Backward Design... how I love thee...

I forgot how much I love Backward Design.

I'm going back through my units from last year and making sure that I have concrete and clear objectives and goals for each unit of study. Then I'll go back over individual lessons and rework, redesign, and create anew. I hope that this better prepares me for the upcoming year.

I feel refreshed :)

It's already July!!

I cannot believe that July has already arrived. Happy birthday, America. You've given me everything I could have ever wanted in a country. As much as people get pissy and whiny and loud-mouthed about all the "terrible" things in this country, I think we all take forgranted sometimes the fact that we actually have the ability for others to hear our pissy moaning thanks to the wonders of free speech and advanced technology. I love America.


Some summer updates:

• 2009-2010 contracts were finally mailed to us on June 30th, the day our 2008-2009 contracts ended. It was nerve-wracking that the school took that long, but what can you do? In this economy, private schools are struggling too, just like the auto industry. I am looking forward to another year there to work on my practice and develop as an educator. I am also recognizing more and more each day that this is not my "forever" school. (The fact that opening my work email makes me nauseated in and of itself tells me that a new school is on the horizon for me in the next few years.) Don't get me wrong, I had a great experience this year: I have wonderful colleagues and love what I'm teaching. But the overall environment is not where I envision myself in the long-run. More on that another day, perhaps.
  

• I'm attending a few workshops in the coming weeks for social studies teachers, so that should be interesting and hopefully useful for my classes next year, if not just for the growth of my personal knowledge. Teachers should always be students.

• I have many many projects for myself this summer to be better organized personally and curricularly for next year. I have lots of things to think about in regards to how I manage my class, the types of assessments I require of my students, and how I would like a typical week to be structured. There are many things that you can't really anticipate in preparing for your first year, like how much homework is enough (depending on the expectations of your school) or how to adapt your teaching style to the culture of the school, or even how to allow students to use the bathroom during class. The bathroom thing sounds stupid, but I seriously had an issue with that this year... and I think my way of handling it was a little juvinile for 9th grade, and a little too lax for 10th grade. So, needless to say my summer to-do list is very long, and I have yet to start it. 4th of July weekend was my "deadline" for enjoying a work-free summer. So now it's time to start. I'm actually looking forward to it, though :)

Happy summer!