"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." — Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior

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With the coming of 2026, I’ve decided that enough is enough! It’s time for me to return to my website and blog.

For the last three years or so, this site merely existed. I paid the WordPress bills. I paid for the domain name. But that about sums up the work I did here.

In fact, for a long time, I was loath to visit the site myself because of the regret I inevitably felt when I saw how long it had been since my last post and the thoughts of all the missed opportunities.

But during that time, I’ve been busy, and a lot has changed in my professional life:

• I’ve taught a lot more (in high school, university, and private tutoring).
• I’ve coached and consulted a lot more (at my school & district and across California).
• I’ve written a lot more (I’m expecting two books to be published this year — one that I’ve co-written and another that I’ve contributed to).
• I’ve continued to conduct research and run the Journal of School Administration Research and Development (JSARD) (I’m expecting one grading study to be published this year; JSARD is celebrating its 10th anniversary).

And as I return to this site, I find myself changed. This work and the accompanying experiences have led to personal and professional change and growth. For the most part, I think it is for the good.

However, something that hasn’t changed is my passion for grading and assessment. That will remain the focus of this blog, just as it remains the primary focus of my professional life.

Furthermore, the purpose of the site and blog remains the same: to support teachers and leaders as they rethink grading and assessment — challenging traditional practices, emphasizing accuracy and equity, and implementing research-informed, classroom-tested approaches that improve learning and the communication of learning for all students.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is my desire to grow — both professionally and personally. For a long time, I’ve used goal-setting as a method for growth, and with the start of the new year, I’ve spent quite a bit of time creating my 2026 goals. One of my goals for the year is to blog regularly and to keep my site updated.

So after a 33-month hiatus (my last post was April 10, 2023), I’m happy to say that this blog, and the entire site, for that matter, is back! And for this first post in nearly three years, I thought it would be appropriate and timely to present some thoughts on goal-setting.

Goal-Setting

Why a post on goal-setting? For one reason, as I’ve already mentioned, my own goal-setting led me back to this blog. Another is that student goal-setting is a great activity for increasing student agency and motivation in the classroom, with many implications for student self-assessment. Personal practice can help model and refine the finer points of the practice when guiding students.

Perhaps more importantly, I find goal-setting to be an important and meaningful practice for educators themselves, even when we feel our time or capacity may be limited to do so. In many cases, despite guiding our students through the goal-setting process, it might not be a priority in our lives because of the many responsibilities we have. Because teachers often care for others first and themselves last.

But personal maintenance, growth, and development are crucial for our personal well-being. And if we’re going to maximize our positive impact on others, whether it is our own family and friends, students, or other educators, we need to be the best version of ourselves. Furthermore, longevity in the field requires teacher self-care, and goals can be one aspect of such care. So it is perhaps in those hectic times that we need goal-setting the most.

Personally, as a teacher who plays multiple roles, has a busy schedule, and has a family (with two young kids), I’ve found goal-setting to be an important part of living a manageable, meaningful, and productive life.

I started getting serious about goal-setting about 18 years ago, around the beginning of my teaching career. Although I typically set some school-year-specific goals, January has always been the time when I spend the most time on goals. For me, January is a natural time to reflect on the past and plan for the future.

Over the years, my goals became more numerous, diverse, and detailed. As I’ve gotten older, these goals have gradually become a bigger part of my life. And as I reflect on the process of setting and striving toward my goals, I realize that they have, in many ways, molded me into the person I am today. In essence, these goals have guided the trajectory of my life.

Thus, today, goals are more important to me than ever as I intentionally organize, balance, and grow my personal and professional life. And I think this process can be beneficial to other educators — whether they are just beginning their careers, in the middle of their careers, or approaching the end.

My 2026 Goals

Below, I present my own goals merely as an example, in the hope that they could inspire someone else to invest time in the process.

This year, I’ve organized my many goals into multiple categories. This is because I previously found myself with a long list that was tedious to read, and I realized I was unlikely to review the entire list if I didn’t organize it better. And I knew that if I didn’t frequently review the list, there was little chance I’d accomplish the goals.

So here are the 10 categories I’m using this year (in no particular order), with an example goal for each. I selected the categories to address multiple aspects of my life that are important to me. I’ve included just one goal within each category for the sake of brevity and to maintain a little privacy. Because I realized that including all my goals would be too much information for any reader, and I also felt it would be more than I wanted to divulge online (especially in areas such as family and personal finance).

Category 1: Family

Prioritize the weekend as time predominantly for family and minimally for work.

Category 2: Teaching

Prioritize student agency in my classroom, focusing on on-going self assessment, along with frequent opportunities for choice and voice within each unit.

Category 3: Coaching & Consulting

Prioritize purpose and meaning with each educator I work with.

Category 4: Writing

Write at least six times per week for 30 minutes or more, whether on a book, article, or blog post.

Category 5: Research

Engage in at least one research study at all times.

Category 6: Health & Fitness

Maintain a fitness routine of push-ups, pull-ups, dumbbell work, Total Gym, leg raises, squats, and walking at least 6 times per week.

Category 7: Personal Finance

Increase my proportion of invested AGI compared to 2025.

Category 8: Personal Growth

Read at least 100 books by the end of the year.

Category 9: Outreach

Mentor or support at least one person in their work or research each month without any form of compensation.

Category 10: Spirituality

Meditate at least 10 minutes per day, 7 days a week.

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Enjoying the Work

In some ways, the act of goal-setting is the easy part. Because what comes after, of course, is the actual work required to meet the goals. But in my mind, that work is something to be enjoyed — or at least appreciated. Because the work is the process of growing and making the new life we’re aspiring to.

So as we embark on 2026, here’s to our goals, our work, and our process of continual growth. I hope you will enjoy your work at least as much as I will.

And I hope you take some time to read some of my future posts, which will be the result of the work I’m putting in to grow this year.