Children have a world of possibility in front of them.  Our job is to foster a growth mindset, where kids feel like absolutely anything is possible.  An easy way to do this is through teaching hopes and dreams at the beginning of the school year.

After you have created your class vision  it is time for students to start thinking about their hopes and dreams for the rest of their time with you!  This process fosters self reflection as students think about what they care most about.  I learned about this through the Responsive Classroom approach, and the book Rules in School, by Brady, Forton, and Porter.

Gathering Inspiration

Read alouds help make ideas come alive for kids.  We read a few books to set the stage for this discussion including: Dream Big, by Kat Kronenberg, The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin, and This School Year will be the Best by Kay Winters. We also talk about each subject area, and some things we will cover in first grade.

Then it’s time to ask questions.  For instance, what do you want to get better at in school? What do you hope to learn this school year? What do you hope to work on in class?   “Limiting the question to the arena of work, learning, skills, classroom, and school helps make sure students name goals that will be attainable.”

Another great starting point is watching a video of actual students saying their hopes and dreams. In first grade, we have watched this video for inspiration.

Writing it Down

We then create a class chart, simply listing our hopes and dreams.  Throughout the day, I will call students over and talk to them about their hopes and dreams for the school year.  I will write these out to display in the room.

The next step is for students to independently write their hope for the year, copying from the board (this activity is not about writing- it’s about dreaming!) .  I use this printable for students to record. Students will then share these out with the class.  I’ve also just created a few quick resources that will help your students reflect on their hopes and dreams. Check those out here. 

The Rules in School book I was referring to says “It’s important that children share their goals with the class because the sharing helps students to develop an awareness of and appreciation for one another’s goals.”

We display these in the classroom as well.  Oftentimes, after they come down from the wall I will keep them.  I’ll bring them out again after Christmas Break for students to re-read and think about how far they have come, and what they have accomplished!  We will often redo this activity (completely independently at that point), for them to set big goals for the remainder of the school year.

Other Activities

Check out the other activities I’ve created to help reinforce hopes and dreams.  My favorites include a song and a mini book.  These are fun and only take a few minutes with a big impact!

Getting Families Involved

The next piece of the puzzle is getting families involved. I send out a Social Emotional Newsletter each week.  The first one is about Hopes and Dreams.  It gives families more information about what we are doing, actionable steps they can take to re-enforce this, a read aloud, and my favorite, a positive affirmation their students can say at home each morning.  We say it at school as well. The accompanying phrase for Hopes and Dreams:

“My future is bright!”

I hope having your students write their own hopes and dreams inspires a wonderful start to the school year.  Be sure you share your own goals with them as well!  The students will use their hopes and dreams to help them create the class rules together.

And remember, this doesn’t only have to be done at the beginning of the year to work.  IT IS NEVER TOO LATE to allow your students to have ownership in the classroom. And our dreams are always changing!