As MiddleWeb List members prepared to begin another school year, editor
John Norton challenged them to share their most pressing goal for the year.
As usual, List members pitched in and helped each other with resources and
ideas.
WHAT'S YOUR TOP GOAL FOR THIS YEAR? What do you want to do better than
ever? What new thing do you want to learn to do? What exciting project will
you finally tackle?
Tell us!
- John
----------------------------
Cossondra explained her curriculum-based goal.
Top goal for teaching 7th grade math this year:
Align curriculum to meet standards & benchmarks - traditionally, our
math program has been strictly the Connected Math Program. I love the program,
but.....
1) Much of it is too much for the average student to handle
2) It does not have enough hands-on or multiple intelligence activities.
I am taking one section of the S & B and finding/designing "stuff"
to go with the CMP materials/text and picking and choosing selective parts
of the program.
Since this is my first year teaching 7th grade math, this is proving to
be a very time consuming task. However, I really think in the long run,
it will pay off. Students will be more motivated than with a text-only curriculum
and who knows; maybe our TEST SCORES will even go up :-)
- Cossondra
-------------------------
Ellen's goal centered on Language Arts.
My goal this year is to successfully help my students see the connections
between the reading and writing strategies in my classroom and their other
content areas--and lives in general.
It's not much to ask! :-)
- Ellen
----------------------------
Caron's goal was to help students see Math in their everyday world.
To set a totally different tone for the Middle School math program!
I have a new classroom and have a new attitude to go with it. My new director
has been great. She purchased tables to replace my desk so the students
could work in groups of 3. I really want to build a sense of community and
security so the students feel confident "doing" math. In addition
we are going to do some off the wall things in addition to our really intense
math curriculum. I plan to illustrate Bernoulli's First Law when we look
at formulas with a roll of toilet paper and a leaf blower. Then later introduce
some physics principles with my "human size" hockey puck....yes,
it will carry a full size adult!
Anyway, that is where we are headed. In the end, I hope the kids realize
that Math is EVERYWHERE!!!!!
- Caron
----------------------------
As a first year teacher, Ashli's goal was make it through the year!
My goal as a first year teacher is to is to become a "sophomore"
teacher. I hope to love my job and learn so much from it.
- Ashli
------------------------------------
Amy's plan involved implementing a Differentiated Instruction approach.
My goal is to actually implement a few Differentiated Instruction ideas
this year. I started thinking about things in my conversations with Rick
Wormeli and with a few classes that I took. Our opening in-service was on
Differentiated Instruction, and we actually received some plan time to work
on it. Cara had just asked about ideas for lessons on purpose and audience
on the list, and that happened to be what I planned during the in-service!
In short - Differentiation, Differentiation, Differentiation!
- Amy
------------------------------
Jack, an upcoming team leader, had a number of goals to share.
Goals? I've got tons, but I'd better narrow them down to a few.
1. Our school has finally gone to "pure" teams this year and I'm
team leader, so that is obviously one of my goals: to create a functioning
team that concentrates on each other and curriculum.
2. Speaking of curriculum, I'd like to learn how to do differentiated instruction
better.
3. I'd like to bring family and community into the school mix.
4. Finally, I'd like to work on our advisor program -- it has been fragmented
and admired and abhorred and worshipped and criticized. We're hoping to
do something different--perhaps along Rick Wormeli's fresh proposal in his
book.
So, I know that I've bitten off a lot, but I'm really excited to have created
some changes in our school for the better. Organization of the school first,
and then work on all the other aspects of a middle school philosophy.
- Jack
----------------------------
Patricia offered a differentiated instruction resource.
I'm not sure if this is a widely known resource, but Tapped In is a
great web site. There is a differentiated instruction discussion group that
happens (I think) the third Monday of the month (there are many other discussions).
I haven't always been able to make the discussions at the set times, but
the transcripts of the sessions are available if I wanted to read through
them.
I've been a Tapped In member for 4 years, and I highly recommend it. It's
FREE! Check it out.
- Patricia
----------------------------
Sarah shared her thoughts.
I have so many goals for this year. It will be my second year and having
had the summer to reflect on the year -- the good, the bad, and the ugly
-- I am excited about the new start. My main goals are to start up a successful
student government (yes, I'm the math teacher, but I think it will be great
for the students), and to use much more discovery in each lesson, followed
by teaching of rules and methods.
- Sarah
--------------------------------
Howard explained several of his goals.
As a constructivist teacher, I interested in improving instruction of
Social Studies and increasing student learning through inquiry-based instruction.
Secondly, as a reflective teacher, I am interested in creating a teacher
portfolio that can be used for self-assessment and self-evaluation to improve
instruction and student performance.
- Howard
--------------------------
Carolyn responded to Howard's posting.
I too would love to include more inquiry into my classroom. How can
we do it in a traditional environment when everything is standards, standards,
and more standards? This has been my dilemma. As for portfolios I wish I
could show you mine, but I don't have the digital capability to put it online.
- Carolyn
---------------------------------
Sara has a technology related math goal.
My top goal for this year is to offer Pre-Algebra totally online, with
a face-to-face supplement (group activities, educational games, meetings
with teachers, etc.).
- Sara
---------------------------
Deborah listed a series of goals.
I want to learn how to produce a yearbook without losing my mind. I
would also like to learn some organization. I want to continue to do a good
job with our school newspaper and involve kids from the entire school and
at various levels of language arts in the program. I want to improve reading
and writing instruction, improve the learning of the lower level sixth grade
students that I will work with. And I want to be able to offer and give
help to teachers without overwhelming them or sounding like an English elitist.
- Deborah
------------------------------------
Sandy told of her plan to move past science textbooks.
Hi--I am going to put the science textbooks into storage!! This is my
second year as a middle school science teacher, and I've written a curriculum
aligned with the science standards.
- Sandy
---------------------------------------
Charlie asked a question.
So what's to be done with the science textbooks? What role does a text
play in the Standards-based science classroom? I think Prentice Hall and
maybe Holt have probably adapted best to the change in science education
by coming out with the single-topic text. I use P-H's $12.00 Force and Motion
text almost from cover to cover, while my $40+ Holt Earth Science has become
a reference.
- Charlie
---------------------------
Sandy responded.
Hi Charlie--Thanks for the info on Holt's Force and Motion. I have a
few samples of one-topic texts that I will be using, but the texts that
I have are the large ones that try to put everything non-essential into
it. They become very cumbersome to use. I may use the larger text for a
reference as well.
- Sandy
-------------------------------------------------
Ernie's goal involved making the best use of iBooks.
I am a long time (12 yrs public + 8 years private) special education
teacher who has just transferred to a new district and a 7th - 8th combined
regular education classroom. Plus being from Maine, I am one of the lucky
teachers who has an iBook for each 7th grader (yes if you haven't heard,
every 7th grader in the State of Maine will have an iBook this year!!!).
My Top Goal: To use the new iBooks as a tool to bring meaningful, engaged,
and collaborative learning to my classroom involving challenging and real-life
tasks.
My Challenge: I have 7 Seventh Graders = 7 iBooks and 12 Eighth Graders
= Zero iBooks. How will I balance the learning needs of both groups when
the iBooks are to be used by the Seventh Graders and not the Eighth Graders?
I will be teaching all subjects to all 19 students!
It promises to be an exciting as well as challenging year (boy I'm glad
I'm not a first-year teacher, but at some moments I feel like one). If anyone
has any ideas about how to manage the Seventh Graders with iBooks and the
Eighth Graders without, please submit to the list or to me directly at:
eeastervbs@middlemaine.org
- Ernie
--------------------------
Carolyn shared a variety of goals.
My goal is to create thematic lessons to align with PA standards instead
of teaching American History chronologically. That's my top goal. Anyone
with ideas for Beliefs and Religion, Commerce & Industry, Settlement
Patterns & Expansion, Social Organization, Transportation & Trade
p; let me know! I found a lot of information for Beliefs & Religion
tying it into Immigration and even the Women's Movement (reform and progressives),
but little support in the textbook _American Nation_. Of course my financial
resources are small and my class size big. Any help with supplementals would
be great! Thanks.
I plan to create a social community in my class where risk-taking is second
nature by implementing the learning of HOTS
(higher order thinking skills).
Oh yeah: my own private goal - throw out the standardized American History
curriculum for 8th grade. How many times do we have to teach the American
Revolution? Will we ever get to anything past WWII?? That's why I want to
try themes instead.
- Carolyn
------------------------------
Marsha offered Carolyn some resources.
The American Memories section of the Library of Congress offers wonderful
opportunities in all the overarching themes you mentioned. If you go to
this webpage:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/finder.html
and then scroll down to the timeline, you can then click on the time period
you are teaching. The collections are fabulous. And don't overlook the section
of the site that teaches students how to use/examine/make inferences via
primary documents.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/index.html
I used this with 8th graders last year and they couldn't get enough. They
loved being able to "see" the real deal (that is once they learned
how to interpret pictures, diaries, etc) and make their own conclusions
about what happened.
You can print out most pictures, the posters of that era....all sorts of
stuff. We have also worked many of the primary sources into PowerPoint slideshows
that students use tutorials or for guided lessons. It's unbelievable. And
it's for the right price. Your federal tax dollars have already paid to
develop this resource. If you need any specifics, let me know and maybe
I can help.
- Marsha
-------------------------------
Carolyn expressed her gratitude.
Thank you for these great sites, Marsha. I had been to the American
Memory site before, but it is such a huge collection that I did not find
what you gave me here. This is going to be a great resource!
- Carolyn
------------------------------
Juli spoke of her desire to connect with her peers for feedback and planning.
I want to get better at teaching by using mini-lessons in a workshop
format. I think that there is tremendous value in teaching "small."
I'll have to do lots of reading and practicing to pull this off. Plus, I
need to get feedback on my teaching from other teachers.
In addition, I'm thinking about doing my Action Research Project on helping
kids develop vocabulary with comprehension across content areas. That means
that I have to coordinate with other teachers, something that is always
a goal of mine.
- Juli
-----------------------------------------
Jeff wrote of his plan to enhance his communication with parents.
My goal for this year is to work more closely with parents of students
doing poorly in my classes. I plan on having frequent phone or in-person
contact right from the outset. I don't want the kids who habitually don't
do their work to fall behind early. I have also created a note form to go
home that indicates an assignment is missing. I hope this helps.
- Jeff
-------------------------------------
Kate shared her intention to implement a practice of reflection into
her teaching year.
My top goal is to keep a journal throughout the year. I had to do this
during my field and student teaching classes, and it was really helpful
to me. I am a very reflective learner, and keeping a journal really helped
me make connections between what I was learning in class and what I was
seeing in the classroom.
I'm not taking any classes during my first year of teaching (except MiddleWeb,
which is a class in itself!:) ), but I know that keeping a journal will
help me think through what I'm seeing and doing in my classroom and help
me work out different ways to approach things. Now I just need to make the
time to do it! Before, I wrote books for my journal, and with being the
teacher, I know I'll have even more to examine!
- Kate
--------------------------------
Kathy had a number of goals to share with MiddleWeb readers.
Well this is a tough one!
First I want to continue my work & study of differentiation. I hope
to implement more of the strategies I learned earlier this summer.
Second, I want to do a MUCH BETTER job on time management. Included with
this is assigning only as much homework as I can reasonably look at it and
give students quick feedback.
Third, last but not least, continue working to improve my teaching of reading
& writing.
I also am going to be working on a new Toyota tapestry idea. I don't know
if I will succeed again but I want to try.
In the area of learning, I will be working on my Masters in Science Education
all year long. I just finished two weeks of physics which will continue
into the fall and then we move on to the next science. Nothing can be as
tough as this physics! WOW boy was it hard!!!!
- Kathy
---------------------------------------
Myrna, a school administrator, spoke of empowering her staff.
My top goal for this year is to implement the School
Enrichment Model into our middle school. Second goal is to "let
go" and empower the staff .
- Myrna
--------------------------------------
Kasey shared her plan to collaborate with a colleague.
My goal for the year is to follow through on a research project that
I am doing with (yes, our very own:-) Ellen Berg.
I have wanted to aid my students in a better understanding of the science
concepts that I teach. I also wanted to do more reading and writing with
materials suited to their own levels. I really do believe that readability
can make or break a subject in various ways.
Thus, I have picked poor Ellen's brain bone dry. When our research is complete,
we'll let you know how it went. I am very excited!!!
- Kasey
-----------------------------------------
Karen hopes that her love of learning will transfer to her students.
My main goal for the year is to find ways to translate my love of reading
and learning in ways that will help my DH students realize growth and develop
similar excitement about learning. I am trying to find the most hands-on,
interactive means of teaching Lang Arts, Math and Social Studies (Amer &
World) for students whose cognitive abilities necessitate presenting material
on a more basic level.
All the talk about mini-lessons, and vocabulary-based programs for language
arts is very exciting. I feel like I have so awfully much to learn if I'm
going to give these kids the best I can. As a first-year teacher, it seems
there's such an incredible wealth of knowledge to gain, it makes me feel
woefully inadequate to meet my students' needs.
I want to learn about reading instruction for struggling readers. I want
to learn how to make Math and Social Studies come alive for students, so
they don't get buried under piles of paper busywork.
I have such visions about the kind of teaching I want to do, the kind of
teacher I want to be; the challenge is finding ways to translate that into
effective instruction. This is my goal, and challenge, for my first-year
teaching.
I want to thank you all for your sharing on this listserve. I've learned
so much by reading your postings, and am so excited with the discovery of
powerful instructional strategies. I feel humbled to think I am joining
this community of dedicated, inspiring professionals who envision great
things for our kids in school.
- Karen
---------------------------------
Donald wants a nurturing learning culture in his classroom.
That's an easy one for me. I want to research and implement Differentiated
Learning. I am bound and determined to make all my students feel like they
are learning, and are excited about the process! I have ordered two of Carol
Ann Tomlinson's books (recommended by people on this listserve). Along
with that I want my students to share what they learn in the content areas
creatively. I plan on implementing the arts into my Language Art/Social
Studies curriculum. Wish me luck!
- Donald
----------------------------
Anne spoke of striving for more balance in her personal life.
My goal for this year is to be able to balance my work (professional)
life and my home life better. Right now it's too much work and not enough
R&R at home.
- Anne
--------------------------------
Caron agreed with Anne.
I heard ya Anne! I now have five boys living at home and my husband
going to college...motto for the year? Deep breath, deep breath...deep breath....
- Caron
----------------------------------
Brenda's expressed a need to balance home and school.
Like Anne, I have a goal to balance my work efforts with my private
life more effectively.
During our back to school sessions with staff last week, my administration
asked me to give a motivational talk to our staff about "surviving"
the year ahead. My presentation focused on the explorers (Magellan, Cook,
Columbus, and Shackleton) of the past who spent most of their time "sailing
off the map." With few maps to guide them, they would be the ones to
create the maps that others would ultimately follow.
I told the staff that each teacher (or admin. person) would be sailing off
the map in some way this year. With nothing but a dream, goal or hunch,
they will start out on a journey. For some (new staff members), sailing
off the map, will be trying to get a handle on the vision and philosophy
of the school. For others, it will be establishing new pathways through
curriculum or classroom management and for some (like me); sailing off the
map will be about establishing how to explore learning breakthroughs without
leaving their family for ten months while they are away at sea!
When the early explorers started to chart new pathways, they changed the
world. Perhaps we can do the same over the next year! I wish all of you
the best as you sail off your map!
- Brenda
-------------------------------
Melba shared her goals.
My goal for this year is to be more assertive with our most difficult
teachers. My short term project is setting up a Literacy Lab in one of our
classrooms for my training sessions. I want to learn how to do video editing,
but have not found the patience for it yet. Finally, I want to set-up a
tri-campus listserv and develop an electronic portfolio.
- Melba
--------------------
Debbie's goal centered on using written reflection in her collaboration
with other educators.
My top goal for the year is to reflect on my work more in order to document
the role of collaboration in the learning process. I hope to help facilitate
collaboration between stakeholders at the half dozen schools where I'll
be working as a coach, and I don't want my facilitation to be haphazard.
I feel very strongly that all-sided collaboration can get to the heart of
questions of mutual respect and equity in our schools. I hope to make my
questions and learning/experiences public by writing about them.
- Debbie
------------------------
Bill listed a number of goals for the upcoming year.
As always, I'm impressed with what you all are taking on! Myself, I
want to...
- Move toward a more explicitly standards-based classroom
- Begin work on differentiating instruction
- Help the 8th grade (a chronically underachieving and hard to manage class)
become the kind of positive leaders I believe they can ... get the volunteer
component of Outreach Committee working efficiently
- Bill
------------------------
Alayne zeroed in on her two main goals.
Every August I'm seized by the idea that I need to rework "everything,"
so this Question of the Week is a good way to focus! So my goals are:
- Better time management: I'm taking on two new tasks this year - being
my team's co-leader and beginning a master's in math education - so I'm
going to need to find ways to streamline routines, paperwork, marking, eating,
breathing... :)
- Essential questions: slowly, ever slowly, I'm trying to apply Understanding
By Design to the way I plan units of study, keeping very much in mind
what concepts do I really want my students to understand and how can I tell
that this is actually happening.
- Alayne
--------------------------
Karen spoke of implementing portfolios into her assessment process.
My top goal for the year is to use portfolios as a part of student assessment.
I read the book Measure
for Measure, Using Portfolios in K-8 Mathematics, and decided to try
growth portfolios. I chose one "big idea" for each grade (6th:
Patterns and relationships, 7th: Representation, 8th: Functions) and will
have students add items (quizzes, project info, explanations etc.) as their
understanding increases. Has anyone done something similar? I would love
some guidance.
- Karen
-----------------------
Brenda shared her math portfolio experience:
Karen: I have used theme portfolios in my Grade six math class for several
years. The portfolios would go home at the end of a math unit. A typical
portfolio would include an index, a letter from me (reflecting on the goals
of this unit along with some observations of the learning), the key notes
from the unit, key assignments, quizzes and tests, a student reflection
section and a response sheet from parents. I sometimes included a tracking
sheet (for example, the first portfolio contained a basic facts tracking
sheet covering drills from 6-8 weeks). Collating the first portfolio was
always crazy (for some reason organizing the material in order was a challenge
for the kids) but each time we did it, it went smoother.
Some things I've learned:
- Keep key assignments, quizzes and tests in a folder in the classroom so
you can guarantee that they are in the portfolio (it was a nightmare for
kids to locate their work at portfolio timethey were certain I hadn't handed
it back, of course!). It makes it much easier at collating timeI just hand
the folder to each student.
- This year I plan to send a portfolio home no more than every two months
(therefore there may be two units per portfolio). Some units were quite
small and didn't create a very substantial portfolio. Middle school parents
weren't incredibly keen to write a reflection sheet if the portfolio came
home too frequently.
- I gave a grade for the portfolio (if the index had 15 items in it, the
portfolio was out of 15. If the student had a lot of missing work, it was
provided motivation for them to keep their work (if a mark was attached)
or to make sure they had kept up with worked missed while they were absent.
- I used the teacher letter as an opportunity to describe my program, philosophy,
and generally educate parents on "why" we did what we did. I kept
it upbeat and positive. I sometimes included a relevant math comic or quote.
If you would like an example of this letter, please let me know and I will
send you one.
When the portfolios came back (signed), I stored them for the end of the
year achievement testing time. The students now had a complete set of notes
to study from. At this time we could use them as a review tool. In the past,
their notes and work were long gone by May!
- Brenda Dyck
----------------------------
Jennifer shared the professional reading that resulted in her goal for
the upcoming year.
This year I am going to try and incorporate more of a workshop model
into my classes. I have been reading "Mosaic of Thought," "Guiding
Readers and Writers," "Strategies That Work," and "I
Read It But I Don't Get It"(all recommended on this List). I am hoping
to be able to synthesize all of these materials into a cohesive class.
- Jennifer
----------------------------
Kelly's goal involved organization.
This year I've taken on quite a few new responsibilities, so organization
(as always, forever, and ever) is a goal. I'm language arts department head,
chairman of the reading committee, and sponsor for our new National Junior
Honor Society. I also do trainings in reading and writing for teachers in
my district. I think I may be in over my head.
The biggest new change that I'm working on in the classroom is keeping an
evaluation folder on each student. I will keep documents like inventories,
surveys, etc. in it. I also want to keep a checklist of different skills
in reading and writing that the students are learning, document them with
a comment on the date they displayed mastery, and occasionally insert a
sample. If anyone does this sort of record keeping, I'd love to hear from
you. For our low-level students we have to document, for the first time
this year, specific categories of deficiencies in reading and writing. The
writing consists mostly of 6 Traits, and the reading categories range from
phoneme recognition to fluency and comprehension.
Help!
- Kelly
------------------------
Liz listed her goals.
Wow, what "isn't" a goal for the year?? It will be my second
year of teaching, but I relocated back to my home state of NY (the climate
in FL was NOT for me!), so it's sort of like a first year all over again
(all new curriculum and level). I also don't think I did nearly as good
a job last year as I could have, so I'm looking at this as my "start
fresh" opportunity!
Here are my "sophomore" goals:
1. BETTER CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT!!
2. See #1 :)
3. Better time management, which ties into having a better sense of what
needs to be graded (and how quickly) and what should never have been assigned
(hopefully I will have fewer of those!)
4. Begin implementing backwards design for greater understanding
5. 100% pass rate of the 8th grade state exam and the NYS Regents in Earth
Science
6. Get more involved with the community of teachers at my school
Whew! Wish me luck! :)
- Liz
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