Comments on: What I Won’t Do This Year

By: Todd

Todd — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:39:40 +0000

You got it, Dawn. That’s terrible that you have no mentor. No other teachers you can turn to on your campus? I’m incredibly glad that I can even offer you a part of that support. Can you think of one thing you did last year that you want to make sure you either do or do not do this year? What have you done so far that’s working for you and what have you noticed is a repeat pattern of something you want to avoid?

By: Dawn

Dawn — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:01:16 +0000

Thanks Todd!! The email thing is something that really gets me off track. I’m so glad that I stumbled on this blog. It is my first and what a relief to know that I’m not the only one that thinks about these things. I’m in my second year of teaching and my second year alone and no mentor. So this is nice to learn from.

By: Kari

Kari — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:28:00 +0000

Things I won’t do: Put off addressing tardies/skips until they are unbearable (call home sooner?). Put off grading until it’s a pile of mythological proportions. Allow negative talk in my class.
Things I will do: enter homework grades in the gradebook as soon as possible. Return quizzes within two days, tests within 5. Figure out how to deal with makeup quizzes in AP classes because it’s those students who miss all the damn time.
Hmmm. I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what I’m faced with now.

By: Simon Oldaker

Simon Oldaker — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:33:26 +0000

“Participate in teacher complain-a-thons” :-) Avoid re-arranging the furniture in classrooms because it takes too much time. Forget to stagger assignments so that all my classes submit work at once. Turn a blind eye to off-task behaviour. Wait too long to react when students are absent.

Give up.

By: Tom K

Tom K — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:24:44 +0000

You’ve covered everything I can think of, except…
Scribble down teaching ideas during the course of the year and never refer to them until it’s too late or lose them so I can’t find them for next year. Think of ways to update some handouts but decide it’s not worth it and hand out the old ones instead. Say I am going to do a much better job with student writing this year and don’t. Read all the passages out loud in class because I don’t think we have enough time for the students to read. Create a list of things I will do but don’t even look at the list.