Defining Your Professional Development Objectives

I. Consider your long-term goals.

• Professionally, where do you see yourself being when you are at the pinnacle of your career?
• What will you be doing? If this point seems to far off- identify what you see yourself doing in 3-5 years.

II. Consider your responses to the questions above. Now, list the accomplishments that you will need to achieve in order to reach this goal. These can be as specific as taking a particular type of class or as general as keeping a positive attitude. Jot down the first few ideas that come into your head…

In order to reach my long-term goal I must:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

III. Reread your responses to the first two parts and reflect upon what you wrote. Now, it is time to start working towards these goals. To begin with you will be writing a goal statement. This broad goal should be something that you can attain in the next year or two.

For example: " My professional goal is to design and facilitate an online course for teachers who wish to learn more about technology integration. This project will assist me in my long-term goal of teaching college or graduate courses for teachers."

This professional goal statement documents a goal that the writer wants to reach in the near future. It is clear that the achievement of this goal is linked to the writer's long-term goal.

Identify a goal that you would like to achieve in the next year to two. You may also want to include your long-term goal in this statement.

My professional goal is to…