The 2017-2018 school just closed for both of us and we wanted to take a minute to reflect on the year as we were both in new positions within our district.
*****
JESS
This year closed out my 10th year of teaching. My first nine years of teaching I was a 6th-8th grade ELA/Reading Interventionist teacher. Last May, when we found out our middle school was closing down we all received letters of where we were placed. I was placed in an elementary school. I was so excited for the new adventure, yet of course scared as well. I wouldn’t know a grade level until July, it was either going to be 1st grade or 3rd grade.
In July, I found out I was going to be a 3rd grade teacher. I had all these emotions. I was happy, nervous, excited, and kind of wondering what I got myself into. I started setting up my classroom, I decided upon an Ocean theme (which I never had a “theme” for a classroom before). I started looking at the curriculum and felt good about it.
The first day came and I instantly fell in love with those little faces that were looking at me and giving me multiple hugs during the day. My heart was full and I knew at that moment that God placed me where I was supposed to be. I was meant to be an elementary teacher.
As time went on, I realized, holy cow, how much work elementary teaching is. I had to plan for ELA (Vocabulary, Shared Reading, Independent Work, Guided Reading, Mini Lesson), Writing, Math, Math RTI, Science, Social Studies, Class Meetings, etc. Talk about feeling overwhelmed! I soon got the hang of it, yet elementary life is HARD.
In December, I had a serious knee surgery (my third) where I had to get cadaver cartilage put in my knee (I was on a donor’s list). The surgery was more intrusive than expected and I ended up with 40 staples in my knee, internal stitches, and 8 weeks non-weight bearing. I ended up having to take 5 weeks off of school. I went back for two days and my beloved Grandfather passed away suddenly. During this time, my knee got infected (due to the internal stitches) and I had to get them removed and take an additional week off. My hashtag for the beginning of the year was “#2018hatesme”. I received an outpouring of messages from my kids and parents making sure I was okay and telling me how much they missed me.
My kids scores for both ELA and Math increased tremendously this year and I couldn't be prouder of my rockstar class. I am excited to get their scores back from our state test. Especially because Math was the subject I was most scared to teach, yet at the end of the year, when the kids did their reflections, their favorite subject was Math. Life is weird sometimes.
The last few days with my babies were really hard. I never had to spend everyday with the same group of kids before. I am going to miss my little rockstar angels, yet I know they will all achieve so much in their life.
Next year, as I reflect on this past year, I will have two new teammates and I am very excited for the new journey with a new team. I have been thinking about what I would like to try and focus on next year and the following are my goals for the 2018-2019 school year:
1. STEM
2. Flexible Seating (#starbucksclassroom)
3. PBL
4. Mindfulness/ Restorative Circle/ Class Meetings
*****
STEPH
Whew! This school year was an absolute whirlwind for me (as I’m sure it was for every other teacher)! The 2017-2018 marked my 8th year in teaching, and I’m happy to say that even with all of the turmoil of the previous school year, this year brought a renewed sense of purpose and inspiration that I needed! My first seven years of teaching were spent as an 8th grade US History (through Civil War) teacher. This year I moved to a high school in the same district (the same school where I completed my student teaching) and entered a completely different (but awesome) world!
Once I learned I would be teaching both US History (post Civil War) and Government, I started planning in June. To make things more interesting, of course, I wasn’t even starting the year on time! My daughter was born on August 3rd and my students started the year with a guest teacher. I came back to work with both of my classes already completing their first unit of study and there was definitely an adjustment period for all of us! After a week or two, though, my students and I were in our groove and working well together!
I’ve really enjoyed my transition to high school and definitely believe I am exactly where I should be at this point in my career! Some of my professional highlights from the past year…
1) Collaborating with a whole new team and being able to push some of them out of their comfort zones and towards Google. Some of my department was already using Google in the classroom, but I’d like to say that I pushed for more engaging ways to use the tech in the classroom and encouraged teachers to try new things!
2) Starting Classcraft in January! OMG! This has been an absolute game changer in my class and I can’t wait to continue using it and gamifying my classroom! After falling in love with this tool, I became a Classcraft Ambassador and just recently completed a completed a webinar for them as well! What can I say? I love Classcraft! (don't worry, we'll be blogging about Classcraft this summer)
3) Finally figuring out Twitter! While I’ve had Twitter for a while, I never really took the time to figure out how it could be a powerful tool in my life. Now I wonder why I waited so long! Between twitter chats and following specific hashtags, my energy has been restored and I have learned about so many more education trends than I ever would have just waiting for my school and district to provide me with professional development! I’ve always been a fan of PD (seriously, I love it) and twitter has made PD an even more powerful experience this year!
4) Attending Ed Conferences. Jess and I attended (and facilitated at) 4 EdCamps this year and even presented at a regional conference together! Yay for MOREnet!
5) Starting this blog has been so exciting! I had been brainstorming blog ideas for months (just ask my husband) but never found a topic/hook/lens through which to write it! I’m so glad Jess and I were willing to take the chance on each other and just go for it! I’ve really enjoyed the books we’ve read and hope we continue to do more of those (out of selfish interests)!
6) Reaching my goal of Google Certification - Levels 1 & 2. Next year: Google Certified Trainer!
In the classroom, I felt like I was just trying to stay above water at some points! Thankfully, I had amazing new co-workers that were willing to share and help in any way they could!
I continued to grow in my use of Google and worked towards moving to the M and R in the SAMR model. My students loved the days I was able to incorporate Breakouts, simulations and #tlap lessons like the EOC carnival and the Stock Market Game! Although I wish I had done more, I know that working with a new curriculum, living on little sleep due to a baby and learning the ropes of a new school was pretty important this year!
I have so many ideas in store for next year - student portfolios on Google Sites, students creating Google Maps again, changing the lens through which we study US history and teaching like a pirate #TLAP WAY more often (because hopefully I’ll be sleeping more)!
So, 2018-2019 goals:
1. Become a Google Certified Trainer
2. Flexible Seating
3. PBL/Self-paced (more)
4. Be a great co-teacher (my first time!)
5. Keep blogging and learning!
*****
We hope everyone had a fantastic 2017-2018 school year like we did! What are your goals for the coming year? Enjoy your break, make time for YOU, and relax a bit.
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