GoalQuest: Track, Reflect, Achieve!

Middle School Grade Project 8 weeks

GoalQuest: Track, Reflect, Achieve!

Erica S

DA:Pr5.1.8.c

Self Directed Learning

Academic Mindset

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Content Expertise

+ 2 more

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Purpose

This project aims to engage middle school students in a structured yet creative process to set, document, and analyze personal goals using SMART goal principles. By incorporating artistic expression and collaborative engagement, students will develop a deeper understanding of resilience and growth while honing critical skills such as self-reflection and effective communication. The culminating exhibition promotes a sense of community and belonging, allowing students to showcase their progress and insights in a supportive environment.

Learning goals

Students will develop and articulate SMART goals, understanding how to create measurable and realistic objectives. They will design and execute a personalized plan to achieve these goals, documenting their progress through various visual and quantifiable mediums. By actively reflecting on their journey, students will deepen their understanding of persistence and resilience, while working collaboratively with peers and community partners to enhance communication and critical thinking skills. Through this hands-on project, they will foster a sense of belonging and identity, recognizing their role in a larger community and how personal growth impacts their self-efficacy.

Standards

[National Core Arts Standards] DA:Pr5.1.8.c - Collaborate with peers to discover strategies for achieving performance accuracy, clarity, and expressiveness. Articulate personal performance goals and practice to reach goals. Document personal improvement over time (for example, journaling, portfolio, or timeline).

Competencies

Self Directed Learning - Students use teacher and peer feedback and self-reflection to monitor and direct their own learning while building self knowledge both in and out of the classroom.
Academic Mindset - Students establish a sense of place, identity, and belonging to increase self-efficacy while engaging in critical reflection and action.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students consider a variety of innovative approaches to address and understand complex questions that are authentic and important to their communities.
Content Expertise - Students develop key competencies, skills, and dispositions with ample opportunities to apply knowledge and engage in work that matters to them.
Effective Communication - Students practice listening to understand, communicating with empathy, and share their learning through exhibiting, presenting and reflecting on their work.
Collaboration - Students co-design projects with peers, exercise shared-decision making, strengthen relational agency, resolve conflict, and assume leadership roles.

Products

During this learning experience, students will create individual 'Goal Attainment Portfolios.' These portfolios will feature comprehensive documentation of their personal SMART goals and progress made over the eight weeks, including visual graphs, reflection journals, and artistic representations of their journey. Additionally, students will collaborate to produce a 'Collaborative Art Showcase,' where they contribute to a collective mural or collage depicting their growth and resilience, inviting community interaction and feedback. These projects encourage students to visually and quantitatively articulate their learning and development throughout the process.

Launch

Begin with an interactive workshop where students, in teams, brainstorm and co-design SMART goals related to their personal interests in physical and mental health. Utilize role-play scenarios where students draft and present brief skits illustrating successful goal attainment and the challenges they foresee. Encourage artistic expression by inviting students to create a visual representation of their goals through illustrations or a digital medium, fostering a supportive setting for their project initiation. Families, coaches, and community partners can partake by sharing insights and motivational stories to enhance the collaborative spirit.

Exhibition

Students will create a 'Collaborative Art Showcase,' where they visually portray their growth journals through artistic expressions. Each student will contribute to a collective mural or collage, showcasing their personal journey and progress during the project period. This exhibition will be open for community viewing and discussion, inviting families, coaches, and other community partners to engage with and support students’ growth narratives. The showcase will feature various mediums, including poster boards, digital presentations, and videos, allowing for diverse representation of their learning experiences.

Rubric

Competency Progression Rubric Competency-first rubric

Category	Learning Goal	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4
Deeper Learning Competencies	Self Directed Learning	I can set a personal SMART goal that reflects my interests and document my progress over time I can explore different tools like journals, graphs, and videos to share my journey, discuss strategies with my peers to make my projects more effective, and reflect on how I grow and learn from my experiences.	I can use feedback from my peers and teacher to make my SMART goals clearer and more realistic I create a visual representation of my goals using a vision board and document my progress over time with journals and graphs.	I can collaborate effectively with my peers to discover and use new strategies, which helps me set clear performance goals and understand the steps I need to take to reach them I document my progress in creative ways, like using journals or making visual timelines, and I can clearly explain how my goals have evolved and how I am improving over time.	I can effectively monitor my progress and adapt my strategies to achieve my SMART goals over the eight-week journey, using feedback from teachers and peers to enhance my learning I reflect on my personal growth through creative documentation in journals, visual graphs, and multimedia presentations, demonstrating persistence and resilience I actively collaborate with classmates, sharing strategies and nurturing expressiveness, clarity, and accuracy in articulating my journey and insights, with a strong sense of identity and belonging guiding my learning.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Academic Mindset	I can explore and present my SMART goal at the "Goal Setting Expo" by sharing my initial ideas and receiving feedback from peers to refine my goal I document my progress using creative methods like journaling and multimedia elements Throughout this process, I work with classmates to develop strategies for improvement and clearly express my reflections and progress.	I can set and work towards SMART goals that reflect my interests, using feedback to improve my strategies I document my journey through creative mediums like journaling or timelines, showing how collaboration with my peers helps me refine my goals and understand my personal growth.	I can confidently articulate my personal performance goals and actively seek peer feedback to refine my strategies for achieving them I regularly document my progress using creative mediums like journals or portfolios, reflecting on my growth and the persistence needed to reach my objectives.	I confidently articulate my personal performance goals and practice strategies to achieve them with clarity I demonstrate persistence by tracking my progress over time through well-organized journals and timelines I actively collaborate with my peers, sharing insights and strategies to enhance our collective learning journey, while continuously refining my approach based on feedback and reflection.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Critical Thinking & Problem Solving	I can identify and explore different strategies with my peers to overcome challenges in reaching my goal, and I explain how I apply at least one of these strategies to make progress I keep a simple journal to track my thoughts and improvements throughout the project.	I can work with my peers to identify different ways to improve my goal-setting strategies, and I can explain my personal goals clearly I am able to create and update a timeline or journal that shows my progress, reflecting on the improvements I am making along the way.	I can analyze and apply a variety of strategies to overcome challenges and reach my personal goals, documenting my progress through clear visual and quantitative methods I collaborate with peers to refine my approach, sharing insights and feedback to enhance my goal-setting strategies and improve my performance over time.	I can creatively explore and apply diverse strategies to solve challenging problems related to my personal goal, articulating the reasoning behind my choices and demonstrating improvement I collaboratively engage with peers to enhance my understanding and practice, effectively communicating my goal journey through clear and expressive documentation like journals and visual representations.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Content Expertise	I can identify my personal goal and articulate it clearly within the context of a SMART framework I can work with my peers to discover effective strategies for progress, and document my journey through creative means like journals or visual artifacts, while recognizing the areas where I can improve my goal-setting skills.	I can identify and articulate my personalized SMART goals clearly with some guidance from peers, documenting my progress using a variety of methods like journals and graphs, while beginning to discover effective strategies through collaboration to improve performance and expressiveness.	I can effectively articulate my personal SMART goals and practice the strategies needed to achieve them I regularly document my improvement through reflections and data visualization, showcasing a clear understanding of my progress over the eight weeks Additionally, I collaborate with peers to enhance my strategies for achieving accuracy and expressiveness, integrating their feedback into my practices.	I can showcase my content expertise by applying SMART criteria to articulate and practice my personal goals, and I can document my progress through creative mediums like journals and portfolios I collaborate effectively with peers to enhance my strategies, ensuring accuracy and expressiveness in my goal attainment, while using reflections and feedback to demonstrate my improvement over time.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Effective Communication	I can articulate my personal SMART goals clearly and share my journey effectively using creative mediums like journals, graphs, and videos I actively listen to and incorporate peer feedback, showcasing my progress and insights in a way that connects with others and highlights the growth I have made in achieving my goals.	I can share my ideas and reflections clearly with my peers and teachers during feedback sessions, and explain how my personal goals and progress connect to my identity I use my journals and portfolios to show my growth over time, focusing on my communication skills like listening and expressing myself empathetically so others understand my experiences.	I am able to share my goal journey by thoughtfully organizing my ideas and insights into a clear and engaging presentation that includes visual and multimedia elements I actively listen to feedback from my peers and refine my work, ensuring my progress is well-documented and effectively communicated.	I can effectively communicate my personal goal-setting journey by clearly articulating my SMART goals and using creative mediums like videos, graphs, and journals to document my progress I engage my peers and audience by sharing insights on how I have grown and adapted my strategies over time to achieve my goals, fostering meaningful discussions and feedback.
Deeper Learning Competencies	Collaboration	I actively participate in group discussions to explore different strategies for meeting our goals and share my ideas to help the team achieve performance accuracy and clarity I consistently contribute my thoughts and listen to others, documenting how our collaboration leads to improved outcomes over time.	I can work with my peers to share ideas and strategies for improving my project while clearly expressing my own performance goals With guidance, I document my progress through tools like journaling or creating timelines, showing how I am improving over time.	I actively participate in group brainstorming, sharing creative ideas with peers to explore and refine strategies for achieving our goals I clearly communicate my personal goals and document my progress over time using journals, visual displays, or timelines.	I can effectively collaborate with my peers by actively participating in brainstorming sessions to develop strategies for achieving our personal goals and refining them for clarity and expressiveness Through my participation, I demonstrate leadership and shared decision-making while incorporating peer feedback to enhance my goal-setting process I document my progress over the eight weeks by thoughtfully creating journals, portfolios, and timelines that reflect my continuous improvement and insights gained from our collective efforts.