Example Targets
Student: I need to develop my essay writing skills, namely links between paragraphs. I will use the resources available on the class website to improve this in my next essays. I will write an essay by 30th March that has all paragraphs connected.
Teacher: You need to develop your essay writing skills, namely links between paragraphs. You should use the resources available on the class website to improve this in your next essays. You should write this essay by 30th March that has all paragraphs connected.
Student: I need to develop my photographing techniques, especially in low light. I will look at the video support on the Moodle site and my peers' examples to consider other techniques I can try. I will find one technique that I feel confident using by our next mini showcase on 12th February.
Teacher: You need to develop your photographing techniques, especially in low light. You should look at the video support on the Moodle site and your peers' examples to consider other techniques you can try. You should find one technique that you feel confident using by our next mini showcase on 12th February.
You will notice that these targets are not so different from each other across teacher and student. The advantage of students writing their own targets is that it stretches them to think about how best they can achieve their goals and builds independence.
Monitoring
It's important to set deadlines so that students can maintain their motivation, knowing that a target has an end point. Targets should also be pitched at the correct level so that students are challenged but not so much that they become demotivated. Equally, if the target isn't aspirational enough, it will have a detrimental effect on their work output. Monitor and support students' progress (both in an out of class) towards achieving targets.