What will be "new" about the New Year?
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Ahhh, the New Year. That wonderful time in the cycle of 365 days when we make grand proclamations about our even grander aspirations - and hope that at least some fraction of our wishes come true.
As teachers we are not immune from the hopeful New Year's resolution bug - but like most everyone else we find that our pursuit of these resolutions usually fizzles by February.
What kills the best laid plans of the season is that we think they must be Herculean to be of any worth. For example, have you ever said (or thought) the following: "I will start planning two months in advance." "I will grade all papers the day they come in." "I'll have the highest test scores in the school." Some people will see such resolutions through, but most of us will try and get overwhelmed by all the little things that get in the way.
So what if this year you set out to do something tiny instead? What if you set your sights on trying something new, but making that "something" manageable?
Consider one of the following ideas (if you're not already doing it!):
- Greet every student at the door as they come into your classroom.
- Ask at least 5 open-ended questions each day.
- Try having students sit in a circle once a week.
- Endeavor to find out something new about each of your students this month.
- Make 3 positive phone calls home each week. (Leaving messages works too! You can do this during your planning period!)
- Give students a bulletin board in the room to design.
- Start each class with a short physical warm-up.
- Collaborate with a fellow teacher at least once a month, this could mean things like: asking for or sharing activities, co-teaching a lesson, swapping resources, or planning a unit together.
If you saw through any one of these ideas over the next six months you'd see changes in your classroom. The actions are relatively small but they can go a long way towards building community, expanding student thinking, and stretching your own skills as a facilitator.
This is the perfect time of year to try something new. Start small and you just might realize your resolution! |
| That's Me |
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As you endeavor to make changes in the New Year, encourage your students to do the same! Start a discussion about what resolutions are and what they'd like to do differently in the year ahead. Create some community and learn more about your students by using an activity like "That's Me" with prompts tailored to this discussion.
Learn more about "That's Me".
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I Am From (Last Year) Poems
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What where the highlights, the pitfalls, the triumphs and the tribulations of the year gone by? What will your students remember? What do they want to forget? Who did they meet? What historical events will they talk about in years to come? What were the sights, sounds, and smells of 2008? Use prompts like this with an activity like "I Am From Poems" to have your students create a retrospective on the year gone by. Learn more about " I Am From Poems". |
Resources for Teachers
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Smithsonian's History Explorer
Innovative, standards-based online resources
for teaching and learning American history, designed and developed by
the National Museum of American History as part of Verizon's thinkfinity.org consortium.
Brain Pop
This site provides short video clips on all major subject areas including fine arts and health / physical education. The short animated films are accompanied by online quizzes which students can take as a whole class or independently. There is a fee for full access to the site but there are some free sample videos that give you an idea of what is offered.
Fun Brain
A site filled with academic games for grades K-8 that students can play together or independently. This is a good resource if you have a computer center in your classroom. Great for test review - the emphasis is on math and language arts though there are games for other subject areas as well.
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