New (School) Year Resolutions

Clutter Free Classroom is at it again with another great linky party! She makes these prompts so open-ended that anyone can be a part of it. Come on over and link up!

She explains:

I don't make the typical resolutions in January. Instead, my New Year resolutions come with the start of a new school year. What are your resolutions for the upcoming school year?

I have been talking about this all summer! I was wondering how I was going to blog about it but this is the perfect prompt.

My summer has involved quite a few trainings that had me reflecting on my first year, redefining myself as a professional educator, and inspiring me to challenge myself next year. Let me lay out the (now) seven trainings I have attended or will attend:

1. Capturing Kids Hearts

A retreat model that fosters relationships between group members (class, team, school)

2. Debbie Diller: Making the Most of Small Group Reading Instruction

Examples of guided reading groups and writer's workshop ideas

3. PLC (Professional Learning Communities)

Data driven team planning and the school community

4. Texas Kindergarten Conference presented by SDE

Jack Hartmann, writer's and reader's workshop, interactive writing, and more!

5. Conscious Discipline

Teaching with the young child's brain in mind, classroom routines and structures to foster self-control

6. CSCOPE State Conference 

Coming up! I will hear presenters talk about implementing our district's curriculum system.

7. 30 Hour G/T Training

Coming up!

So it may be easiest for me to identify at least one commitment I want to make after each of these trainings. I'll go down in order, like above. 

1. (I stated this at the training the last day) I will learn to share myself with others so that I can become the leader I was meant to be. I will also greet my students in the morning with a handshake and use a launch routine to send them home each day.

2. I will start guided reading groups earlier in the year and plan them according to reading comprehension skills. I downloaded KindergartenWorks' guided reading packet to help me meet this commitment. I will also have writer's workshop everyday. 

3. I will support my team by affirming them in person and with thank you notes. Create a team binder to help with documentation of team meetings, interventions, and student data. 

4. I will sing, move, and have fun with learning more. I will not buy prefabricated posters but create them using the interactive writing method instead. I will make an interactive name chart to help the children learn each other's names, and it make take several weeks to complete it (and that's OK!) I will use my Daily 5 stamina building as a reader's workshop and model one comprehension strategy at a time during shared reading in the beginning of the year. 

5. I will breathe before I react to a challenging situation and use positive self-talk. I will create a safe place in my room and have a school family ritual every day. I will model how to be calm and in control of my inner state. 

WOW! That's a lot of resolutions! I guess that's to be expected when you go to seven trainings in one summer. I am so thankful I was allowed the opportunity to learn so much in such a short amount of time. 

I do have a couple more I need to add:

-COMMUNICATE with parents and family members more. Use a student binder to assist with this but call parents, don't just assume your note is read, and make a point to invite them to the classroom.

-GO HOME at the end of the day. Nothing good happens after 4 pm. 

-Work out at least 2 nights a week. 

I feel so empowered! Let's do this!