This coming school year, year I will make sure not to.....

We all reflect. It goes with the job. So I was thinking..what's the one thing I absolutely MUST make sure to change in my teaching next school year?

My answer is... I will make sure not to let students get off so easily when not doing their homework. I have a coworker who calls home EVERY TIME a child skips a homework assignment. Sounds crazy huh? It works for her though. The kids really take her homework seriously.

What will you make sure NOT to do this coming school year?

 

The homework thing is one I need to work on too. I also want to tighten up discipline. Last year discipline was very tight, but I want to make it better! I want to follow the Fred Jones rule-never make a rule you aren't willing to enforce 100% of the time!

 

I will make sure not to........be so hard on myself. I have to remember that it is my first year and I am still learning and although I would like to be perfect and the best teacher, it isn't going to happen this year.

 

I will make sure not to leave my desk a mess when I leave for the day. It's so stressful coming to work in the morning and having a huge pile of crud waiting for me.

 

I also have to fix my missing homework problem!

I also will not follow the math series as closely. Now that I know what I am teaching (and what does and doesn't work), I will stray more!

 

I will not speak poorly of anyone- student, parent, or staff member. Not that I did last year, but this year, I also vow to stand up for people more that are getting gossiped about.

 

Yeah, that's one I'm carrying over from student teaching. I figured a system for everything else: graded work, ungraded work, work that needs to be inputted in the paper/ electronic grade book, extra copies of assignments, parental contact forms. I just have to figure out how to keep up with work that I receive long after it's due. Or rather that kids SWEAR ON THEIR MOTHER that they gave me long ago, but I have no record of ever receiving. I think I like someone's idea on another thread about stapling all the papers together to identify late papers (which would be lose paper), but I'm still working on implementing a system to document late and missing assignments.

Suggestions are welcomed and greatly appreciated!

 

I will not create piles on my desk.

 

I will not let my lesson plans go.

 

Hmmmm....

I am going to try and differentiate more and go outside my comfort zone. We will see...

 

I will not forget to sign agendas daily. I did better at the start of my career with that...

 

I will not be a daydreamer/slacker during planning time (no more lights off and music on).

 

I will focus more on Guided Reading Groups!!

 

I will not wait until Sunday night to do my planning for the next week. I want to do it on Thursday's and then do all my photocopying on Friday.

I am also thinking about giving my students homework.... My problem with this is that my students have severe behaviors and mild to moderate cognitive delays and their parents have issues just dealing with them on a nightly basis (some of them will be incapable of assisting their child in a positive manner) and I don't want to pile something else on their plate:huh:. It just feels so weird not giving out homework.

 

1) I will not volunteer to cater without receiving adequate compensation. The last time I volunteered to cater for nothing more than food costs, the woman who was organizing the event treated me like a servant. Instead of respecting and appreciating me as a volunteer, she overburdened me with tasks, made unrealistic demands, gave me orders with a snap of her fingers, and generally behaved like a pain the you know what.

2) I will not leave students unattended. I will also make sure that our security cameras are operational. In the past I have gone back and forth between the lab and the kitchen ... but this coming year I will have a manager cover the room that I'm not in. Why? Last year beginning culinary arts students plastered the ceiling with cookie dough. Someone also stole freshly baked cookies from our kitchen.

3) Nobody will get any freebies. If teachers want a cup of ice, they'll have to buy the cup. If they want disposable plates, plastic ware, and napkins for a class party ... they'll have to buy these supplies.

4) I'm finished with charging prices just to break even in our student operated restaurant. The building administrator made me provide free breakfasts on four separate occasions to kids taking the AIMS test ... which meant that I had a deficit at years end of several hundred dollars.

I will offset the costs of free breakfasts by raising restaurant prices slightly beyond our break even costs.

5) Advanced culinary arts students will wear culinary uniforms in the kitchen. In the past I allowed students to get by with just aprons, closed toed shoes, and hats or hairnets. Several students burned their arms from splattering oil or brushing against hot pots ... so everyone will now wear a long sleeved white culinary arts jacket.

6) Assistant managers will use my office phone. If they have a cell phone, they will use this phone in the office. Students are not allowed to have cell phones at school and I think teachers and staff should not use cell phones in front of students.

7) Assistant managers may not entertain visitors during the hour before lunch as all hands are needed for lunch production. One of my managers had a tendency to visit with her son who came to talk with her during lunch production. She also had friends who dropped by. My feeling is that unless it's an emergency, work must always come first.

8) I need to be more assertive in supervising my managers. See items 6 and 7.

 

I will also be consistent with homework but my other goal is to be better with grading!

 

Happy Birthday, Superteacher! Hope it's a great one!

 

1) I am going to read more about how to teach my kids writing in reading in the content area of Social Studies (Mrs. R. suggested some great books.)
2) I am going to help my MS teacher differentiate more (Any good books, ideas, advice?)
3) I am going to try to be friendlier with the other department chairs.

 

I will not get so stressed about the fact that my grade level colleague rarely assesses or takes any grades.

I will not put things in my tote bag to bring home, if I could do them at school in a short period of time.

 

This year, I will not:

1- be inconsistent. As a newer teacher (going into my 3rd year) I am getting more and more comfortable with my behavior plan and I will not let anyone off the hook because I "feel bad".

2- GOSSIP. I teach with 8 teachers under 27 (I fall into that age range) and it is so bad. They are horrible and I need to seperate myself- for my well being and my students. This often leads to me going home and being upset for really silly reasons, and when I do this my focus isn't on my students, but rather what these other teachers are thinking/saying/doing...ugh, bad situation.

3- Let my desk/room get cluttered. I am the queen of leaving piles on my desk. This year I am pushing my desk so that it is facing the wall, so that way I won't be able to leave a mess on it because EVERYONE will be able to see it

 

This year I will...

1. Think outside of the box. I will make my lessons more creative and fun. This means, I'll need to do more researching and reading.

2. Organized and neat. No more searching for papers on my desk! Everything must have a place.

3. Smile more especially when I feel overwhelmed, wronged or depressed. I'll lean on my faith more this year instead of people.

Great thread! It's therapeutic!

 

This year I will. . .

1. Be more organized, if I'm more organized then I think other things such as: staying on top of paperwork, making sure kids turn in their homework on time etc. will be easier.

2. I've got to go back to getting my lesson plans done by Thursday, so Friday I can copy & get organized for the next week. It makes the weekend so much nicer, plus if someone gets sick over the weekend, I'm not worried about Monday because everything's there, ready to go.

 

I have an idea. Why not give out a pack of work on Monday and allow them the week to complete. Nothing to overwhelming but just enough so they have something to do and hopefully the parents will be able to sit with them for a bit over the course of a week and finish it.

Hope this helps.

 

This year I will...say NO more when asked to be on this committee or that committee.

 

Ditto that. I leave so quickly after school. When I enter my room in the morning it's the first place I go to and it's quite disappointing to see it in such disarray.

 

You know what I do? As soon as they come into the classroom they have to fill out their agendas then bring it to me where I stamp it using a seasonal stamp. I check for spelling, neatness, and signatures. These must be done before they leave for their specials. If I wait to do this at the end of the day--I'll forget because the end of the day everything is hectic.

This school year I will stop 15 minutes before dismissal we will review our day then have them open their agendas and THEY write whether they have homework or not (and not me).

 

I will try to realize no teacher is perfect,and that there are many positive things that I accomplish during the school year. I will try not to dwell on the negatives and let them wear me down.

 

This year I will not have a teacher's desk. I'm going to try to organize all my stuff in the cabinets. Hopefully this will reduce clutter, give us more working space and keep me off my computer (another 'will not' - I will not instant message my husband during the day).

 

Happy birthday, Superteacher!!!:2up:

 

I vow

not to leave without filing paperwork, grading, and preparing for the next day.

It is my goal to be super organized and always have everything in order-and stop taking a ton of work home

 

I vow to be a kick-butt teacher in my own sense and get the monkey (principal) off my back. I will be more prepared and think out my lessons better. I will be a better planner. I will also attempt Morning Meeting in order to create a more positive classroom environment so that there will be less teasing.

 

This is the way that I do my homework. My students all have individualized programs so it is hard to keep track of daily homework assignments.

The families my students come from are very needy. Some of their parents have disabilities themselves (I can't tell you how many meetings I have had with them and had to tell them that their child has a mild or moderate cognitive delay). I have a few that if they don't pack their own lunch or make their own dinner, they won't be fed. I have a self-contained class with 7 students and only 1 child comes from a "stable" family (him and his mom but monthly visits to see his dad and other relatives). I have had some beg for work to take home and I do send it home, but I never see it again (even after I phone parents and send notes home. I can't even send library books home because they never come back.

 

Happy Birthday, SuperTeacher81!


Okay, this year I vow...

• To actually get a full-time teaching position (hopefully)
• To organize my home office so I can find things I need for school
• To watch my tone of voice. As a former drum major (band), I can sound (translation: project my voice) like a drill sergeant!
• To watch what I say to whom, and where!
• To follow procedures religiously
• To try to focus. It is way to easy for me to go off on tangents!

I'm sure that's not all, but it is all I can think of right now!

 

To grade papers daily, and post them weekly. Consistency is the key for me this year.

 

I'm glad this thread was started! I've been thinking about things I need to be more consistent with as well. There are so many, so I think I'll only work on three.

1. Put things away after I'm done with them (masters, books, etc). This also applies to my desk.
2. I always have great management skills at the beginning of the school year, but I start to become a little more lax as the year goes on. I will be consistent all year long.
3. I will not fall into the gossip trap that was mentioned by others. I will avoid those situations and walk away when it starts.

Good luck to everyone!

 

i vow to be a little tougher with my behavior plan (i tend to over look a lot or not give many consequences). i need to stick to it and make sure my kiddos do! i have a tough group coming in.

i also vow to be softer spoken. i talk really loud so johnny in the back can hear me, but by the end of the day...i have a HUGE headache! (we'll see if that happens!)

LC

 

I also need to file my papers right away. I have just finished filing papers that have been in a box since December. Every year, I say never again, but this year I did it again, although my pile only took me 2 hours to go through, organize and file !

 

Being a first year teacher my biggest concern is behavior management, so I plan to be consistent and firm with my students. I also plan to start out the year strict to realize that in my first year it will be impossible for me to achieve everything that I want to so I will prioritize. I also will try to enjoy my first year teaching as much as possible!

 

NOT eat sweets at meetings
NOT get sucked into complaining in the lounge
NOT leave without clearing off my desk
NOT eat the breakfast the kids are given (we can, its just unhealthy)

as far as teaching:
NOT prepare too many "ideas" at once. I get a lot of things half done and then its too late to finish them (games, bull boards, anything really)

 

This year I will...

try not to spend my own money on supplies, or at least not as much
stop hoarding every scrap of paper "just in case"]
attempt to develop a classroom website
focus on the positives instead of the negatives
work on relationships with parents, even the difficult ones
leave work at work
attempt to part with some of my resources that I haven't used in years
be a mom at home and not always the teacher