The Last Supper.. er.. Semester.. ?
One of my resolutions is to set less, and less lofty, goals for myself. I often have bigger ambitions in my head than I have the long-haul drive to see them through. As a result, I tend to cycle through periods of unrealistic optimism and disappointed-in-myself depression. It's such a long-standing pattern for me, it makes me ashamed to think of it. That said, here are my goals:
- Fully implement MYP units, guiding questions, and assessments for at least Algebra II. Finish with a course plan that could be followed by another teacher. I know my way around the curriculum by now, and I have a few decent ideas. The difficult part is filling in the gaps with good ideas. I am off to an okay start so far. Took my students on my first field trip on Monday, to Wal-Mart where they weighed products off the shelves to determine the mass tolerances for commercially-packaged foods.
- Contact all parents before the end of the first nine weeks. Contact parents of failing students immediately after they fail their first test. Late last term I did good job of contacting almost all my students' parents. Now I just need to start earlier.
- Start a board game club. This is a plenty-good idea and something I would enjoy. It has been easy to put off, though, and I have simply lacked the initiative so far. Sigh.
- Take better care of myself. Ever since I began teaching, I have eaten just once a day on school days. Since living in Mississippi, my lifestyle has been sadly sedentary. Perhaps all this has contributed to my low energy levels and sometimes poor mental health. Certainly my nagging groin injury and chronic back problems contribute to my lack of exercise at times, but there is no excuse not to be swimming. I need to get over it and buy myself a Delta State pool pass.