It's that time of year when many of us like to set a goal or two for ourselves, related (or not) to our (school)work, personal health, or social relationships.

While goal setting is a great habit to get into, we shouldn't just set any old goal- we should be setting SMART goals!

SMART is an acronym that stands for 
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound

Below is an example, to clarify these elements of a SMART goal:

not-so-smart goal: I will do more Membean so I have 50 minutes done each week. 

SMART goal: I will complete 10 minutes of Membean at 7:30pm each day, Monday-Friday, so I have 50 minutes done by Sunday.

This SMART goal is specific- the outcome is 50 minutes of Membean per week, and it also tells when and how you will work to meet the goal. If you know you'll need a reminder to do this, set one on your phone to pop up at a specific time, ask a parent or peer to remind you, or, better yet- write in in your planner!

This goal is also measurable. "More" can't necessarily be measured, but 10 minutes is 10 minutes, and you know it's 10 minutes because the program times it for you.

This goal is attainable, because it's something you're likely to be able to achieve. Completing 3 hours of Membean each week would probably be a less attainable goal because you have a lot of other things to do, but most of us can find 10 minutes per day, 5 days per week, to do something. 

This goal is realistic, because it's something you could actually do. The only thing that may not be realistic for some people is scheduling the Membean training for the same time each night. 

This goal is time-bound, because you'll be able to assess whether or not you met it each week, and even each day if you did the training or not. By Friday, you'll know if you succeeded and met your goal, and if so, great! If not, you still have a couple of days to make some changes to get to the ultimate goal of 50 minutes of training per week.

After the time period for which you set your goal is up, it's always a good idea to reflect on how it went. If the plan you laid out as part of your goal worked, and you were able to meet the goal, awesome! Keep doing that!

If that plan you had for meeting the goal wasn't so successful, perhaps you should look more closely to see if it really is a SMART goal; you may need to be more specific and realistic about the goal and your plan for meeting it. 

​
A few other tips for sticking to the goals once you've made some SMART ones:

• Write down your goals, and hold yourself accountable by tracking your progress in a visible place. For example, use a monthly printout on the outside of your bedroom door, put a chart on the refrigerator, or even post your progress on social media! When you share your goals with others, you gain a community of supporters and they can help to hold you accountable too.

• If you start to become overwhelmed by your goals, just pick one or two to focus on. You can't change everything at once.

• Don't allow setbacks to throw you off course. If you mess up, fine. Just start again. If you miss your scheduled Monday Membean training, don't just not do it for the rest of the week! Instead, do 20 minutes on Tuesday to make up for it, or plan to make up the 10 minutes on Saturday! 

Ok, now, set that goal and...

TIME MANAGEMENT IS ESSENTIAL! 

• Find blocks of 30-45 minutes in your schedule, and then plan what to focus on during those blocks of time.
• Map out the “what” AND the “how.”
  • Doing this in advance can save you time (and stress) later on.
  • Build in a short break (2-5 minutes) for every 45-60 minutes of studying.
  • Use a timer so your breaks don’t get too long!

• Prepare by first collecting content from which to study; then, create study materials; then, actively engage with and utilize those study materials. (More tips about this are below.)

•  Some teachers will work with you in class, to prepare for exams, and may even give you a timeline and specific tasks to do for preparation. Stick to those recommendations!

KEEP A BALANCED PERSPECTIVE

• Keep these tests in perspective.
• Focus on the process, versus the product.
  • This means emphasizing the habits that you are working to develop, and the process of figuring out the sorts of study techniques that work best for you as an individual, rather than solely emphasizing the grade you end up with.
  • Focus on HOW you’re studying, rather than HOW MUCH you study.
• Maintain healthy habits: eat well-balanced meals, get plenty of sleep, stay active, and continue to participate in the things you enjoy!

CREATE STUDY MATERIALS Using pre-made Quizlet sets or materials given to you is okay, but you will likely retain more when you’re creating the study materials yourself, instead of just reviewing what someone else has done.
Types of study materials you could create include:

• Note Cards: On the front, write the term, big idea, event, etc. On the back, answer who, what, when, where, why is it significant questions. Does it take longer than just writing a word and its definition? Yes, but you will have a more thorough understanding of the material.
  • Create a visual trigger on the front of the note card. This can be a phrase or picture, or some other sort of mnemonic. In the testing situation, the visual trigger may be just the thing that pops into your mind and cues the answer.
  •  Play with the note cards. Rather than just flipping through and trying to memorize the words on the card, get creative. Make different groups and categories (e.g. leaders and battles; bones and organs; verbs and nouns) then re-categorize them. Compare the cards to one another. How were 2 leaders the same or different? Why was one battle more significant than others? By manipulating the note cards, you are engaging in higher-level thinking…the sort of skills you’ll need to practice in order to answer essay and other open-response questions.

• Graphic Organizers: For many classes, it can make sense to create a graphic organizer or visual that shows the connections between the content/ topics that you have studied this year. Creating a graphic organizer can help you to not only see how the topics are connected, but can also help you to identify “big ideas” to focus on.

• Triple Note Totes: These are useful when you’re working on memorizing material. Fold a paper into three columns. In the first column, list the vocabulary you’re trying to remember. In the middle column, write the definition or important information about that term. In the third column, create and note down a mnemonic device for linking the term to the necessary information (definition, dates, importance, etc.).

USE ACTIVE STUDY STRATEGIES “Reading over” textbooks and notes is NOT efficient studying!

• “Chunk Down” the Content– Break large amounts of material into smaller pieces. Before setting out to attack your class material, color code or label it. Divide the material into what you know well (green), what you need to review (yellow), and what is unfamiliar (red).
 You can also consider breaking down your material into the categories outlined on a study guide given to you by your teacher, or according to how recent the material is.
• Teach Someone Else-You’ll know that you’re really comfortable with the material if you can teach it to someone else. Teach a parent or sibling, encourage them to ask you questions…and then answer their questions.
• Test Yourself- You’ve have had a whole year’s worth of experience taking tests and quizzes for a class, so you can use those old assessments to study from. You can:
  • Make corrections to old tests and quizzes, using your notes and textbooks.
  • Make up your own practice questions based on the sorts of questions teachers have used in the past.
  • Look at chapter titles or section headings in a book, and turn them into essay questions.
  • Turn class notes into fill-in-the-blank or short answer questions.
  • Make practice tests to exchange with classmates.

• Form a Study Group- Study groups can be good for reinforcing material you already know, and provide you with an opportunity to practice and review what you’re not as comfortable with. However, you must keep them structured and focused, in order for group meetings to be useful.

HAVE ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR AND ACHIEVING ON EXAMS? SHARE IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

• Help your student create and follow routines for homework and organization.

• Talk with your student about the strategies he or she is using to complete tasks; this reinforces the metacognitive element of learning.

• -Help your student break down long-term projects or assignments into smaller, more manageable tasks; we call this “chunking” or “breaking big rocks into pebbles.” Then, help them to plan (and write down!) when to complete each smaller task, starting with the due date and working backwards; we call this “backwards planning.”

• Talk with your student about what he or she is learning, both content-wise and skill-wise. Emphasize that different strategies work for different people, and that we all need to figure out how we learn best, so we can be efficient and effective learners.

• Part of a student’s middle school experience should be figuring out how to manage more responsibility and independence. For students to have opportunities to learn and practice this, they need to be allowed to grapple with tasks, attempt to problem-solve independently, and experience natural consequences for their actions and inactions. (The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey is an interesting book that builds on this idea.)

• Encourage your child to communicate with his or her teachers and/or advisor,especially if they are feeling confused, overwhelmed or unsure of themselves. You could role-play a conversation they might have, or encourage them to write a note or email the teacher if they’re hesitant to initiate a conversation with them.

• Encourage your student to attend extra help sessions with their teachers, and any other skill-building workshops offered by the school. If you’re not sure what resources might be available, have your child inquire!

​

•  Maintain a growth mindset– that is, embrace the belief that we can grow our “intelligence” in different areas, with strategic practice and perseverance. In conversations with your child about schoolwork, grades, and “abilities,” emphasize that strategic practice of a skill actually changes the brain’s structure by building and solidifying neural pathways; so, they’re not “doomed” to always struggle with one task, skill, or content area because the brain is like a muscle we can exercise to make stronger. (See the work of Carol Dweck for more information on growth mindsets- it’s pretty interesting stuff!)