"A goal without a plan is a daydream" Rick Conlow.
Are you looking to improve your grades and/or test scores this year? Setting goals is a great way to achieve academic success. What academic goal/s are you looking to achieve this year? How will you go about achieving your goals? All goals need a plan to make them successful. SMART is a great way to make a plan to achieve your goals.
SMART is an acronym that stands for"
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Timely (a.k.a Time-bound)
Let's look at each word in the SMART acronym to see how it can be used to achieve your academic goals.
Specific
Your goal should be detailed. It should state exactly what you are trying to achieve.
When coming up with details for your goal it should answer five questions:
What am I trying to achieve or accomplish?
Who will be involved in helping me achieve my goal?
Why am I trying to achieve this goal?
When will I achieve this goal?
Where will I achieve this goal?
Measurable
You need to know if you accomplished your goal. How will you determine if you met your goal? You need to set a benchmark to determine if your goal has been met. The Webster definition of a benchmark is a standard by which something can be measured or judged.
Achievable
Is your goal possible or impossible to achieve? Having an achievable goal will keep you from getting discouraged and giving up reaching your goal. When trying to decide if a goal is achievable, it should answer the two questions below.
Can you truly achieve the goal you set in a reasonable amount of time?
Do you have the resources to achieve the goal?
Relevant
Your goal needs to have meaning to you. Understanding the importance of your goal will help you stay on track. Answering the three questions below will help you understand if your goal is relevant.
Why do you want to reach your goal?
What is the purpose of your goal?
How does your goal help you to become better?
Timely
Every goal needs to have a deadline. A deadline is a set amount of time to be complete a task. If you don't give your goal a time limit, then you can easily delay the goal and run the risk of never completing the goal.
See the examples below of using SMART to achieve academic goals
Example 1
Thomas would like to achieve a better grade in chemistry for the third quarter.
Thomas currently has a C in chemistry.
Let us see how Thomas can use SMART goals to getter a better grade in chemistry.
SPECIFIC
Who?
Thomas, his chemistry tutor, and teacher will help him reach his goal
What?
Thomas is trying to raise his grade from a C to a B by the end of the third quarter.
Why?
Thomas would like to make the honor roll for the third quarter. Thomas needs a B in chemistry to make the honor roll.
When?
Thomas will achieve this goal by the end of the third quarter
Where?
Thomas will achieve this goal at school and at home.
MEASURABLE
A B in Thomas’s school is in the range of 83%-86%.
Thomas will need to have at least 83% in chemistry by end of the third quarter to achieve his goal.
ACHIEVABLE
It is a few ways Thomas can achieve his goal:
Thomas will need to hire a chemistry tutor to help him with concepts he doesn’t understand.
Thomas will need to stay after school to get help from his teacher.
Thomas will need to do all his homework.
Thomas will need to study for the upcoming quizzes and tests.
Thomas will need to get 90% and above on all his quizzes and tests.
RELEVANT
This goal is important for Thomas because he is currently taking chemistry. Improving his chemistry grade will help him make the honor roll and improve his GPA.
TIMELY
The school quarter has 10 weeks. Thomas will have 10 weeks to improve his chemistry from a C to a B.
Example 2
Emily would like to get a better score on the SAT.
Emily currently has an 1100 SAT score and would to improve her score to 1300.
Let's see how Emily can use SMART goals to improve her SAT score.
SPECIFIC
Who?
Emily and her tutor will help her achieve her goal.
What?
Emily is trying to raise her SAT score from 1100 to 1300 quarter.
Why?
A higher SAT score will help Emily get a scholarship.
When?
Emily takes the SAT again in 2 months.
Where?
Emily will achieve this goal at home and the testing site.
MEASURABLE
Emily's goal is to have 1300 on the SAT.
She will need to get at least 1300 on the SAT to achieve her goal.
ACHIEVABLE
It is a few ways Emily can achieve her goal:
Emily will need to hire an SAT tutor to help her with concepts she doesn’t understand.
Emily will need to work on understanding math concepts such as number, operations, algebra, geometry, statistics, probability, and data analysis.
Emily will need to work on getting better at reading comprehension.
Emily will need to work on getting better at writing.
Emily will need to take practice SATs.
RELEVANT
This goal is for Emily because she has already taken the SAT once. Improving her SAT score will help her get a scholarship.
TIMELY
Emily is scheduled to take her next SAT in 2 months. She will have two months to prepare for the test which should help her improve her score.
SMART is a great method to use to achieve your academic goals. Use the Tutoring Formula SMART academic goals worksheet to help achieve your academic goals. You can retrieve the worksheet on the website https://www.thetutoringformula.com/worksheets.
It can be a challenge to achieve your academic goals on your own.
The Tutoring Formula can assist you in achieving your academic goals for the year.
Contact us today at ineedatutor@thetutoringformula.com.
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