The last week of school

"What keeps me going are goals"
-Muhammad Ali

Even as I was doing the end of the year happy dance , I know now is the time to reflect and begin planning for next year.

As Muhammad Ali stated, goals were what kept him going, and they are what keep me going.  Goals are important, but to set goals one needs to reflect upon the past to help create new goals.

Here are a few of mine...


What went well this year?  This was the first year I taught a dual credit Government class.  Even though I only had two students enrolled in this class, I felt the students improved their writing and understanding of American Government.

Writing is difficult for everybody, but more than just struggling with the mechanics of writing, it was more of a struggle to have students to convey their critical ideas to the reader.  High school students have no problem stating their opinions, but many times then lack the supportive evidence in their papers.  The students in my DC Government greatly improved in this area.  It took time and perseverance, but near the end of the third quarter, the students began to include the supported details and evidence in their answers.  This reenforced my ideas of having high standards and the students will meet those standards.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENT?  In my 8th grade civic class, I want to mix up the class.  Some ideas include a comic book unit dealing with the Constitution, or have students write letters to the editor stating their opinion about a topic.  Finally, I want to develop more ways to teach vocabulary words.

WHAT'S NEXT?  For next year, I will use Google Classroom.  I already use programs such as edmodo, Google Docs, and many other online programs in my classes.  But I will strive to pull all these elements into one component with Google Classroom.  At the same time,  I am hoping to use less paper and improved communication with the students and parents using Google Classroom.  With the assistance of my wife, Sherie (she is the tech geek of the family :)), I will complete this goal.

Also,  a part of goal setting is know when to step back, regroup, and recharge.  So here are a few things I will be doing this summer to recharge...

RECHARGING:  Okay, let's talk about summer.  After all being a teacher we know that summer is a time to recharge for next year.  So, here is what I am doing for that...

• I have just started taking a free online class with EdX dealing with American comic books and their influence upon American culture.  Pretty cool...
• Attending a symposium dealing with the Supreme Court in June.
• In July, attending a conference in Virgina dealing with Economics and American History.  Both of these sound fun and I always love meeting new teachers social studies teachers...

What are yours goals?  Have you reflected about this last year?  I know it is tempting to say "I'll do that tomorrow or next week".  But, if you put it off you might not complete it.  I encourage you to take a minute, just down some notes about this last year.  Then create one or two goals for next year.  Don't feel like you need a top ten list of goals-just one or two.

Finally, don't forget to take time for yourself this summer.  You have spend nine months looking after others.  Now is the time to spoil yourself...Well, that is after you have reflected and made your goals. :)