Studies show that people who write down clearly defined goals are more likely to succeed than those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no surprise then that everyone from professional athletes, to business managers, to politicians tend to set clear and specific goals for themselves.<\/p>\n
As a teacher, goal setting can be a powerful practice to boost student achievement<\/strong> and to invest students in what they\u2019re learning<\/strong>.<\/p>\n While short term goals are important, at the beginning of the school year, setting long term goals can ground students in what they are working towards and give them a clear purpose for their daily lessons.<\/p>\n One great place to use long term goals? Typing, of course!<\/p>\n Students are much more likely to focus on their typing lessons when they have a clear picture of what they\u2019re aiming for.<\/p>\n So consider kicking off the school year with some typing goal setting.<\/p>\n Goals are only valuable if students have a genuine desire to meet them.<\/p>\n Make sure that you introduce the idea of goal setting as its own mini-lesson, giving it as much weight as you would any other academic subject.<\/p>\n Studies show that the act of writing down a goal is valuable in making it motivational.<\/strong> You might consider giving students a tracking sheet where they write down their initial WPM (more on this in a minute), their long term goal, and then keep track of their weekly progress.<\/p>\n It can also be valuable to remind students of other times they\u2019ve set and met their goals.<\/strong> That time their soccer team won the championship? When they moved up a level in karate?<\/p>\n These reminders of how good it feels to accomplish what you\u2019ve set out to do can boost students\u2019 investment in the process.<\/p>\n Finally, don\u2019t forget to mention what will happen once students meet their goals.<\/strong> For the most part, the feeling of success should motivate students in and of itself, but maybe students get their name on the \u201cTyping Masters\u201d wall or get a certificate they can take home to show their parents.<\/p>\n Giving recognition to students as they reach their goals will continue to build a culture of achievement in your classroom.<\/p>\n When it comes to setting goals for students, there are two main metrics that are used to measure typing performance.<\/p>\n Words-per-minute (WPM)<\/strong> is the measure of a person\u2019s typing speed, while accuracy<\/strong> denotes the number of mistyped characters.<\/p>\n Typically, it makes more sense to set a blanket goal around accuracy for your whole class. You want to instill the importance of accurate typing over speed when students first get started.<\/p>\n We recommend having students in grades K-3 shoot for 80-85% accuracy<\/strong>, and students in grades 4 and up aim for 90% and above<\/strong>.<\/p>\n WPM goals, on the other hand, will typically vary from student to student depending on their initial typing speed.<\/p>\n While there is no set rule for how fast students of a given age should be typing, the following list gives ballpark WPM rates:<\/p>\n – Kindergarten: 5-7 WPM<\/strong> Obviously, these numbers will vary by student and depend on how much prior typing experience each child has.<\/p>\n For WPM goals, it\u2019s more powerful if students set their own<\/strong>, instead of having a prescribed goal assigned by a teacher.<\/p>\n That said, kids will definitely need some guidance here. If left to their own devices, students are likely to set unrealistic goals that don\u2019t serve the purpose of being motivational.<\/p>\n A good place to start is to have students take 2-3 timed typing tests at the beginning of the year. Have students average their WPM from these and use this number as their starting point.<\/strong><\/p>\n Students can record this number on a private goal tracking sheet, or you can publicly display these somewhere in your room.<\/p>\n From there, you can generally expect students to grow between 3-5 words per minute over the course of a school year. This assumes students are practicing 20-30 minutes per week. If students will be spending more time typing, they\u2019re likely to see more growth.<\/p>\n Once students have set a goal for their typing progress within a given timeframe (say by Thanksgiving), have them take periodic typing tests on a monthly (or more frequent if they’re typing more often) basis. Each month they can record their new WPM alongside their goal and track the progress they are making.<\/p>\n Find a fun way to celebrate students as they meet their goals. For example, on our twitter account, some teachers post pictures of students with their certificates once they’ve broken 30wpm.<\/p>\n Fast fingers @alma_ais<\/a> this morning. 30 wpm or more on a 5 minute test @Typing_com<\/a> #lifeskill<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/0wzF5VKfXk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alma_AIS Matheny (@Alma_AISMatheny) May 4, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nInvesting Students in Goals<\/h1>\n
Typing Performance Metrics<\/h1>\n
\n– 1st grade: 7-10 WPM<\/strong>
\n– 2nd grade: 10-12 WPM<\/strong>
\n– 3rd grade: 13-15 WPM<\/strong>
\n– 4th grade: 15-18 WPM<\/strong>
\n– 5th grade: 18-20 WPM<\/strong><\/p>\nHelping Students Set Goals<\/h1>\n
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