Every educator is on a unique journey to establish their professional practices. How you set and work to achieve goals is a big part of your professional practice, but many other elements are also present. The goals you set should be designed to help improve your practice for the benefit of yourself and the children and families you serve.

Setting goals for yourself doesn’t have to be a solitary practice. Share your goals with others; ask them to help you stay on track. Maybe others will join you in your efforts and create their own goals. Sharing our goals with others helps us with accountability and celebrating once we achieve our goals!

Ideas for goals you can set for yourself:

• Enhance (or establish) self-care practices – exercising, reading for pleasure, pursuing a hobby, etc.
• Learn something new – take a course on a new topic, subscribe to a professional journal, attend a conference, enroll in a degree program, etc.
• Achieve your CDA or state sponsored teacher credential
• Incorporate technology into the curriculum
• Enhance your child assessment or lesson planning process
• Discover children’s interest and incorporate them into learning activities
• Create new community connections to integrate into the curriculum
• Incorporate reflection into your professional practices
• Improve time management skills
• Improve your methods of communicating with families
• Work more collaboratively with coworkers