Principal’s Corner by Nick Sofio

 

As adults, when we think about our hopes and dreams, we may envision visiting some place far away or being able to check something off of our bucket list. At our elementary schools in Albert Lea, the conversations with our students about hopes and dreams take on a completely different meaning. 

Visiting an elementary classroom in Albert Lea during the first six weeks of school, you will typically hear a teacher talking to their students about their hopes and dreams for the school year. Following the responsive classroom approach, hopes and dreams are set up early in the school year to help students establish one or two learning goals they can work on over the course of the school year. 

With the support of their teacher, students will carefully reflect on the successes and challenges from the previous year of school to identify any areas or items they are looking to improve upon during the school year. Students will then have their hopes and dreams displayed collectively within the classroom as a visual reminder of what they would like to complete this year. 

The hopes and dreams of the students at Lakeview are wide-ranging depending on the age and grade level. In an older grade you may see a student who wants to improve on their multiplication and division facts. At a younger grade level a student might want to improve on sounding out words or telling time. Not only does this process help students focus on areas of learning that stand out to them, but it also begins to instill a foundation of utilizing goal-setting as a life-long skill.

Parents, this week, instead of asking your child what they did at school today, consider asking them about their hopes and dreams at school. I am sure you will be delightfully surprised by how it turns out.

Nick Sofio is the principal at Lakeview Elementary School.