Setting Professional Goals - Not the Same as Setting SGOs

I'm a big believer in setting goals in my teaching and in my personal life. As a teacher in New Jersey, I have to set three goals for my class (student growth objectives). These are usually based on language arts, math, and a goal set by the school, but I don't think that by setting those types of goals, I'm stretching myself as a teacher. I also like to set goals that will push me to change how I teach. For the last few years, I've focused on learning more about how children learn math, and I've changed my teaching considerably because of this learning.

This year I want to dig even deeper and be able to understand exactly where my students are in their cognitive math development. Since I teach kindergarten, a major focus is on identifying their understanding of numbers. Are they able to count to 10 by rote? Can they count a group of objects using one-to-one correspondence? etc. Once I understand where they are, I will devise small group lessons to support their current understanding and stretch them into the next cognitive level. Math work stations will be differentiated based on cognitive levels, so students practice counting and numbers at the level of their understanding.

It will be hard, and I'll probably create a lot of stress for myself, especially since I'm required to follow the textbook; however, the benefits are going to outweigh the stresses. By moving students forward through a cognitive progression, I believe they will learn more and because there won't be gaps in their learning, they will be successful in math in future years.