Gearing Up for the New Year!

-

Gearing Up for the New Year!

I know that it is still July, but guess what??? August is around the corner! 

Image result for home alone images

picture source 

I know!  The remaining summer months will fly by just like June did.  So, when July comes, I start to mentally prepare myself for the school year, not like I really, really prepare myself in August, but just enough so that August doesn’t catch me off guard.

I know I wrote a whole post (which can be found here) about reflecting when the school year ended in June, but this is a different type of reflection.  This type of reflection will probably take on a more positive vibe because, well…its not the END of the school year. 

Please allow me to digress for a few minutes to share my views on reflection.  I know that you all know that I am a proponent of it because of this post, but I feel know that part of being a great teacher is constantly reflecting on…well everything.  In order to make sure that you are providing the best learning environment and education possible to your students, teachers must reflect on what they are going to do, what they did (when they are doing it and after they have done it), what they need to do, how to best do what they need to do, and the reflection goes on and on.  Yes, it goes on and on and on… I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, oh, sorry, that is a Taio Cruz song.  But, I have definitely thrown my hands up in the air while reflecting over a activity, a class period, a pacing guide, a year…

Image result for throwing hands up in frustration

picture source

Back to my original point, reflecting in July (or August if you are in denial) will have different outcomes than reflecting in June because the angst of the previous school year will have faded and the hope and optimism of the upcoming year will have begun.  If this hasn’t happened for you in July, then fine…wait until August.  If this doesn’t happen to you in August, you may need to re-evaluate your teaching career.  I know some extraordinary people for whom the excitement never fades (I’m sad to say, that this is not my reality.  But, I will say that some years I do experience this and some years, I cannot wait for summer to come.)  I also know some people for whom the angst never fades.  These people also need to re-evaluate their teaching careers. 

  • When reflecting in July think about all of the things that you did well.  
  • What activities and strategies did the kids get involved with? 
  • Which ones caused the students to develop a deeper level of understanding about the concept that you were teaching? 
  • Which lessons did they just get? 
  • Now think about WHY THESE lessons, activities, and strategies lent themselves to deeper understandings.  
  • Now think about how you take these lessons, activities, and strategies to another level! 
  • Now think about how you can transfer these “whys” to other lessons, activities, and strategies in order to make them ore effective.  
This process will enhance your teaching practice.  If you only increase the rigor of (improve) one lesson, you will drastically effect the learning of your students.  If you are able to do this for the majority of your lessons then you become GREAT!

Please share ways in which this reflection process has helped you improve a lesson, activity, or strategy. 

Also, what other questions do you ask yourself in July?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Questioning Techniques: Questions that Extend Responses

-
Image
  Posing the right questions to students is one of the most important techniques that can be used when teaching and assessing students.  Your questioning techniques can expose misconceptions, uncover gaps in learning, cause students to look deeper at a topic, encourage a higher depth of knowledge, and provide students with opportunities to make connections between many different topics.     Because questioning is a topic that has many different levels , I am going to HAVE to spread the techniques that I use over several different posts...Hopefully these posts will come quick and in successive order, however, due to my tremendously busy schedule and A.D.D. (undiagnosed and I which that I had even a slight case of hyperactivity as an adult) I am not sure if this will be the case... This first questioning techniques post will be about questions that require students to extend their responses .  As a math teacher, it is easy to fall into the habit of ...
Read more

Classroom Management Strategies

-
Image
picture credit Classroom management is an important aspect in teaching students.   For those who manage adults, being an effective people manager is important also.   Although the intended audience of this post is classroom teachers, many of these strategies can be used to manage adults, also. Here are some strategies that I have used in my classroom to manage student behavior: Stand at the classroom door greeting and talking to students as they enter into the classroom .   This can alert you to any student issues before the students enter your classroom.   If you notice that a student is having an issue, talk with them and try to get it resolved or diffuse it before it becomes a larger issue.   Constantly monitor and circulate around the room as a way to be proactive in your classroom management.   As mentioned earlier, becoming aware of an issue before it becomes an even bigger issue will cut down on management issues. Circulating aro...
Read more

Integer War

-
Image
                           Picture Source Here is a fun game that I have used in the past that is quick and gives students tons of practice adding integers.  This card game is an interactive way to reinforce the addition of integers .   It can also be modified to reinforce subtraction and multiplication.  The kids love it and I love watching them enjoy integers (for a change).  What I enjoy most of all is beating the student who has beaten all of the other students in the class and has an inflated ego.    Materials: Deck (or stack) of playing cards for each pair of students Rules: • Students should get into pairs. • Using a deck of playing cards, the students should divide the cards evenly among themselves. • The red cards are negative and the black cards are positive.   For example a red 10 is a negative ten. The face cards are all 10s.   • The play...
Read more