Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blog Challenge for Teachers (Day 1)

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I saw this on my Twitter feed a few days ago and favorited it, hoping to find time during the three-day weekend to check out the challenges and see if I would consider adding it to my already cluttered To Do List for September.

It's a 30-Day Blog Challenge for Teachers from te@chthought and man, I needed something to kick me in the pants and get me blogging again. For the sake of starting fresh, I've hidden all of my previous posts on my blog until I've had time to review them. I'm sure if I keep at this blog for more than a month, I will start republishing some of my old posts.

But for now, here's the first installment of the blog challenge:

Day 1: Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you’d like to be!

1. Lead well. I've joined a new grade level this year and simultaneously stepped into the role of one of two chairs for the team. I'm a little nervous of being the new guy on the show while also being the team lead. I know I would not have been given the spot if I was not capable of doing a good job, but that does not make it any less intimidating.

2. Develop my student teacher. Six full years of teaching. Two semesters of student teaching. Eight weeks of classroom observations and tutoring sessions. It's finally come full circle and I have my first  student teacher. I want to be able to be a great coach and mentor. I want them to be a better teacher than I was in my first year. And I want them to have fun.

3. Maintain high expectations. I always struggle with this. There always comes a time (usually a few weeks after state testing... around late April) where one of my classes starts getting the best of me and I don't hold my ground. I let them slip. I give them a few more chances than before. I am not as consistent as I had been. Things just fall apart. I set high expectations for all of my students at the start of the year, but I want to keep them high them for all of my kids until the very end of the school year.

Let's start with those three goals. This entry wasn't so bad. You should give it a go. Only took me fifteen or so minutes. Or if you're participating in the challenge, I'd appreciate it if you left your link to your Day 1. I'd like to see what others have selected for their goals.