Teacher Peas...what's your #1 goal this year?

To survive my last..YES LAST..year of teaching SPED. I have HS students who are emotionally disturbed and I think I am teaching 6 different subjects this year.  So that's my goal! 

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike the AR program?

For my reluctant reader son the thing that finally got it to click with him was his 3rd grade teacher who let them read whatever they wanted during the daily DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time. For ds that meant comic books. The teacher didn't care (as long as they were age-appropriate of course, which they were since they were provided by her). At the beginning of the year she told all the parents about her reading philosophy which was "let them read whatever they want during free reading time". She told us that it would include comics, and graphic novels (which weren't called that back then because they weren't really a big thing yet), and computer game manuals, and whatever they wanted. She said that she wasn't going to change her mind about that so if any parent objected they should go speak to the principal. She did all this with the blessing of the principal.

Fabulous teacher all round, not just with the reading. 

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Wish I was kidding! 

We're in our final phase of 1:1 device rollout. I have a brand new assistant, who is lovely but has no experience.I've already gone back to work to start getting stuff under control, without pay, because if I don't, my head will explode and I will literally die. 

I am not a teacher, but I am a momma who had a son who hated to read.

He turned the corner to loving reading when his 5th grade teacher encouraged them to make a small replica of the main character or a character they connected with for each book they read.

They could make a sketch, a clothes pin person, a clay person...the method didn't matter. But to incorporate art into what he was reading.

DS loved making clothes pin people (using fabric, yarn, etc) and ended up with a clothes pin character for each book he read that year. He had a little village of people that corresponded with what he had read.

To survive it!

Last year was my first full year back to teaching and I was only there a few weeks before my daughter got sick and I was out for the rest of the year.
I go back on the 15th.

I want the kids in my kindergarten to have a good foundation for school-not just academically but to be happy to come to school and feel safe and loved.
And not have anyone wet their pants, lol.

I want to LOVE this a thousand times!!! Good for you for doing what is good for kids.

Survive! I'll be working with two long term subs for about 3 months. It's my first year as union president and we negotiate. So I'm trying to figure out how it's possible to spend less time at school so I can get home and get the dog outside, exercise to lose weight and cook dinner. There is soccer to fit into all that. Living 40 minutes from work makes this nearly impossible. I need to really make an effort to get to work earlier and leave right at 4:00.

For my students and parents I will do everything I can do that no one is in danger of not passing the third grade reading guarantee. We have several this year and it's a horrible feeling.

My goal is to learn the curriculum for a new grade level, stay two steps ahead of the kids, learn the routines of a new school, and pray that I do a good job teaching religion. I was teaching in the public schools last year but I got hired at one of the Catholic schools in our city. It is my dream job but I have never taught 5th grade before just 2nd, 3rd, middle school math, and reading for k-4. Luckily there is another teacher at my grade level who is very nice. We share a portable so we can work closely together. I'm really looking forward to that. At my old school, my team was nice but we rarely talked and didn't help each other out much. It was very lonely. I have taught in other buildings where the teachers share everything. I'm hoping to have that again.

After I had taught for about 20 years, I told myself that I just was going to walk away on Friday and come back refreshed on Monday.  I still went in early and got home late and graded when I got home, but I knew the weekend was all mine and I started dreading Sunday nights (grading or whatever to get ready) a lot less.  It was the best gift I gave to myself.  I had to prioritize everything into three lists.  Must do, May do, and Whenever I have time.  I find just by my nature of being very left brained, I was doing the most unimportant things first because they wouldn't ever get done if I didn't.  It helped to be in the same grade level for most of those years, but we still had new curriculum every year and 5-6 subjects a day.

Good luck with your goal.  You could be there every weekend.  Always so much to do.

What is 1:1 device rollout??  What do you teach?

One of our schools in our district has started introducing some flexible seating in the library. It's been a hit. The wobble stools are great. So fun! Really makes you engage more of your core and improves posture. Good luck with your new project! It sounds fun!SaveSave

Tank have you read the Book Whisperer By Donalyn Miller.  It is filled with awesome ides about getting kids to love reading.  Do you not have a school library?  

I was about to suggest you read The Book Whisperer as well.. I saw her speak at a PD our district put on and it was amazing.

I am a 4th grade reading/writing teacher. My students have some of the highest scores on our state standardized test in the whole district each year because I have incorporated many of her philosophies in my teaching. I have DEAR time every single day - no matter what. And it's kid choice, not teacher choice. We do class novel studies, we do "book group" studies, and of course guided reading and all the strategies that go along with that - but I have stopped making reading in my class a "chore" and turned it into a fun activity.

My goal is to stay more focused on what I'm supposed to be teaching, and not go off on a tangent with my class as I'm known to do.

My goal is to enjoy my students and the experience of watching them learn. That was lost last year with a huge staff change up and multiple classroom shifts. It was made worse by the class from hell...no joke. By the end of last year, I was ready to hang it all up. I'm trying to reset my mind to the first time I was officially a teacher, and all the wonder and joy that held. I really do love my career. I just need to remind myself from time to time. September is always so full of promise....and June is always so full of wine. lol