Make 2008 Successful!
January 1, 1970
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” ~Leo Tolstoy
Because our professional duties are geared to changing lives, we teachers tend to think about what we do with a greater intensity than other professionals. We scribble comments on lesson plans, stick bits of paper in our teacher’s editions to mark any changes we want to make before we teach that lesson again, and scrawl hasty reminders and notes to ourselves all day long.
At a time of the year when the rest of the world seems to be busily engaged in planning how to save money, stop smoking, exercise more, or weigh less in just a few weeks, a teacher’s habit of self-reflection seems to be an ideal tool for improving how well we teach.
Spend some time this month thinking about your successes and failures so far this school year. Build on your successes as well as on the lessons you have learned the hard way from your failures. What did you do that was successful? What problems did you manage well? What did you accomplish? What can you improve quickly and what improvements will take a while longer?
Once you have spent time reflecting on past events and lessons, move forward to create new goals and resolutions for the rest of this school year. Which old practices or attitudes hinder your success? What new habits would make your school life easier?
Making resolutions based on both the past and the future can bring about a renewal of enthusiasm that will help you and your students make 2008 into a happy and successful school year. After all, the month of January is named for Janus, the Roman god of endings as well as beginnings.
To guide your thoughts about how to improve your teaching in 2008, here are a few suggestions for New Year’s resolutions or goals. Don’t forget that motivational experts suggest that the best chance for successfully carrying out resolutions come when people focus on three or fewer resolutions and make a detailed plan to achieve each one.
1. I resolve to manage paperwork efficiently. I will clean out file cabinets, desk drawers, and computer folders. I will get the supplies necessary to deal with the various tasks I need to accomplish, and I will use a daily to-do list. I will make a point of keeping up with documentation, handouts, and other forms.
2. I resolve to manage my time well. I will use a planner and a calendar to schedule work activities. I resolve to also encourage students to use class time wisely. I will work to pace instruction so that all students spend as much time on task as possible.
3. I resolve to make sure that the lessons I teach are aligned with state and district standards. I will focus instruction on the objectives in those standards.
4. I resolve to help students see the connections between the material in a lesson and their lives. I will take time to build in relevance so that students will be motivated to learn.
5. I will make sure to tackle literacy issues every day. I will help students become better readers. I resolve to include opportunities for students to read newspapers, brochures, and other real-life texts. I will teach vocabulary on a regular basis.
6. I will plan lessons that allow my students to reach out to their community with service-oriented learning. Helping students appreciate the importance of being a responsible citizen will be one of my goals.
7. I will take responsibility for the discipline issues in my classroom instead of blaming my students, their home lives, popular culture, the sugar in their breakfast cereal, or anything else. I will work to prevent or minimize disruptions whenever I can.
8. I will make a point of trying creative and new techniques and strategies in my class. I will plan activities that will be enjoyable for my students and for me.
9. I will look around my classroom to see what I can do to make it more appealing. Making the space neat, clean, well-organized, and attractive will make school more pleasant for students and for me.
10. I will take care of myself—paying attention to my stress levels to prevent burnout. I will exercise and eat well. I will learn to pace myself so that my workload is manageable.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
How Do You Compare? (Adapted from First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide)
Here is a brief list of some of the qualities that good teachers share. When making New Year’s resolutions, use this list as a guide to help you decide on your own goals.
Good teachers:
Enjoy their students
Inspire their students to want to know more
Return papers promptly
Show students how to be organized
Assess prior knowledge
Use a variety of interesting activities in a lesson
Keep students engaged in meaningful work throughout class
Make sure students know how to do an assignment successfully
Are as consistent as possible
Find a way to be gentle and firm and the same time
Know their subject matter
Are reliable role models
Connect with students’ families
Maintain an orderly classroom
Are prepared to teach every student every day
Strive to learn new ways to teach
Teach testing and study skills
See themselves as part of a team
Commit themselves to professionalism
Make their students feel capable
Handle paperwork efficiently
Stay open-minded
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” ~Jimmy Dean
Writing to Learn Activities
Now is also a good time to ask your students to reflect on their learning. Ask them to write about what study techniques work well for them and which bad habits may be hindering their academic success. You can initiate this activity with a sentence to complete. For example, you could ask students to finish sentences such as these: “I do well on tests when I_____.” “I can improve the way I study by_____.” After students finish these sentences, use their responses to start a class discussion. If the discussion goes well, consider extending it to have students create their own New Year’s resolutions.
“If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry; it will change. If you are in a good situation, don’t worry; it will change.”~ John A. Simone, Sr.
Reading Frustration
If you have ever been frustrated by students who barely bother to read the text or who don’t have even a faint clue about what they read, or even if you find yourself in a rut when planning reading activities, this list of strategies is for you. Most of them are ones that we all know and use from time to time and with good reason-they work. Even though some are geared to older students, most of them can be adapted to meet the needs of any student.
• Chunking the text: When teachers chunk the text, they break it into smaller, more manageable sections. You can do this paragraph by paragraph, page by page, or even sentence by sentence. Physically draw lines or mark the text with numbers to break it down for students.
• Think-pair-share: Students first read and think about a passage on their own, then discuss it with a classmate. Then the partners share their insights with the larger group.
• Making 3-2-1 maps: Students map the key elements in a text by: writing 3 things they learned, writing 2 interesting things, and writing 1 question they still may have about the material.
• Make comparison-contrast charts: Students either make or complete a chart of the various ways items are similar and/or different.
• Marking the text: Many students benefit when they are allowed to mark the text. When you ask students to complete activities such as underline key points, draw arrows to indicate connections, or write question marks in the margin next to ideas they need explained, they tend to stay focus and engaged with the material.
• Guided questions: Students answer questions about the text as they read. Questions can range from the knowledge level of thinking all the way to the evaluation level.
• Context Clues Charts: Assign words that students do not know in the first column, then ask them to predict what they mean in the second column, and write the clues in the text in the third column.
“When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” ~Dr. Robert Anthony
Doing Good Deeds in ‘08
One of the best uses of the Internet is to provide users with a portal to raise funds for good causes. An excellent recent site is one that provides fund for needy children though the activities of college students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To explore this site further, visit http://www.firstgiving.com/alyssaventimiglia.
“It doesn't work to leap a twenty-foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps.” ~American Proverb
Other Useful (and Amazing!) Web Sites
Learn more about literacy education at the National Institute for Literacy: www.nifl.gov (where you can download a booklet about adolescent literacy among many things) and the University of Pennsylvania’s site: www.literacy.org.
One of the most interesting interactive sites for younger students is superthinkers.com. At this site, students solve mysteries as they sharpen reading skills. Middle school students would enjoy this site.
Perhaps the ultimate interactive reading and character education site is found at www.fablevision.com/northstar. Here students learn character education topics as they progress through the simple story. There is a great deal of material at this site to encourage sound thinking and excellent discussion.
If you are a math teacher, this site full of virtual manipulatives is for you: http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html.
Another good site for math as well as life skills teachers is handsonbanking.com. Here students practice math skills as well as learn how to manage money.
Finally, for older students as well as teachers, freerice.com is site where users can improve their vocabularies as well as donate rice to a good cause. Particularly good for increasing vocabulary on tests such as the SAT, successful players contribute 20 grains of rice with each correct answer.
“Some pessimists would say that no one changes, that a leopard never changes his spots. But in fact everyone is changing every day either for better or for worse.” ~Alan L. McGinnis