We all have ideal fantasies about what we would like out of teaching. "I want my students to love reading and writing!" "All of my students will leave inspired after each class!" These idealistic goals are good stems for what goals I would love to complete for myself this year.
My first professional goal for myself is to learn how to make grammar lessons interesting for students and how to incorporate grammar into units. The sixth graders I observed last year dreaded the grammar sheets they would get as homework once a week. At some point this year I will ask my mentor teacher how she thinks grammar should be taught. It is important to find a new way to incorporate grammar because some students do not pick up grammar rules through worksheets.
My second professional goal is to learn how to discipline effectively. My mentor teacher told me that when I take over the classroom I need to nip any bad behaviors in the bud so the rest of the classroom does not walk over me. I think disciplining will be one of my biggest challenges because I hate when people do not like me. I plan to talk to my mentor teacher about techniques that work best for her when discipline issues arise. Achieving this goal will be important because I need to get through my head that students do not need to always like me because I am there to teach them as much as I can.
My academic goal for myself this year is NOT to procrastinate as much. This bad habit has only gotten worse throughout my collegiate career. I need to practice working on assignments earlier because I know that when I am a teacher I do not want to procrastinate grading. In order to work on this goal I need to use my planner and work on assignments the day that I wrote them down for.
I am excited for the school year and for my first time taking over a classroom. I have been waiting so long to become a teacher that it almost does not feel real. I cannot wait to start my first steps to complete my goals.
