First Year Down

Well, well, well... turns out I didn't have as much time during my first year of teaching as I would have liked in order to do OTHER things I enjoy besides teaching. So now is the time, I suppose, since I'm not expected back at work until August 10th!

So what are my summer plans? I always enjoy having the time to really get into a book so that I can finish it in a matter of days. I read the same book from last August until March of this year, so it'll be nice to have the time to read a book in a shorter period of time. What's on my list? I'm in the process of reading Drop City by T.C. Boyle. I would like to also try to tackle Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I read The Fountainhead a few years ago, so I think it's time to try a second book of hers. Other than reading, I plan to do some running, relaxing at the pool (and beach in late July) and hanging out with friends that I neglect most of the school year.

One of the most important parts of teaching is reflecting on the methods used and how they worked with the students then developing changes that can be used in the future. One of my main goals this summer is to reflect on how things went this past school year and to make changes that will help next year go better than this year.

The main issue that I had this year was in classroom management. A number of different factors played into my lack of control in certain situations, but I need to figure out what changes need to be made to make teaching more bearable. I need to establish the rules of my classroom from the first day. When these rules are broken, I need to have clear consequences, and most importantly, I need to follow through with these consequences. My biggest problem was that not only were my consequences rather vague, I also was not very consistent in my enforcement. I need to make these expectations clear from day one so students don't learn that they can get away with certain inappropriate behavior in my class.

Other aspects of teaching that I want to work on are contacting parents and working to create more connections between my students and the content of each lesson. The first of these two will require a clear system, and I will just have to make time to get in touch with parents. The latter won't happen in just a year, but eventually I will have lessons that are well-rounded and multi-faceted with interesting activities and real world applications to the students' lives.

For now, I'm celebrating this major accomplishment of completing my first year of teaching, and I know that the second will be even better. Meanwhile, I'm still learning and constantly searching for ways to make my teaching even better. After all, I'm still a student myself, trying to learn everything I can to give my students the best education I can.