2023 is almost here, but there are a few things I need to leave in 2022. Every year I make new years resolutions and I am actually pretty good about keeping most of them. One of the best pieces of advice in regard to accomplishing goals is to tell someone in order to hold yourself accountable. So, what better way for a teacher blogger to follow this advice than making all my resolutions public via a blog post?
- Watch more movies
This first one may sound strange because teachers who show a bunch of movies are generally frowned upon. However, if you read the blog I have written at length about how movies are actually helpful especially in classes like history and that if done right can make complex concepts sticky. Still, I too have fallen victim to worrying about what people think and cut way back on the movies this year and it showed. Concepts on tests that students never struggled with before all of a sudden seem to be problem areas. It dawned on me that some of these areas were covered by movies that I used to show. “The Patriot” is an historically inaccurate movie but every student who has watched it did well on my American Revolution test. There is a lesson in that…a lesson for me.
- Call parents more
This is on my list every year. I hate talking to parents and honestly, I seldom have the necessity to. Most students do well in my class. However, I should reach out even if it is just to say their child is excelling. Occasionally, I get in the groove and call a dozen parents in a row then don’t talk to another for weeks. It is an everyday struggle.
- Teach more to the standards
Every inner-city teacher reaches a level of righteous indignation where they fight back against the powers that be by casting the state standards aside and teaching students what they “really” need to know… Then those same students call you when they are in high school and college and ask why all the other kids learned X, Y, and Z?
A knowledgeable teacher knows all the state standards.
A mature teacher realizes the state standards are not perfect.
A wise teacher understands that imperfect as they may be, their future teachers will still presuppose they know them.
- Assign more homework
This is in the same vein as the previous resolution. I have come to realize that I am doing a disservice to students by not assigning at least some homework. I have seen the research about how it might not be exactly helpful. However, students who have left my class have reflected about being completely overwhelmed by the amount of homework they have in high school. It is my job to prepare them for that regardless of how I personally feel about it. And let’s be honest, it’s mostly because I don’t want to grade it.
In reflecting on previous years, the resolutions I failed were the ones I was never truly invested in. So, this year my list is shorter and only includes things I really want to change. Feel free to tweet at me in order to hold me accountable.
See you in 2023.