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It's that time of year again. Time to reflect on what's behind us and make commitments for the future. As a new teacher, I think this time is especially important for me to reflect on how my teaching has improved and what work still needs to be done.
On the last week of grad school, my professor recommended that we look back at our early journal entries and think about how we have changed since then. I must say, in reading some of the early posts on this blog, I didn't even realize how much I had grown as a teacher and as a person since this past summer. I sounded nervous and scared for my first days and honestly had no idea what I was doing. But I plowed ahead. I can't really say I know that much more now, but at least I have an idea of what I should know. Had I made a list then of all the skills I would need to work on, I think it would have been pretty useless, besides the fact that, for the first few months of school, I had little time to reflect on what I was doing.
I feel I have become a teacher. I have experienced the frustrations and joys of teaching, as well as fallen into many of the pitfalls of being in front of a classroom of eager children. Now that I know what my strengths and weaknesses are, I am ready to make resolutions for the coming year.
In 2010, as a teacher, I would like to:
1. Captivate my students at the start of the lesson, by giving an interesting motivation at least every other class.
2. Stay on top of grading and make sure to pass work back within a week, if not sooner.
3. Develop more classroom procedures to keep things flowing smoothly.
4. Catch up! Don't let my students fall behind and make sure they have enough material to do well on the Regents.
5. Avoid planning only one day ahead. Try to plan whole units, at least with aims for each class, if not lesson plans.
6. Develop stronger relationships with students in the middle range, not only in the bottom or top.
7. Stay positive. Try to record one good thing about every day and every student over the course of the semester.
8. Not talk over students. Develop strategies for managing talkative students and classes.
9. Be a better team player, by making more time for my co-teacher and co-workers.
10. Have more fun, both inside and outside the classroom.
This last one is especially important because I need to show my students that Earth Science can be fun. If I'm not into it, how can I expect them to be? And I think I will be able to enjoy teaching much more if I allow myself more time to have fun outside of school. I need to make time to do things outside my apartment, too, because as wonderful as movies are, I am an outdoorsy person and will feel much more relaxed if I can get outside now and then.
So here's to a new year, and let's hope it's a good one!
I enjoy reading many of your stories. I work for a teacher's association and would like to share your writtings with our members. Please let me know if this would be possible. Thanks, Kristen (kristen@apeleducators.org)
Posted by: Kristen Hill | 01/27/2010 at 05:13 PM