New Year, New Resolutions

Every New Year, I evaluate my goals and resolve to accomplish certain ones that year – yes, “New Year Resolutions”. While I never formally write them down, I do reflect on these resolutions and make a concerted effort to achieve them. This year I thought that I should share my thought process with you and take the daring step of actually sharing my resolutions. Oh boy, once I write anything out, I am accountable for it…that should help me follow through this year!!

I had the luxury of getting away for the holidays for some much-needed relaxation and family time. While enjoying myself on the beaches of sunny Ft. Lauderdale, I started to reflect on the many things I would like to accomplish in the upcoming New Year of 2012. I resolved that I needed to relax more, spend more time with my husband & children and schedule in more “me-time”. I was able to do all these things during our time away and I came back home feeling renewed, refreshed and optimistic. What a feeling!!

Then reality hit. Back to school and the craziness of being a full-time B.Ed. student while juggling being a mom & wife. What was I thinking?? Reality check: time to re-evaluate those dreamy resolutions! Here’s what I have come up with.

“Relax more” is not going to happen! However, I have resolved to get to bed most nights at a decent time, I am aiming for 11pm (as opposed 1am), since I am up at 6am every morning. In order to accomplish this, I need to work on my time-management so I am not completing assignments and lesson plans into the wee hours of the morning.

“Spend more time with my husband and children” – this is one that I definitely want to stick to, but I need to figure out how I can do this with my current schedule. What I have come up with is to spend more quality time with them. I will make time every day to actually play or read with my kids, even if its just for 10-15 min. I will also start scheduling “date night” so my husband & I can actually spend some special time together.

“More me-time” – I have the perfect solution for this one and it comes in the form of “me-time” at the gym! That way I sneak 2 resolutions into 1 – aren’t I clever?! I have the stereotypical, standard fitness resolutions and I’m scheduling in my workouts as if they were a class at school. Its working so far, but I’m not too sure how its going work when I’m in my 2nd teaching placement in mid-Feb…..

Ok, so that deals with my lofty resolutions dreamt up of at the beach. But that hardly covers it all! Back in class and in “teacher-mode” and I have some important professional goals as well. I have resolved to make a concerted effort to challenge myself to “think outside the box” and really apply different pedagogy to my teaching. I want my lessons to be more student-centred and inquiry-based. I want my students to experience inductive teaching strategies, experiential learning and indirect instruction. In my first teaching placement, I was focused on pure survival and I stuck to more traditional instructional strategies. For my next placement, I truly want to expand my teaching to incorporate the strategies listed above.

As well, I am determined to apply more technology to my teaching. For my next teaching placement, I want to set-up and maintain a class website and include use of some new technologies in the classroom such as Edmodo, Livebinder, Twitter, Facebook, LiveScribe, and/or Remind 101.

Whew! I dream big don’t I? Of course, I have more ideas and reflections that I could share with you but…..I don’t have time! Too much to do! 2012, here I come!