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Goal Setting for Students

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stated that “What you get by achieving your goals, is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” This was evident in my students of all ages that I used the idea of Goal Setting with. 

One of my passions in teaching, is to educate students on the importance of goal setting and how to map out the steps required to plan for and achieve these goals by a certain date, regardless of how old they are. This process also requires students to complete a reflection of the year before and a vision for the year ahead. 

At the commencement and continuation of lessons at BTR, our trained team will guide your child through the goal setting process.

Step 1: To reflect on the year before (if a continuing student )and take note of the things that went well for them and things that were a challenge.

Step 2: To write down a vision for the year ahead. What would they like to achieve on their instrument this year? Are there any new things they would like to learn? Where do they see themselves at the end of the year?

Step 3: Choose three goals they would like to achieve for the semester.

Step 4: To write a short statement of what the completion of each of these goals looks like. For example, ‘By May 2017, I will have successfully completed my 8th Grade Violin Exam’.

Step 5: To map out the detailed steps of what they need to do to achieve each specific goal. I try and keep this to about 8-9 manageable steps.

For Example:

  1. Learn all of my set pieces.
  2. Learn all of my scales.
  3. Learn my scales from memory.
  4. Learn my scales with the correct bowings
  5. Play my scales at the correct tempo.
  6. Learn my exercises and play them at tempo.
  7. Play pieces at a performance standard and rehearse with my accompanist.
  8. Learn my General Knowledge.

The students record all of this in their BTR Homework Book and shared with you. Our teachers then use these goals as a guide for where they would like their learning to be directed and check in on these regularly to keep our focus on track. 

This process is revised at the end of each term and new goals are set or carried over at the commencement of Semester 2, unless students have completed their goals prior to these times. If this is the case, then we replace the completed goal with a new goal and commence the goal setting process once again.

As Harvey Mackay said “A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.”

Happy goal setting.

Amanda Roche

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