Disorganized, Stream-of-Consciousness End of Year Reflections

It has been an incredibly long time since I have updated this blog.  The whole school year came and it went.  10 months really doesn't feel like a long time when teaching is not just a job, but a lifestyle adjustment.  This was the year I got "used to" waking up at 5:30 AM every day and tutoring at night to try and make it. 

It is an important practice for an educator to partake in reflection, so here is my end of year thoughts...

1. Never take an old system or try to create a system of organization until you get to the school you are teaching.  It doesn't work. Also, don't predict what you will need and won't until you get there. 

2. Become familiar with your curricula.  This is the only way you'll be able to submit lesson plans two weeks in advance. 

3. Waste less time in class: if the students can do the work at home, why waste class time reviewing something everyone knows?  Incorporate technology and assign meaningful homework assignments; save class time for reviewing important concepts. If you can flip the classroom in some way, it will really free up your instructional time to focus on what your students need and not just have to "march through" a curricula.

4. Education classes and theory makes much more sense when you are actively behind a teacher's desk than when you passively learn it behind a student's desk.

5. Save your files in multiple areas. Do not rely on a flash drive, because as a physical object, it can be destroyed by the latest in laptop technology that your school provides you with.

6. Be consistent and be yourself. 

7. Stick to non-negotiables and never let them see you sweat, cry, or scream.  Save that for the car ride home. Use that negative energy to think what you will do to make tomorrow better. 

8. NEVER carry negativity into another day or another lesson.  Pretend it never happened and come back with a smile. EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY.

9. There will be a million useless things that you will be asked to do that you know are a waste of time, or end up being a waste of energy because new legislation is passed or a new set of standardized tests is released or the school decides it is useless.  Just do everything with a smile and don't complain.

10. Become friends with your coworkers and collaborate frequently.

11. NEVER succumb to the belief that students are fated to fail or have a fixed intelligence.  Believe that everyone can and should be able to succeed in your subject area.  Be accountable for every student and do not let students slip through the cracks as much as possible.

12. Be friendly with the student assistance counselor.  That can save a student's life.

13. Actually differentiate instruction and activities. Think about what your students need.

14. START THE YEAR WITH A TEXTBOOK ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM AND A CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN WITH NON-NEGOTIABLES.

15. Enforce your seating chart.  Use a seating chart and assigned groups. Do not let students pick anything for themselves until later in the year. 

16. Don't forgive the small stuff.  Call students out on talking in class, calling out, texting, etc.  It will stop if you expect it to stop.

17. Never scream.  If you can't get the attention of a room with your normal voice, screaming will only damage your vocal cords and not effectively change anything about the classroom environment.

18. Have fun with your students.  If they say something funny, laugh (or correct them). Know when to be serious and when you lighten up. 

19.  Teach students EVERYTHING you want them to remember, even the miniscule things.  They will not magically have memorized 30 vocabulary words unless you spend a day (week, month) learning them. 

20.  Quiz regularly and cumulatively. Break up big assignments.  Stick to due dates. 

21. Get student feedback.  Decide what is useful and what isn't.  Collect data frequently and document positive and negative behavior so that you can be consistent.

22. Don't collect so much homework and grade it based on completion.  No one else is doing it - why should you?

23. You can wear jeans on Friday - just don't wear them like your students do.

24. Take initiatives and be proactive. Advocate for your job - no one else will.  Tell your administrators personally how amazing your students are.

25.  Love your students and sincerely care about what they have going on. Do not complain when students need accomodations or when parents call screaming.  This is just life. 

26. Supplementary resources are SUPPLEMENTARY - do not depart from the book, no matter how awfully it teaches concepts.  Leaving the book is like saying, "I can build a ship while steering it on the ocean." Stay on the ship and make the ride better.

Things I am planning on using next year (maybe):

• Student blogs/Google Docs for homework assignments (checked randomly once a week and given a grade for accuracy - given feedback)
• Change grading system - 10 points for homeworks, 5 points for do nows (collected at the end of the week), quizzes and tests = 20-100 points
• Be more mindful in my choosing of groups and class activities
• Be more consistent with classroom rules and policies, especially at the lower levels
• Add a rewards system and accurate documentation of student behavior  (+/-)
• 1 test, 1 group project
• Teach vocabulary on Fridays
• Less homework over the weekend
• More complex quizzes and less complex tests

I think that's all the thoughts I have for now... I have to administer my first final exam in 20 minutes.

BY THE WAY - I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED ALL MY REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION AND WILL BE A TEACHER WITH STANDARD LICENSES IN LATIN AND ENGLISH NEXT YEAR!