Note: I am participating in a 30-day blog challenge as part of Reflective Teacher Month at Teach Thought. I am looking forward to learning more about myself, my pedagogy and my colleagues.
Day 1 Prompt: Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you'd like to be!
I am starting my fourth year as an English teacher, my third year teaching in a middle school setting. I have already achieved, some of my goals, which included teaching at a school closer to home, so I wouldn't spend 10 hours a week just trying to get to and from the building. I had also wanted to convince my school to separate the reading and language arts classes into two (which my old school sort of did), and my new school completely embraces this concept.
Because I'm a new teacher at my school, some of my goals include getting to know my colleagues, gaining an understanding of the school culture and dynamics, and figuring out how I can best serve the school and local community.
But ultimately, I believe that I'm in a prime place in my career to become more reflective, to ponder who I am as a teacher, to contemplate the choices I make, to scrutinize my instinctual reactions (Shhhh! when I hear students whispering… but perhaps I should listen first…), to evaluate my practice as a whole and then to make adjustments based on my findings.
After all, what is the purpose of reflective, if one does nothing in response?
This is my first year as a middle school teacher, so we are taking similar paths. Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful year…and a wonderful month of reflecting!