New Year, New Goals! 2015 Here We Come!

When working on the 14 for '14 link up I found this New Year, New Goals! link up that I wanted to be a part of too. Now before you start thinking that my blog will become a continual list of link ups and fill in the blank things it won't! I just like the link ups because it gives me a chance to be reflective on what I am working on, what I have done, and what I am planning for. I also like the fact that they are cute & they link to other blogs. I am totally not going to lie - the cute factor is HUGE!

So having said that here is the New Year, New Goals! link up hosted by

You should add your goals and link up! By putting my goals in writing and publishing them here I have to follow through with them. Well, that's the idea anyway. 

Personal: I have had a lot of difficult things to deal with over the last five years. My way to cope with depression or frustration is to turn to sweets and that has not been good for my waistline or my health. This year I really need to focus on losing the weight I have gained over the past 5 years and making better choices about how I deal with stress. 

Professional: In 2014 I had the opportunity to help facilitate work on the new CCSS ELA units of instruction (which I also helped develop) and I had to speak in front of groups of adults. SO not in my comfort zone! I survived and found that I even liked it as long as the rooms were not packed. I also had the opportunity to lead a PD on Front Row and I survived that too! I am looking forward to taking on more of a leadership role when it comes to PD and facilitating PD opportunities. 

Planning: I have a terrible habit of planning on Sunday and spending most of every Sunday correcting, lesson planning, and getting ready for the coming week. My goal every year (but this year I VOW to make happen) is to plan throughout the week for the coming week so that when I leave on Friday I do not have to bring my planning home with me. I have been teaching for over 10 years so you would think this would be feasible by now. 

Organization: Last year I became a 1:1 classroom and with that my class quickly became paperless (or at least nearly so). I started the year strong when it came to checking student work each week and grading assignments. Now I have fallen into a bad habit of looking at their work and using it for formative assessment purposes but not grading it. I need to really get on that, particularly since progress reports are due a few weeks after we come back from winter break. 

Students: This year I have worked hard to make our room a truly 21st century classroom which means that we have no assigned desks (though they seem to like sitting in the same place each day for the most part). We hardly sit at desks at all as we have comfy areas and we are often working in flexible pairings or small groups. Students are working collaboratively and diligently and I would like to continue to foster that as the year progresses. 

Motto: "Love what you do, and do what you love." This perfectly sums up my approach to teaching and to life. I LOVE my job and often work to extremes as a result (which I need to work on doing less of). Each day, even the bad ones, being at school with my class makes me happy and for that I am truly blessed. 

So this is a glimpse of who I am and what I want for the coming year. I hope that by publishing this here I will be even more committed to making sure I adhere to these goals and that 2015 is a good year for me.