Be Intentional!
No matter what you are doing, always try to be intentional, always strive to be purposeful. This is a principle that should be followed in education and in life.
To be intentional is to have a goal in mind. It is to have a bullseye in sight. It is to have a target you're aiming for.
Once you set your goal, you 'll need to develop strategies to help you meet that goal. You'll need goalposts along the way to check yourself.
A life that is lived intentionally is a life well-lived. Never live life with a daily, weekly, and monthly plan. Never let a year go by without setting up yearly and five year goals.
When one wakes up in the morning, under no circumstances should she go through the day aimlessly, with no goals to accomplish, no guideline to ensure that you accomplish your goals. Being humans, once in a blue moon we may wake up with no specific goal in mind for that day, but that should never be a lifestyle.
Let's say your goal is to prepare a special meal for your significant other. First you may have to get up early, go shopping. Then come home to prep for the meal. Cook the meal. Set the table. Finally enjoy the meal with your significant other. A lot went into executing that plan.
In education, it is no different we have educational goals for our children. To help them reach those goals, a lot goes into the execution. One thing we have that is very helpful in helping us execute is the Standards, which is documented way of doing something. It has specific guideline design to help us along the way. So be intentional!
The standards are great criteria to measure against. The standards make it easier to hit the mark. It makes it easier to strategize and evaluate your strategy.
The Alphabet Stories teaching and learning approach is intentional; it is purposeful. The target is always in sight.