Educational Goals

I think that every teacher has goals for their classroom. I have goals for mine as well. There is an Language Arts teacher down the hall from me that teachers like I've never seen before. He has two flat screens, posters of current bands on his walls, his own desks, his own textbooks, his own workbooks, his own carpets, and his own photocopiers in his room. He lives in his own little bubble in his room away from the rest of the school. The whole room is organized within an inch of it's life and he is the owner of everything in there. Not a cent of it was paid for by the school. The whole day for every second is methodically organized and accounted for with an activity and the schedule never waivers. Each day is filled with fun activities that help the students learn. Just being around this teacher is an inspiration to me.

It's not the money or the gimmicks in the room that make me happy to be in there. It's the amount of effort he puts into his day with the students. Every moment of each class has been turned over and over until he can wring as much blood from the educational stone as possible. That is my happy place. I want my students to be having fun and learning each moment of their 50 minutes with me every day. Right now, so much time is wasted and it drives me crazy every moment of it.

If I had a magic lamp and genie and there would be one wish that I could change about my teaching right now then that would have to be it. I would like to be able to use my class time more effectively so that each moment in class was fun and organized for my students. I want them to come in every day and know the schedule and know that we do suchinsuch on this day and suchinsuch on this day and that there's a pattern to my class. I want them to know how to succeed with me. Unfortunately, I don't want to set a pattern until I'm sure that it's going to work for them.

In example, I wanted to make notes a vital part of my class but my students don't know how to take notes. They can't pull out the important information. I need to find a way around that. I wanted to make weekly quizes a vital part of class review, but my students are absent so much. I need to find a way around that. I need to find a way arond everything. My creativity is being taxed. Ugh. I'll figure it out.

It can't be that bad. It's friday.