Goals for the New School Year

I know that I am a person who is motivated to achieve my goals by making them public.  For this reason, I am linking up with Jess from I {Heart} Recess to share my goals for the 2014-2015 school year.

Personal: I was so good about eating healthy and working out almost daily from January until my wedding in April, but then I became lazy.  I have refocused myself this month and want to continue eating healthy during the school year. I also want to workout at least 5 days a week. I am teaming up with a couple teacher friends to keep each other on track.  I know that I am a happier, more productive person when I workout, so I need to make this a priority.

Organization: I am great at organizing during the summer, but I am terrible at keeping this up during the school year.  I tend to pile papers throughout the day instead of putting them back where they belong.  This continues throughout the year, and then I am overwhelmed with mountains of papers.  My goal is to go through all of the piles before I leave each day.  This way, the piles will not become overwhelming. Planning: I will be teaching guided math and guided reading groups almost daily, and I need to plan for them.  I did quick planning notes last year for my guided reading groups, but I know that my lessons would be more effective if I thoroughly planned for each group.

Professional: I was new to my school and neighborhood last year, so I did a lot of observing and not a lot of talking.  I want to become more involved in my school’s community and build better relationships with my coworkers and families.  I need to continue to work on my Spanish skills (they are truly lacking).

Students: I really want my students to learn perseverance and eliminate “I can’t” from my students’ vocabulary.  I always try to make my lessons fun and engaging, so I want my students to believe that learning can be fun.

Motto: I am reading Guided Math in Action by Dr. Nikki Newton and this quote definitely stuck out to me.  This will be my motto as move from teaching mostly whole group lessons to using small groups more frequently.  I see a huge difference in my students when I work with them in small groups, so I know it is worth the extra planning.

Link up and share your back to school goals: