish line. One missed step could result in a fall, either stopping the process or making it more difficult to reach the end. The steps help us see how we are going to get to the end. In all actuality, each step is a small goal that needs to be reached in order to reach the final goal. As each step is achieved, a sense of accomplishment builds our confidence and encourages us to keep going. Each step helps us see that we are getting closer and closer to our goal and gives us assurance that we can make it. 

Upon researching this topic, I have found that there are steps for almost everything. In an article from the Encyclopedia Britannica, titled Child Development, I read about the steps we go through as our bodies develop. Each step is so important as we grow, learn, and develop into adults. This article took it’s reader through every stage of development from the day a baby is born, through their first few years, into the toddler ages, then to preschool age, through childhood, and on to preadolescents. These are all major stages of life that we go through, but within each of these stages, there were also stages one goes through to move to the next stage.

            In an article from Career World, written by P. Gregory Smith, titled Finding Success After High School, the experiences of a high school graduate named Nathan Steele are shared. The article gives detailed description of the steps Nathan followed in order to meet success after high school. By setting the goal of being successful, Nathan was able to follow the appropriate steps to meet that goal and truly became successful.

            No matter what the task, there needs to be a plan whether big or small, simple or complex. Putting together a piece of equipment is a goal that has appropriate steps to reach it. Leaving out one step could make that goal unattainable. Baking a batch of cookies is another goal that has appropriate steps, but by leaving out a step, the cookies could be ruined and success is not met. In the article Self Esteem: You May Have it and Not Know It, by Ellen Blum Barish, found in Current Health2, Barish gives important steps to improve self-esteem. One of her first steps are to make realistic goals for your day, your week, and then for your year ahead. Make a plan to reach those goals and then stick with the plan. Commitment and discipline are a key factor, and if one can stick with it, they will meet success. According to Barish, upon meeting this success one will then gain the sense of accomplishment, and will increase their self-esteem.

It is very clear that we need goals to give us direction for anything in life and it is also clear we need to plan a step by step process in order to reach those goals. An idea with-out a goal has little value and a goal with-out a plan is useless. This is where one can easily fall short in the school setting. Ideas, goals, and plans need to be made by administration, teachers, and learners. The goals and a plan to reach those goals need to be clear right from the start. The question that has lead me through this study has been: what effects do goals have on our learners? To clarify: how do goals guide the learners, how do learners reach their goals, when does a goal make a learner overwhelmed and when does a goal make a student excel?

Goals are everywhere and sometimes are not always acknowledged. As teachers we can easily assume our students know and understand the goals and how to reach them. This assumption however could be detrimental to the learning and growing experience of our students. If on the other hand students are taught to set attainable goals, trained to set up a plan to reach their goals, and guided through the commitment of fulfilling their task, it could be the most important piece of knowledge they could gain for the rest of their lives.

We want our students to learn, mature, and grow into responsible and successful contributing members of society. The only way a student can do this is if they know how set an attainable goal, create an appropriate plan to meet that goal, and have the self-esteem, motivation, and commitment to stick with the plan and succeed. These are all things that don’t just happen over night. These are also things that students don’t always have modeled for them in the home. They are things however that can be taught and practiced in the school.

Upon researching this topic, the issue of self-esteem and confidence has come up over and over. If a goal is presented to a student that may be out of the student’s comfort zone or seem overwhelming, most often that student will give up before even starting. That is where the step by step process is so important. Yes there is a big picture, but there are small steps that will get you there, and when the process is clearly broken down, the big picture doesn’t seem so impossible. As each step along the way is met, that student is getting a taste of success and building their confidence. That student now has the confidence to go a step farther, meet success on the next level and keep on going. There are steps to an algebra problem, steps to a science lab, steps to writing an essay and steps to learning a sport. Asking a student to give an answer to the algebra question without going through the steps seems impossible, but guiding them through the steps and helping them achieve along the way, proves they can succeed and it is not impossible.

In an article from Teen’s Health, called How Can I Improve My Self-Esteem, the author challenges it’s readers to set goals and evaluate the goals to be sure they are realistic standards. Unrealistic standards and expectations can cause a lack of confidence. This lack of confidence makes one feel as though they can not accomplish anything and they are not willing to take the risk of setting a goal because they do not want to fail again. If an appropriate plan can not be made to meet the goal you have set, then one must re-evaluate the goal and make adjustments so a plan can be set. As each step of the plan is achieved, the achiever feels more and more confident to continue with the risk because success has been met. The author also states that teens with higher self-esteem “feel happier, find it easier to deal with mistakes, disappointments, and failures, and are more likely to stick with something until they succeed.”

After researching goals, steps, success, and our students, I chose to do a study in my own classroom with my 200 physical education students. One of the biggest complaints I get from my students stems from the running. Running is a great way to improve our fitness levels, but for many in my class, running (especially a timed mile), is an overwhelming task. In my physical education classes this past school year, I set an overall goal for my students. That goal was to see them improve their fitness levels throughout the school year. At the beginning of the school year, we used the mile run as an indicator of student fitness level. The ultimate goal was to have an improved time at the end of the school year. Students then created their own individual goals by setting a more exact improvement to strive for. Example: student A desired to improve her time by 1 minute while student B desired to improve her time by 20 seconds.  

When this goal was first presented to my students at the beginning of the school year, I heard a lot of students exclaim, “oh no, I can’t do that”, “that stinks”, or “I can’t run in the first place so there is no way I can get a better time.” This led me into an explanation of the plan. We did a timed run at the beginning of the school year, (Students had choice between a cooper’s run or the mile) and scheduled another timed run for the end of the school year. The step by step plan was implemented in between the two timed runs. Each class day, students were going to work to reach the goal of improvement for the end of the year and they were going to do this by practicing their running. For the first couple weeks of the school year, we did a 30 second warm up jog in every class. During the next couple weeks of the school year, we increased the warm-up to 1 full minute. Every two weeks, our warm up increased by 30 seconds. We started at a level that all students could achieve on, built our strength at that level, and then pushed ourselves on to the next level little by little. The improvement was impressive and data was collected to compare the times.

Researching and Collecting Data on Goals

            The setting and reaching of goals is something I feel strongly about making a major part of one’s life. If one can learn to set and attain goals in which they desire, they will achieve success. Reaching a goal is not always easy and at times there are failures, but if one can learn to be committed, flexible and determined, success will be found. Through my research, I found that there are many aspects that go along with the goals we set.

In the article How can I Improve My Self-Esteem, found in the May 16, 2002 issue of Teens Health, I learned that the number one step to building self-esteem is setting attainable goals. At the same time however, unrealistic goals can be the first step in leading to lower self-esteem. When looking to be successful, on must “aim for accomplishments rather than perfection.” The article also challenges one to set their goals, make their plan, stick with the plan, and keep track of progress. The step by step progress will keep one on track, offer little successes along the way,and develop the confidence to keep going.

Through this article, I found that self-esteem plays a major role in helping us reach our goals but goals can also play a major role in the level of our self-esteem. Setting realistic goals is key. In my elementary physical education class several years ago, I began teaching students to throw a ball into a bucket. If I had told my kindergarten students to start by standing 20 feet away, they would have never made the shot, and would not have wanted to try any longer. However, by starting them right next to the bucket, they met success, then took a step back and met success again. Without me even asking them, they were backing up on their own because their small successes gave them the confidence to keep challenging themselves and move to greater successes.

Attitude was the next major aspect I found to be important to setting and reaching goals. In the January 1996 edition of Career World, an article entitled Attitude Counts, by Donna J. Yena, states that attitude is “one of the most important qualities for career success”. She describes an attitude as the response one has to the many different circumstances he/she encounters on a daily basis. When in the process of setting and attaining goals, there are going to be many different circumstances that arise, some helful, some challenging, some frustrating and some exciting. It’s one’s attitude that can either keep the process going or stop it all together.

Yena offers and excellent summary of the importance of attitude and success in the following passage: “Each time you choose a positive attitude, you take control of your own success. Successful people rely on their positive attitude to help them overcome potential obstacles. When a roadblock stands in the way, their choice is usually to find a different way to reach their goal. Quitting is not an option. A positive attitude keeps you open to criticism, willing to learn new ways of doing things, and more open to understanding others.”

Goals are attainable with the right attitude and the confidence to stay committed and challenge one’s self. My next step of research was focused on how one can learn and practice the right attitude and commitment needed to meet success. I found that there is no better place for one to learn these skills than in our schools, where students are being trained to be successful, contributing members of our society when they leave the walls of their school. Student Sports had a great article in their Sept. 6, 2001 edition called Winning at the Game of School , by John Baxter. This article starts off by stating that generally there is no official curriculum taught in secondary or higher education institutions to ensure students’ understanding of organization and learning techniques for success in the classroom. To me, this caused great concern. We can not just assume our student know and understand how to use the skill of setting and reaching a goal to meet success. We as teachers need to teach, help, and guide our students through the process.

 Baxter took time to identify the differences between students who were successful in the classroom, and those who are not. He then related them to a target. The outer circle is the student not achieving and is the largest on the target. The next circle is the middle which represents the students who are inconsistent academic performers, they have potential but don’t know how to reach it. Lastly, the bull’s eye, which is the smallest circle, represents the academic overachievers. My concern is the large circle of students that are not achieving. Why are they stopped and what can we do to get them going again?

This is where the research in my classroom began. As described earlier, the goal was set at the beginning of the year for each of my secondary students to improve their running levels. Their levels would be gauged by the timed mile or cooper’s run (students had the choice to run the mile or a 12 minute distance marked with cones) at the beginning and end of the 2005-2006 school year. All students ran the mile or coopers at the very beginning of the year and their times were recorded into a data base. Next, we worked throughout the entire year to improve step by step. We would start each class with a warm-up jog. Our first two weeks of warm-up jogging was 30 seconds long. Every two weeks after that, the warm-up jog would increase by 30 seconds. When I told the students at the beginning of the year that at some point they would be running 5 minute warm-up jogs, I could sense their uneasiness. There were some that seemed overwhelmed, some the stated they would never be able to do that, and some that were excited to get to that point.

I observed the students throughout the year get better and better at their running as we continually increased our time. By increasing little by little, I could see the students grow proud of their achievements and realize it was not as hard as they first imagined. Finally, we ran our final mile/cooper’s run and the times were again recorded in the data base for comparison. This part of my research was focuses on my students and I was able to collect data from their running times and my observation of them through the process.

Analysis of the Data

            Upon researching goals and the process by which we reach them, I learned that there are so many benefits to learning and using this skill. I learned that one can become more confident and secure after having the experience of meeting success. I learned that one can become more motivated to challenge ones self and excel upon meeting success. I learned that one can learn to use their attitude to help them get through any situation. Attitude is a choice, different situations will always arise, but if we can use a positive attitude to overcome our situations, we will succeed. I also learned that reaching a goal is a step by step process. One does not achieve immediate success. A plan must be devised, some larger than others, and that plan must be followed step by step in order to get to the finish line. Most importantly, I was challenged to help my students gain the benefits of setting and reaching goals by taking time in my classroom to help them learn, practice, and build this skill as a part of their lifestyle.

A physical education classroom is a unique class to start with. Often times my students are stretched beyond what they think they can do, and it’s an amazing thrill to see them achieve more than they thought possible. Throughout this study, I had a lot of mixed reviews from my students. I carefully watched, listened, and took note of my students as they “trained” for the final run at the end of the school year. Our district curriculum superintendent helped me as I collected the data and observed the students as they worked through this process. We were often able to discuss the process as we were working through it. She offered helpful, encouraging, and positive feedback that was motivating for both me and my students to hear her words of encouragement.

Right from the start, we started out with the first run. This was a no pressure run, I told students all we wanted to do is get a number to work with. Students were relieved and did not put much pressure on themselves as they ran; this made the first run a little more enjoyable. Then we started with the 30 second warm up jog for the first two weeks. At this point, students almost thought of it as a joke because it seemed so easy, but that was ok, they all were able to accomplish it and all even improved throughout the first couple weeks. Then came the addition of 30 more seconds, we now did a one minute warm-up. Very minimal amount of complaints, no-one ever likes the idea of having to work a little harder, it was always a must to remind each other we were working towards our goal. We made it through the year and were up to a five minute warm-up jog. It was so exciting to see the sense of accomplishment the girls displayed as they were able to complete the five minute warm-up without much trouble.

Throughout the year, we had many discussions about goals. We talked about appropriate goals, fun goals, life goals, small goals, and big goals. We would come up with examples and work together to create reasonable plans to follow through on them. It was exciting to see how the girls would work out plans and come up with reason why the plan would or would not work. While “talking” through this process during classes, the students were having hands on experience with goals through their running.

The students began recognizing each unit of study as a goal. I would introduce to them a new unit of study and let them know what we would be accomplishing by the end and the steps we would go through to do it. We would stick with the steps and in the end accomplish our goals. The students recognize success along the way and success in the end, helping them to feel more motivated and confident in taking on the next challenge.

In the end of the year, we finally had our final run. The overall average showed improvement. Some had great improvement, some had little, but anyone that improved was successful. We did have some that chose not challenge themselves the day of the final run and did not improve, while some due to injury were not able to run to their fullest potential. Those that were successful (majority of the students) were proud of themselves and encouraged to keep up with the challenge. There were a number of students that wanted to start a running club to help each other keep running throughout the summer months. There were those that never thought they would be able to run for more than a minute and were able to finish the entire timed run. The students began to believe in themselves. There were less “I can’t do that” comments and more “How can I do that” comments.

I really learned through this experience in my classes, that students need to be guided through the process of reaching a goal. There were a number of students that just wanted to stop, not because they couldn’t do it, but because they didn’t want to or didn’t believe they could do it. We as teachers need to teach our students to believe that they can achieve. It’s not a process that every student inherits or learns on their own. It’s a process that needs to be taught so that each time those students are faced with a challenge, they have the confidence to say “I can do that, lets make a plan”.

Action Plan

            Simply put, my action plan is to help my students set goals, create a plan to meet those goals, and keep them sticking to the plan. In my classes we may set goals for a day, a week, or even a year, and work on meeting each one. Upon doing this study, I really believe that it is so important to help my students practice this process. I as their teacher, I can tell them over and over what they need to do, but they will never really learn it or make it apart of their lives without practice. What better place to practice this process than at school where they have the help and support to keep them on track through failure and successes.

I believe that if a student graduates out of my class, and does not know how to set a goal, and work through the process of meeting it, I have failed that student. There will be hard times for everyone as we work to meet a goal, but that is where my support can come in and show them that they can overcome if they stick with it. Sometimes the plan needs to be altered and sometimes an entire new plan may need to be made, but goals can be reached and students need to learn to reach them.

Too often I hear students being told they could never do that, or that’s an outrageous idea. That is so sad! Those are the students that need to be asked how they’re going to work through that idea. How are they going to reach that goal? What will happen when they reach it? Determination can take one a long way!

Wilson Hershey, founder of the Hershey Food Corporation, had the goal of working with candy. He set a plan and failed. He re-evaluated the plan, set a new one, and again failed. It would have been easy for him to just say ok, I’ll never reach that goal, but he didn’t. He set yet another plan and succeeded in creating an amazing company. It is not always easy, but the reward is great.

I don’t expect all my students to go out and create a multi-million dollar corporation, but I do expect for them to strive for what they desire and not stop striving until they get there. I desire to teach my students to believe they can achieve one step at a time. I hope to help my students gain the confidence and motivation they need to keep going even when a challenge arises. I hope to help my students know how to create a feasible plan, follow that plan to succeed, and adjust the plan when needed to guarantee success.

As we worked to meet our running goal, I realized that I did not take time with the students to evaluate our progress and make or receive suggestions for altering the plan. As I head into my next year of teaching, I plan to take action in every unit towards practicing the processes of making and reaching goals. Students will be presented with ending goals for each unit, and we will together as a class create plans to meet those goals. We will evaluate throughout the unit how the plan is going. We will make sure we are still on track to meeting our goal. We will make any changes necessary to get us back on track to meeting our goal, and we will evaluate our successes at the end of the unit.

            This process will help the students gain a sense of ownership for each unit of study. They will be more motivated because they are playing an active role in what and how they are learning. They will be more confident in what they are learning because they will realize that the final product will not come without many small steps in-between. I will continue to use the running goal, and keep track of the data that is collected. This will allow students the opportunity to not only compare their results from the beginning of the year but from years past as well.

I have shared and gone over this research with my colleagues and worked closely with my curriculum superintendent to gather the data for this research. The curriculum superintendent has had a number of teachers present plans for using goals in their classroom as well. A math teacher wants to set large goals for a math unit and small goals for individual math problems. Our health teacher plans to help students set goals for many different areas of their lives as they learn to take care of themselves. This teacher has planned time to help guide his students through the process of making steps to reach their goals. The idea for setting goals in the classroom seems so simple and obvious, but it is a shame that it gets overlooked so often. It is catching on in my school and I am excited to see the impact it has already had on our students. Students will begin to be challenged to strive for the goals set before them in my class and others. They will be encouraged to continue on towards those goals from teachers throughout the school, and learn the determination needed to succeed.

My plan looks good on paper, but just like any other goal, I will need to make my plan, stick with it, and make alterations when needed. I’ve explained my plan, but the next step is altering. Every step is not going to work the same for every student. I will need to take time to make those observations, and make the necessary changes so success can be met. I need to stay determined because I may need to alter my plan several times, but in the end, my desire is to have built confident, determined and successful students. As with every goal in life, this will happen, one step at a time!

Bibliography Page

1. Attitude Counts, by Donna J. Yena, Career World, Jan. 1996, pp. 25-27, Copyright, 1996 by Weekly Reader Corporation.

1. Child Development, Encyclopedia Britannica, Copyright 2003 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3BARTICLE%3BART%B30000221464

1. Finding Success After High School, Career World, April/May 2004, pp.6+, Copyright, Weekly Reader Corporation April/May 2004

1. Hershey: Sweet Smell of Success, by Timothy M. Erdman, American History, March/April 1994, pp. 64+, “Reprinted through the courtesy of Cowles Magazines, publisher of American History.” http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000025523

1. How Can I Improve My Self-Esteem?, Teenshealth, May 16, 2002, n.p., Copyright 2002, Knight-Ridder Newspapers. http://discovere.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000153999

1. Self-Esteem: You May Have It and Not Know It, by Ellen Blum Barish, Current Health 2, March 1993, pp.25-27, Copyright 1993 by Weekly Reader Corporation. http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000024116

1. Winning at the Game of School, by John Baxter, Student Sports, Sept. 6, 2001, n.p. Copyright 2001, Knight-Ridder Newspapers