Restorative Spotlight: by Cynthia Spence, 7th Grade Dean

Spring is definitely in the air! The temperature is getting warmer, the days are longer, and the reawakening of life is evident in budding trees, blossoming flowers, and the sightings of colorful birds ready to mate. This wonderful season often symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings, so it is appropriate that we consider a chance for new beginnings with and for students as well. As such, this is a time when both families and teachers can help students set or reset goals so they can finish their school year with strength. Yes, I did say finish, as we are roughly two short months away from the end of the school year. One way that advisors have helped students at Berkeley Carroll set goals in the past has been to plan what are known as SMART goals. 

I came across the idea of SMART goals again during spring break when I decided that I would embark upon a goal for eating and exercising for better health. The app I chose to use also encouraged creating SMART goals—the process of breaking ambiguous goals down into something more specific and realistic. As my app counseled me, going to the gym every day when you haven’t set foot in a gym in three years can be fairly daunting. Enter SMART goals. SMART is an acronym for goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. So, instead paying hundreds of dollars for a new gym membership that I will probably stop using after a few weeks, I have chosen to walk (specific) from work to home (measurable), three days per week (attainable) to achieve better health (relevant), and I will follow this pattern until the end of the school year (time-based). Once I have achieved that SMART goal, I can reset and revise my SMART goals for continued success.

For Berkeley Carroll students, this time of year is a perfect time for goal setting. We are returning to school from a restorative spring break, and we are still early enough in the final trimester so that goal setting can have an impact. When anyone asks a student what their academic goals are, very often the answer will be something along the lines of wanting to get As in all classes. While that is an admirable goal, we must advise students to be smarter about goal setting. Therefore, getting an A in math might require completing homework assignments (specific), five nights per week (measurable), after ½ hour of relaxation (attainable), to avoid running out of time before I need to go to bed (relevant), for the remainder of the school year (time-based). Helping students to set goals that they can actually achieve will go a long way toward encouraging feelings of success instead of disappointment. And, of course, that is what we want for all of our students. Happy Spring!