I didn't do the best job this week. However, I did remember that I was supposed to be more grateful. And in the end, I spent more time thinking about my reactions rather than just going with "irritated." I had a lot of conversations with myself this week along the lines of, "Hm. Is this (off-task student, pointless meeting, obnoxious behavior in the hallway) really worth ruffling my feathers? No. It really is not.
I have a few goals on my to-do list. I'm not putting an oppressive timeline on these items, they are just going to be "working goals" for the rest of the school year. Who knows? Maybe they will be working goals for next year too!
1) PQA
I need to improve my personalized questions asking skills. My biggest challenges are keeping students interested and engaged during the discussion and getting kids over the "giggle at each other's Spanish" or "act too cool to answer a question" stage.
2) Ease up on assessment
Boy oh boy, I love to give assessments!! It's a time for me to breathe and have a moment of peace. Grading all those assessments? The ten minutes of peace I got during class is not worth the hours of grading I am constantly creating for myself. To partially remedy the situation, I'm having students grade each other's papers with red pens when it is a simple assessment and continuing to grade larger assessments
3) Stop the shortcuts
I need to stop treating teaching as the means to an end. I am guilty of favoring on the side of multiple choice assessment because its easier to grade, picking a reading activity instead of a speaking activity because its easier to control, etc., etc., etc. I am very low in the energy and "joy" department lately, but when I feel up to it, I need to step it up a notch and not just take the easy route.
4) Smile more and interact with the students
I've gotten much more serious this year. It's time to tone it down a notch and laugh with the kids more.
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