Set the Tone for a Fresh Start
The new year invites both you and your students to think differently about growth. Instead of resolutions that fade by February, your students benefit from learning how to set goals that endure – ones rooted in who they’re becoming and how they want to grow. This month’s Activity of the Month, Principled Reflections and Goals, supports students in creating character-centered goals that grow with them throughout the semester.
Principled Reflections and Goals, gives your students a simple but powerful structure to rethink who they want to become and how they want to grow – one Foundational Principle at a time. Written by Wichita, KS-based Empowered Educator Allie Klusener, this activity turns goal setting into something meaningful, personal, and durable throughout the semester.
What the Activity Looks Like
In Principled Reflections and Goals, students choose one Empowered Foundational Principle as an anchor for a new nine-week goal. They then turn that into a S.M.A.R.T. goal using the Empowered template. That goal is kept somewhere visible so they can revisit it later.
After some time (typically a quarter), your students return to their written goal and reflect:
- What went well?
- What did not go well?
- What did I learn about myself?
- How did focusing on this principle change me?
You can repeat this process as often as fits in your classroom schedule. Students can practice goal setting and reflection throughout the year, not just in January. This activity is flexible enough to live in journals, binders, digital portfolios, or even as part of student-led conference materials.
Why “Principled Reflections and Goals” Matters
Students often think goals are about specific achievements – improving a grade, making a sports team, or finishing a project. But this activity shifts the focus toward who they’re becoming, not just what they’re doing. By tying growth to a Foundational Principle, students build character-centered goals that support both personal development and future career readiness.
It promotes a true growth mindset because your students learn to:
- Reflect honestly without judgment;
- See setbacks as useful information;
- Understand that becoming who they want to be is a process, not a quick fix;
- Practice trial and error; and
- Recognize their ownership in shaping their future.
It also helps your students connect their everyday habits to deeper values, a skill many adults are still trying to master. When they revisit their goals weeks later, they can see patterns in their behavior, choices, and progress that give them a sense of control over their own growth.
This activity helps students grow into who they’re becoming, not just focus on what they’re completing.
Educator Spotlight: Allie Klusener (Kansas)
This month, we shine a light on Kansas educator Allie Klusener, whose classroom innovation resulted in this goal setting activity that she shared with us. Allie, now the Operations Coordinator for Khan Lab School in Wichita, made the Foundational Principles central in her former English classroom. For her, this activity grew out of a simple but powerful desire to help her students pause, look inward, and make intentional choices about who they want to become.
“I wanted students to truly reflect on their choices and decisions moving forward. New year, new mindset!” Allie shares. She sees this activity as a natural “debrief” after the first semester – a chance for her students to reset their thinking and step into the new year with clarity and purpose.
Allie wrote this activity with a clear purpose: to give students a meaningful routine they could return to as they tracked their growth throughout the year.
She wanted a tool that didn’t just help students set goals but helped them understand why goals matter and how to reflect on their own progress toward those goals.
She also reminds us that growth takes courage. “For some students this comes naturally, but for others it’s really tough. It’s hard to look at yourself honestly and name your own strengths and weaknesses,” she shares.
Her belief? When students anchor their goals in the Foundational Principles, they see themselves as capable of becoming someone “new” and “valuable” to their community.
Allie saw this activity strengthen students’ confidence, ownership, and self-awareness. They also learned to evaluate their progress, celebrate their wins, and make intentional adjustments. It wasn’t just a nine-week grade. It was nine weeks of growth.
A New Year, A New Way Forward
January gives us the perfect reset button. What your students do with that reset that shapes the rest of the school year. Principled Reflections and Goals empowers them to step into the new year with clarity, intentionality, and courage. It’s a straightforward practice with a big impact. They get a chance to reflect deeply, practice self-management, and build habits that stay with them after the classroom.
Here’s to 2026, a fresh start, and principles helping your students discover the best version of themselves.
TRY OUR ACTIVITY OF THE MONTH
You can get our activity guide – including ideas for personalizing the content for your students – for free on Empowered Hub.
Once you’ve tried it please share your feedback with the 22,000+ other teachers who choose Empowered Hub for ideas, inspiration, activities, resources, and support.
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