Showing posts with label New Year 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year 2013. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Pinterest New Year's Activities

I won't greet my students until January 8th, but some teachers will go back to school as early as this Thursday.  Therefore, I wanted to go ahead and share some New Year's activities that I've collected on Pinterest.  I have about 13 activities pinned, most of which are geared to 4th-5th graders.  Feel free to check these out by clicking HERE to access my New Year's board on Pinterest.  The best thing about these activities--they are all FREE!  Enjoy! 

New Year's Resolutions: Teacher Edition

Happy New Year!  It's 2013, but I don't really think of it as a "New Year."  After all, my year starts in August! 

At this point, I am halfway through the 2012-2013 school year, but I thought I would create some goals, or resolutions, that I can focus on for the remainder of the year.  This has been the best year for me, professionally.  I have learned SO much through my Twitter PLN, had the opportunity to visit the Ron Clark Academy (a dream of mine since college!), received recognition for my work (on a local level, I was named "Teacher of the Month" in October), and have had no discipline issues in my classroom (Hallelujah!).  Even though it's been a great year so far, I know I still have much more learning and growing to do. 

For the remainder of the school year:
1.  I resolve to listen more intently to my students.
     -My students looove to tell me stories and one child in particular has a story to tell me every single day, first thing in the morning.  I get so annoyed with this, but try to never let it show.  I usually continue getting ready for the day while she speaks, listening half-heartedly, and occassionally interjecting an enthusiastic, "Mmh-hmm!"  I should be flattered that this child wants to share things with me!  From now on, I'm going to listen more carefully and show her (and my other storytellers) that I care about what they have to say.

2. I resolve to teach my heart out.
     -I want to finish this year strong.  Teaching is my dream job and I want to step into my classroom every day with passion, energy, and excitement and get my students fired up about learning!  I want to do whatever I can to help my students become successful and enjoy their last year in elementary school.   

3. At the same time, I resolve to avoid burnout.
      -I spend most of my time thinking about school.  I constantly read and research and plan and grade. I think about what I can do better...how I can make my lessons more engaging...how I can do a lot with technology even though I have access to little...the list goes on.  This is exhausting!  I need to take some time for myself.  It hit me that I'm becoming a little obsessed with school as I was standing in front of the copy machine in our main office on Christmas Eve, prepping materials for when I return from break.  I am not "Superteacher".  I need to stop trying to be!


Today, I am linking up with two other teacher bloggers:

 Diane from Teaching With Moxie:


and Amanda from Teaching Maddeness:
Happy 2013!