And we're down to a week...

After my super-motivated post counting the 18 remaining days... I am now realizing that 11 of those remaining days have passed with minimal work being completed. Additionally, my to-do list has [naturally] increased over these days. [Why is it that I feel as though I've accomplished something by ADDING to my to-do list? I write more bullet-points and admire them with a sense of satisfaction at my "organization"... but how many actually get crossed off??]

There are some pretty negative emotions surrounding my school as teachers are flitting back to start the fall sports seasons and get set up for next year. I hope that I can remain positive admist the negative energy, and focus on my students instead of school drama and politics. [Is this possible?]

I really really need to hunker down this week and get more things out of the way because I am sure that next week will be full of curriculum mapping, department meetings, and administrative speeches. Yipes... almost time to start year #2!






... on a side note.... i just went through some old posts from this past year. Man. I am realizing now that I may have been dealing with all of that self-doubt and negativity because I refused to allow myself to see the successes and see the positive things.

New Year Resolution: do not allow yourself to get bogged down by day-to-day minor issues, and focus instead of large-scale, big-picture successes and positive stories. Time to start fresh.

18 and counting

• There are officially 18 more days of summer. Instead of lamenting, I am celebrating... for a variety of reasons:
  
  1) I have the latest possible reporting day... which means more summer for me!
  

2) I am finally getting into the groove of doing prep work for school stuff, which not only makes me feel accomplished admist the many hours I have spent so leisurely this summer, but it also makes me excited to start a new year fresh.

3) I have so many things to be thankful for as we start a new year: a j.o.b. [that I love], super-amazing colleagues, and supportive and loving family and friends.

4) I am [almost] ready to get back in the swing of a regularly scheduled lifestyle.

Some food for thought as I revamp my syllabi, re-think assignments and lesson plans, and develop more efficient and organized systems for myself:

1) Sharing a room with other teachers proves difficult to create your "own space". Not only is the room not technically "yours", it's also usually VERY full of your roommate's stuff, since, of course, the room is "theirs". It's hard to make your own areas and stake a claim, but I have one new roommate this year who will most likely be able to carve out a little area for me in her room. As for my other roommate [yes, I have two roommates]... I am pretty sure he doesn't care what I do, however his room is full of his own stuff. This is a daunting tast, but I am considering investing in some small carts to create a little "station" in each room where I'll have random supplies and a little filing area for handouts, packets, etc.

2) I would like to re-work the way that I go about checking homework notes and otherwise ensuring that my students complete homework without actually having to turn it in. Thanks to technology, it has become easier for students to take hw notes on their laptops, email said hw notes to friends, who then earn credit for work they did not complete on their own. Since there is no way for me to accurately spot check this to ensure that this practice is not occurring, my only option is to collect notes EVERY DAY and read EVERY ONE of them. This will not happen. I could also quiz my students on a semi-constant basis... but who wants to do that? I don't want to drill and kill, nor do I want to check 90+ quizzes every week. Suggestions for dealing with this issue are welcome :)

3) I would also like to be more technologically savvy within my classroom walls this year. I am lucky that my school is very tech-inclined, in that we have a wireless system, every student is required to have a laptop, and SmartBoards and LCD projectors are extremely accessible. However... I want my kids to be interacting with tech in more engaging and interesting ways than just watching me do crap on a SmartBoard. I did some podcasting this year, and it went over well, but I think some of the value of the projects was lost in the excitement to actually make the podcast. I think I will attempt to bring blogs and wikis in this year... not quite sure how yet. I guess that is what I will be working on for the next 18 days! :)

Picture Cred

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 :)