19/01: Goals for 2017

Goals for 2017

19th January 2017

Hello 2017!

After such an exciting year in 2016 I seriously can't wait to see what 2017 holds. With the start of school just around the corner I thought I would take the time to write down some of my goals for the year.


Goal 1: Become more confident using my iPad

Considering I have been brought up with technology I almost want to cringe that this is one of my goals for the year, but hey at least I can identify my weaknesses. I was so excited on my first day of school last year when I was issued with my iPad and Laptop, but in all honesty I barely used my iPad. I have always felt more comfortable using my Laptop but King's is an Apple school with a 1:1 iPad to student ratio - so I need to change.

So what am I planning on doing about it?

• I have spent more of my own free time playing on my iPad and testing how I would use different apps
• I have looked into doing a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital and Collaborative Learning through  The Mind Lab
• I will ensure there is more planned activities allow students to use their iPad
• I will look more deeply into the SAMR model and try and move away from the Substitution stage
• Explore flipped classrooms

Goal 2: More parent contact

Towards the end of last year  I realized that I didn't have much contact with my parents. Apart from sending the occasional warm fuzzy email, most of my parent contact was negative. So what am I planning on doing about it?

To increase contact with my parents I am going to do the following:

• Start the year by emailing the parents of all my students, introducing myself and inviting them to contact me
• Be consistent with my warm fuzzy emails - 3-5 per week
• Try and call parents more in regards to issues rather than just email
• Send out acknowledgement emails in regards to standards - if a student has tried really hard and gained a good grade
• Send emails informing them that their child is not on track towards achieving a standard, rather than just notifying them of the failure
• After parent interviews email parents a couple of weeks after in regards to their child's progress

Goal 3: Relationships first

This year I am planning to continue building on last years inquiry of building classroom rapport. As you can see from different blog posts I trialled different teaching styles and techniques to see how they would effect the relationship I had with my classes. I also tended to put content before the relationships with my students and important skills they should be learning. Towards the end of the year I started to get it right. Now with a fresh start I am looking forward to continuing on with this goal.

To help with this goal I will:

• Spend more time at the beginning if the year getting to know my students and allowing them to get to know me
• Ensure I allow relationships to come before content - "Positive teacher-student relationships involve trust, fairness, open communication and maintenance to sustain and impact student learning. " (Practices that work to accelerate student learning) 
• Focus on teaching skills (e.g. 21st Century Skills) rather than focussing on content
• Be firm fair and consistent with my teaching approach - "Trust, competence, energy, enthusiasm, and consistency are among the top characteristics students consider when determining if their teacher is credible and if they are going to choose to learn from them." (Practices that work to accelerate student learning) 

Knowing myself I will probably end up working on more than three goals throughout the year but here's a good starting point. Wish me luck!