At last! It’s summertime! This is what all teachers have been waiting for. A time to relax, to refresh. A time to stay up late and sleep in anytime we want. No deadlines. No meetings. No papers to correct or plans to submit. No pressure!
So what are you doing this summer? Working, traveling, taking an online course, or simply spending quality time with family and friends?
A lot of us are already diving into our hopes and plans for the next school year.
Lots to unpack
Before we delve into what’s to come, we need to do a lot of self reflection about this past school year. What did we do that was successful? What didn’t work? Why didn’t the students respond the way we thought they would?
Don’t just look at student test scores. Look at overall improvement in student performance. What were they able to do at the end of the year that they couldn’t do when they came into my classroom? Also try to gauge what units or activities really captured their interest and motivated them to learn.
Be honest in your critique… but don’t judge. Let’s say it was an awesome year. There’s always room for improvement. I might need to tweak things just a bit. Or maybe I need a whole new approach to teaching a unit or skill.
Summer reading
This year our principal challenged us to do a little summer reading. We are tasked with finding an article or book about teaching to share at the beginning-of-the-year staff meeting. What??!! But wait… there is so much to learn about the craft of teaching. This may be just what I need to do to add to my repertoire of fresh ideas!
Not sure yet what I’ll choose to read. Any ideas?