Personal: So, I had a baby on Easter Sunday. And I'm happy to say that I am now 3lbs less than I was before I got preggo. This is good news! {I'm still at least 10lbs from where I should be...} But I have to be honest and say that it has ZERO to do with my working out and more to do with breastfeeding. Man! That's they key to losing weight right there. Amazing. I am kinda working out on a weekly basis - but it's not hard core stuff like I am used to. It's just really difficult to squeeze in an hour workout at any point during the day with this little sweetie to distract me. One school begins, I am hitting the pavement as soon as I can get all my stuff wrapped up for the day. I'm also joining a boot camp again - they offer one at my school - and I'm super excited about it! I was pregnant when I joined last year, but I was still able to hang in there. Now that I'm not with child anymore, I have no excuses!! Yikes!
Organization: Last year was my first year teaching. {I'm 30 years old, but I switched careers in the middle of my life.} I went through a TON of different ways to organize all of my teachery things and I never, ever felt organized whatsoever last year. THIS year, I know what to expect. I know what I need, and I know what I don't need. I've created several binders and sheets that I know I will use and my *goal* is to stick with what I have already created and planned for throughout the entire year. I have a feeling this year will be much easier on me than last year was, simply because I've experienced it!
Planning: I have been major struggling with the Light Unit that I taught last year. I was SUCH a mess last year when I taught that thing. It's 7 weeks long - and a lot of the material is really difficult to understand. We have the Carolina Biological kit that accompanies this unit, but it's for middle schoolers. And let me tell you - it was DIFFICULT. I got a headache every time I tried to read it and make sense of it. This year, I'm still using the core content, but I'm scaling it down a bit. It was really too much for my fifth graders. We found ourselves very frustrated last year because the kids and I were both confused. It was awful and I was HORRIBLE at teaching it. I recognize that and I knew i had to do something to make it better and more enjoyable for all parties involved. I've been working on it and I'm almost done, but this was definitely a major goal that needed to be reached.
Professional: Since I attended the Reading and Writing Project training this summer {even though I teach science, I was still fortunate enough to be able to attend ---how awesome is that?!} - I was blown away and inspired. I have to implement the workshop style approach in my classroom and I've been searching high and low for science related fiction and non-fiction materials to help me. I don't know if it will be perfect, but I am definitely going to try. I just love the idea of the workshop because it really puts the kiddos in charge of their own learning. It will be a work in progress, but I think it could really work in science.
Students: Last year, I did not post learning targets. And the kids never really had easy access to each goal that we were trying to reach every day. {I know that's probably terrible, but I'm learning from my mistakes!} This year, I have a Focus Wall in the works, and "Goal Cards" for each student, which will list each learning target for each unit of study that we cover. They will receive a copy of the learning targets for each respective unit of study at the beginning of each unit. There is also a place for them to check once they've mastered each target. Of course, I will also have a copy and I'll ultimately be the judge of when they've mastered them, but it puts the responsibility of what they need to learn on them. I love it! I've also got a new anecdotal note system which goes along with this that I will share on a future post.
Motto: Pain is Temporary...Pride is Forever! I think this saying can be applied to any facet of life. Keeping up with these goals may be painful at times...but the pride that I will gain from keeping them will last a lifetime.
Thanks so much to Jess for providing the cute graphic to go along with this linky. Link up with sweet Jess from I {heart} Recess to share your goals!
