That said, things have been busy and I'm just trying to keep up with it all and make sure I am ready for... The End of the School Year.
The end of the school year is always really busy and exciting (for teachers and kiddos!) and mostly consists of daily to-do lists for me. Half of them are things to prep for the end of the year, and half of them are things to prep for August. So right now I'm in the midst of closing up my classroom, doing 25 sets of student academic/behavior report cards + end of year comments, class placement (holy cow this is a huge job), end of the year review (which means I have to use all the data collected throughout the year to prove I'm an effective teacher), and then spending every day teaching 10 year olds who are so ready for summer. We have 9 days left before break. I slept for 12 hours straight a couple weekends ago.
But a few exciting things have have happened in there...
I committed to beginning my National Board Certification. I've decided to get my certification as a Middle Child Generalist (ages 7-11), so all my work will be in that area. I decided to go ahead and become nationally certified for a few reasons but mostly because my district provides a lot of support throughout the three year process, and hopefully if I keep it updated, I won't have to keep taking all the tests I've taken for the past THREE states I've been certified in!
I'm hoping to complete a good chunk of it next school year. It will be a lot of work but in the end I will be NATIONALLY certified! Yay!
I joined the district math adoption team, so I've been attending meetings and sifting through 6 different math curriculums in order to help determine which we should use as a district. It's been a really interesting experience, particularly given the interesting place education is in right now between old and new. Next year I'll help pilot three of the programs in my classroom.
August will also be the beginning of my TENTH year teaching! Holy cow! To ring in my tenth year teaching, I'll be changing grade levels. Next year I will teach 3rd grade! It was a super bittersweet move because I have adored all my fourth graders and I love their personalities, attitudes, and the fact that they still like me. I love that I get to celebrate that big year when they turn double digits and learn long division for the first time. I love the curriculum and depth that I get to teach each subject. So I was a bit sad when I found out I was switching levels. BUT now that I know that I get to STAY at the building I'm in and adore, I'm really excited to work with a new team and get to know them all, as well as tackle a new grade's curriculum. It is a good time for a change and I'm getting really excited for next year.
I can't believe I'm a week and a half away from completing my first year of teaching in Washington. This past year has been a huge leap of faith and I can't believe I ended up in such a great school, location, and that everything has worked out so wonderfully. It's taken this entire year to finally feel like I know what I'm doing and where I'm going and I'm finally starting to feel like I live here.
Also, I cut my hair so I feel like I have some of my spunk back. Long hair steals my attitude and I don't know why I even bother with it.
I have a few friends coming to visit this year and I plan to be a TOTAL TOURIST with them and explore even more out here! My list of things I want to do is so long!
Celebrating my first full year of teaching out here... committing to a few new professional growth opportunities... and ready to take some time to explore and learn this summer! Life is good.
No comments:
Post a Comment