In this lesson you will participate in a SMARTER-goal workshop. Most school goals die as to-do lists: pass the test, hand up the form, show up on time. Personal development is different. It is something you would still chase if nobody ever read it, and something you have to get better at. Today you will build the SMARTER scaffold with the class, then write one term goal that clears both of those bars and save it in your Digital Portfolio.
Three terms you will use for the rest of the course. Read the table, then keep it open while you write.
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Personal development: getting better at something that is genuinely yours to improve | Your goal today has to be development, not a task on a list | Being the person who speaks first in group work, and tracking when you do |
| SMARTER: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound, Evaluated, Revised | Every line of your goal has to answer one of these seven letters | Speak first in four group tasks by mid-term: start in small groups, log a dated note each time, check the count at mid-term, drop the target if under three |
| Goal: a clear statement of what you intend to get better at, with enough detail to check it | If you cannot tell at the end of term whether it happened, it was not a goal | Four first-to-speak moments by mid-term, each with a dated note |
A goal only counts as personal development if it clears both bars:
- Bar 1: something you would still chase if nobody ever read it
- Bar 2: something you have to get better at
Two goals that fail honestly:
- Pass the driving test by Easter — specific, measurable and timebound, but an examiner decides it. There is nothing in it for you to get better at. Bar 2 fails.
- Be more confident — this one clears both bars: you would chase it unread, and it is squarely something to get better at. It still fails, because nothing in it can be checked. Clearing both bars does not make a goal measurable.
Be the one who speaks first in group work clears both. So does arrive ten minutes early to every training session this term and log one warm-up drill I led.
Part 1 (about 12 minutes): whole-class only. Watch the shared board and list-builder; do not fill your own list yet. With the class, build ONE demo SMARTER goal together. This is class-shared practice only: do not save it as yours. A line goes on only when it says something you could actually check. Adopt or reword the suggested starter lines under each heading; they are class demo lines, not model answers for your portfolio.
Part 2 (about 16 minutes): your portfolio goal. The only portfolio artefact from today is a separate document, not the list-builder.
In your Digital Portfolio, open (or create) the Strand 1.1 folder, then create (or open) a document titled SMARTER Goal 1. If the folder is not there yet, create Strand 1.1 first. Copy the shape of the class demo, not the class goal. Write your own term goal against all seven letters.
Document shape:
- A heading (or short line) for each SMARTER letter, or one short paragraph that covers all seven
- Then a subheading Why this is personal development with two lines in your own words on why this counts as development and not a task on a list
That second part is the harder half. SMARTER Goal 1 is Strand 1 personal-development evidence in your Digital Portfolio; it feeds later Applied Learning Tasks and the Portfolio in Action AAC (60%), so the two-line justification is what shows an assessor this is development you own, not a task list.
This goal runs to the end of term. A later lesson will ask for a longer-horizon goal that lands after the Leaving Certificate; the point then is what changes when the finish line is that far away.
One demo SMARTER goal, built together
Talk these through with the person beside you, then decide whether your own goal still stands.
- Would you still chase this goal if nobody ever read it? If the honest answer is no, what would you change so that you would?
- Pick one line in your SMARTER Goal 1. If someone asked tomorrow how will you know this happened?, could you answer in one sentence?
If either answer is shaky, edit the goal in your SMARTER Goal 1 document before you leave.
Everyone: re-read your saved goal and underline the one word you are least sure you can evidence. If you have not saved a full seven-letter goal plus the two-line justification yet, finish that now — that is this step for you.
Then, if you are already done: write a second, smaller version of the same goal that would fit the next two weeks only. Keep all seven letters, but shrink the scale. Put it under a subheading in the same SMARTER Goal 1 document so you can compare the term version with the fortnight version later.
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