At Yavneh, we as a staff model the practices we wish to teach our students. During professional development, we have our faculty members set the kinds of hopes and dreams they have for the year. We then enact this practice with our students when school begins, molding our classrooms with kavanah (intention) and giving a voice to our students’ innermost ideals for themselves.
From our incoming Gan students to Kitah Chet, each student has the opportunity to think about and determine for themselves the ways in which they intend to grow throughout the year. Some students focus on academic growth; others focus on their social-emotional skills. Some hopes and dreams zero in on an academic skill the student wants to acquire or improve during the year. Others are geared more towards a feeling of accomplishment or readiness for the next chapter of their educational journey.
It is so rewarding to see how naturally our students lean into practices of self reflection in order to create meaningful and realistic goals themselves. The hopes and dreams are located in a very visible area in each class so the students and teachers can see them daily, and to help students realize them, modifying them if need be in order to ensure success.
Here are some examples:
“Write a book about unicorns”~ Gan student.
“I wish to learn more in STEAM about 3-D printers!”~ Gan student.
“I want to get better at writing. I want to help other people accomplish their hopes and dreams”~ First grader.
“In second grade I hope to learn how to draw a heart, not the shape but the heart in your body”~ Second grader.
“In second grade I want to learn how to do division”~ Second grader.
“My hope and dream is to write a chapter book”~ Third grader.
“My goals this year are: to control my emotions better and to read better in Hebrew”~ Fifth grader.
“This year I hope to improve in many sports such as football and tennis. I also hope to improve my handwriting”~ Fifth grader.
“This school year I want to really try putting 100% into my learning and focus”~ Fifth grader.
