I know it isn't January 1, but for me the beginning of school is another New Year's. I always have goals and resolutions for the upcoming school year, and it makes me feel fresh and gives me a sense of accomplishment to put my goals down on paper and see to it that most-ahem-ok maybe about half of them go through.
1. Come up with some sort of schedule for housecleaning to get done during the week.
I love having a clean house, but usually all the cleaning tasks that need to get done on a regular basis get pushed off to the weekend. I'm always so busy once school starts, staying late to plan or grade papers, PTA meetings, blah blah, etc., that there never seems to be enough time to do it all. Then, either I'll spend a good five hours on Saturday catching up, or we'll make plans with friends and I end up saying "oh well, I'll get to that later". I figure if I sort of map out one or two chores per weekday, the house will stay cleaner and I'll feel less harried and stressed from trying to get it all done on the weekends.
2. Be better about getting lesson plans done ahead of time.
OK, time to confess my dirty little secret from last year: I was HORRIBLE about not having lesson plans for each subject each week. I knew in my head what I was doing, but it was never laid out on paper. It all worked out fine in the end, but there were several times when I would start off the day going, OK I know I want to do this...but what needs to get done in order to get there...? When you know what you're going to be doing ahead of time, it's sooooo much easier to have copies done, and when unexpected things come up (such as last minute meetings, conferences, etc.), you're like "Hey, no big, I'm all set for the day!"
Moral of the story, kids: procrastination=bad. If you're a teacher, don't be like me. Please. Remember, I'm changing my bad, bad ways.
3. Find time every day to read a devotional.
I have been reading an online devotional that is put out in conjunction with the Presbyterian church, so usually it goes along with the scriptures we read in church on Sunday, which I really enjoy. It even emails me a reminder every day to log on and read the devotional. Here again, I think my biggest enemy is p-r-o-c-r-a-s-t-i-n-a-t-i-o-n.
4. Figure out a way to effectively run Guided Reading Groups.
Ugh. In five years of teaching, I have yet to make this work. The year starts off great, groups get to meet with me, mini-lessons are done...but it just never seems to work. There's constantly someone off task, meaning my small group doesn't get my full attention. Or I end up starting late, so the first group get shorted on time. Or there's a "surprise" fire drill that takes up the second group's time slot.
There's got to be a way to make it work better, and I'm hoping to get that figured out this year. I'll keep you posted...
5. Keep the blog up to date.
6. Pack my lunch the night before.
This way, I'm not stuck eating the random things I pull out of the fridge while I'm still half-asleep at 6:30am. Also, I probably should eat fewer sandwiches of the Nutella and peanut butter variety...even though I swear all the protein makes it healthy...right?
7. Beat Andrew at Settlers of Catan.
That's right. I went there.
