Students are Gone But Class is Still in Session

I'm officially free from students and my teacher workdays are over. We all know what that means.....SCHOOL'S OUT!! Each year, I am always glad to see the year end, but it doesn't mean that work is over for me :) This is the time where I feel free to explore changes that I want to make for next year in order to become a better teacher and meet the needs of my new little lovelies. Most people go on their vacations, spend time with their families, or just relax for a few weeks first; however, I am more of "lets keep the ball rolling while I'm still in school mode".

Here are a few of my goals that I want to accomplish during my summer break:

• Become more familiar with my students' mindset--In a previous post (Gearing up for Next Year) I mentioned three books that I purchased that focused on teaching students in poverty. I have been finding myself wanting to know why my students act the way they do and since a lot of them are in poverty, so these books are to help me know what I can do for them. Already started reading Eric Jensen's Teaching with Poverty in Mind and I am excited about what I am reading!

• Change behavioral/homework plans--I just felt that my behavior management could be better; therefore, I am changing to the Clip Chart system. This way my students  can be rewarded for their behavior as well as having appropriate consequences for misbehaviors. For homework, I am going to use Homeworkopoly. I know that a lot of teachers are using this in order to get students to do their homework, and my students need as much help as possible.

• Revamp reading stations--I just feel that my station time could be better. The feeling of disorganization during this time had been STRESSFUL! So, I am going to make a plan that more suits my students and my personality. 

• Math in general because of BIG changes--This is the biggest change of all since our whole district is changing over to Math Investigations. The change is VERY exciting since I teach using the Investigations methods anyway; however, I have not followed the curriculum. So, I have some scheduling things to work out, how I want to organize all the materials that I am getting from the AMSTI people, and how I want to communicate to the parents the changes. I was thinking about posting some math lessons on YouTube as well as having days for the parents to visit my room. What do ya'll think? This also means that I have to make sure that I use math journals (I'm pretty stoked about this)

Join the linking party at Primary Inspired to tell about your goals for next year