Achievement results from work realising ambition (Adam Ant)

I'm struggling a little to believe Adam Ant came up with that snappy aphorism (was hard for me to take him seriously in his early eighties poptastic years).

Nevertheless, the quote is a nifty combo of hard work and ambition (goals) equaling success. True that!

Musicians wanting to sell shed loads of records and gain public adoration need that combo as much as students slogging away to pass an Achievement Standard do.

A dream becomes a goal when action is taken towards its achievement (Bo Bennett)

Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash

Recently, one of my senior students told me she's intending to be a teacher. That's something that always excites me. There is no finer career in my humble opinion. I love being a teacher.

She asked for some advice and I said - don't let anyone, or anything put you off achieving your goal. Even when things get tough - that's when you get tested, but stay on target, don't listen to the doubters.

You can see tomorrow today (House of Love)

Photo by Muzammil Soorma on Unsplash

End of term 2 in the southern hemisphere, so we're at the halfway point of the school year. Kind of.

For senior NCEA students, it's over halfway with only a term and a bit before exams.

For the rest of the school, and the staff, it's two terms down, two to go.

A good time to re-examine goals made at the start of the year, or even come up with new ones (here's a good set of templates if you're in that position).

A quick look at mine from February:

The first one is completed. 

The second one is on track, although we'll need a new couple of Learning Centre goals for Term 3, as we've made excellent progress on two of them.

My third is also on track - it's part of my teacher enquiry and pretty much done (a year early). I need to send the results out to others and get some feedback.

So, solid A rating on the goals up to this point.

From my window I'm staring while my coffee grows cold. Look over there! (Where?) (Joe Jackson)

Photo by Julia Kuzenkov on Unsplash

Seth Godin's blog usually has some thought provoking material worth sharing.

Here's his latest, which has me a tad baffled:

“But I can see it!”

Which is closer, the sun or Buffalo, NY?

Something might be vivid and clear and right in our face, but that doesn’t mean it’s nearby or accessible.

If you’re seeking to get things done, looking for the attainable but hidden opportunities is a productive strategy.

On the other hand, if you’re a leader, seeking to inspire, it helps to focus on an iconic goal, one that’s always present, right over there.

Hmmm. An iconic goal. Right over there. Where?

It's a new dawn people (Grace Slick at Woodstock)

Photo by 30daysreplay (PR & Marketing) on Unsplash

It's a new year! New starts!

Yes, that also means it's goal setting time for Mandy, me, and the rest of the blogoshere!

It can't be avoided - discussion on Facebook on whether to have new year resolutions or not doesn't help and pretty soon we'll be back at school leading students in the art of setting goals for their year.

But before we start on that proud tradition - some cautionary words from Dan Rockwell to reflect upon:

Some limitations of goals-only thinking:  

Goals restrict happiness. Goal-fever puts off happiness until goals are reached (adapted from, “Atomic Habits,” by James Clear)

Goal-driven leaders minimize difficulties and exaggerate opportunities. False optimism results in best-scenario-thinking.

Setting a goal is easy. Choosing the next best step is the challenge.

Goals are outside your control. But behaviors are within your control.

Yes, we should exercise some caution: students can become hugely invested in a big audacious goal - say, a pass rate figure for a year group. The potential pluses are obvious - collegiality and group strength/expectation can raise students up to higher levels of performance/achievement. The potential negatives are less obvious - what about the students who don't buy into the goal or who can't/won't reach the needed levels to meet the goal?

Worth thinking about as we approach goal setting season. 

My goals beyond (Mahavishnu John McLaughlin)

Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

Week two of the Term 3 into Term 4 study break and time to look ahead a tad.

• Improvements to the Learning Centre procedures - daily study planning for students
• Prep for external examinations and life after the seniors leave
• Plans for the teachers' work space
• Timetable for 2020
• Goals for 2020

These are some of the things I'll be focusing on in the coming weeks.

Term 4 is always a weird time. The current year winds down and the focus shifts to the next one in many ways, as can be seen from that list. Most of them won't kick in until 2020.

Term 4 always seems like the time of year to catch up on things that all during the year we thought - I can do that in Term 4.

But it seldom works out that way, huh?

I'm gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day (Chuck Berry)

Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash

Exciting news!!!

One term into our appraisal process for the year and we've managed to complete pretty much all of the interim interviews to check that all teachers have their goals set and are now engaged in their personal inquiry linked to their goals.

Sounds a little complicated when I write it like that and not wildly exciting, but it's nicely straightforward in reality and important man!

Remember: Your focus determines your reality (Qui Gon-Jinn).

Simply put, it's all about targeting ways of improving learning via improving individual teaching practices.

I like the following chart from Dan Rockwell via his Leadership Freak blog where he cites Bob Proctor.

In our context, personal change begins with a 'what if...' and a good idea. But good ideas aren’t enough.

According to Bob:

You have a 10% chance of making change if you say, “That’s a good idea.”

You have a 25% chance of making change if you say, “”I’ll do it.”

You have a 40% chance of making change if you set a time to do it.

You have a 50% chance of making change if you plan HOW to do it.

You have a 60% chance of making change if you make a commitment.

You have a 95% chance of making change if you set a specific time to share your progress with someone.

That's SUPER encouraging. 

Next step for me after these first term interviews is setting times to have teachers share their goal and inquiry progress.

The secret of success lies in the determination to attain the goal (Hsing Yun)

Photo by Uroš Jovičić on Unsplash

Setting goals was obviously on Hsing Yun's mind at this time of the year. 

I especially like his analogy of a machine: If you force the machine to produce over its capacity, there is a high chance the machine will break down and fail to achieve the desired output. 

Having goals and targets that exceed our capacity is like having no goal at all.

Instead, Hsing Yun says, a goal is set by considering its feasibility, the necessary conditions, what steps need to be taken in what order, and our capacity to achieve it.

In addition, he refers to the famous story of The Tortoise and the Hare.

This year, I have set a goal of having a post going viral. So I will work away at that over my blogs and, like the tortoise, I will keep on crawling/posting every day to give my goal a chance at success.

In the end, I will reach that goal (it might take some time).