Hi! This is Jennifer Foxx with Music Educator Resources. Every year, I have my students create new musical goals that would like to accomplish in the New Year. It’s a great time to evaluate how our last semester went and where they want to go from here.
A couple years ago, I decided I wanted my students to be more specific with their New Year Goals so I decided to have them do SMART goals. The great thing about these goals is they can’t help but be specific when using this format. If you aren’t familiar with SMART goals, they are based on the acronym, SMART.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
Specific- Students write down a specific goal they want to work on or improve this year.
Measurable– This is a progress indicator. How will progress be tracked?
Attainable– How are they going to get there? Is it realistic? (For example, a beginner student may have the goal to learn how to play Fur Elise, but we want something more attainable, so they may want to choose a piece more in their level but gives them a little challenge)
Relevant– Is this relevant to their musical goals overall? Is it going to help them achieve other similar goals?
Time-Related– This is the place where I want them to put a deadline when they can accomplish this goal by.
I was VERY pleased with the goals I got back from students last year and will be doing it again with them this year. I thought I would share a couple examples…
With the first one below, this particular student has recently joined a rock band with a group of friends. Their band has been playing more and more. It’s been a great experience. She is the keyboard player. She has noticed since performing with the band, how important memorization is. Each band member is required to memorize their set. The more they have memorized the longer sets they can perform. So she has made it her goal to memorize more this particular year.
This student has made it a goal to practice daily. She has good answers to each SMART acronym to help her achieve her goal!
Once students complete their worksheets I put them at the very front of their binder so it’s there at the forefront and can be revisited often to see how they are coming along in their goal.
New Year Goals and Reflections
Now for some of my younger students, the SMART goal worksheet might be a little too much for them right now, so I use a different worksheet for them. I created the New Year Goals and Reflections worksheet a few years ago. They can reflect on their accomplishments from last year and choose a new goal for this year. Here is an example…
Reflecting on what was accomplished in the last year and creating goals for the new year help set our students up for success! You can download both of these worksheets for FREE below. 
Happy New Year and may your students be SMART with their goals this year!
Jennifer Foxx with Music Educator Resources
