New Year's Resolution

In September, I often ask my students to jot down some specific goals that they plan to pursue during the year to become better students of English.  I tend to get pretty specific responses like, "I finally want to learn how to cite sources correctly," or "I want to be more confident when speaking in class" or "For once, just once, I'd like to ace a reading quiz."

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've rarely followed suit and articulated my own new school year's resolutions.  I've spent so much time planning the day-to-day stuff--how long it'll take us to get through Hamlet, how I'll set up Notes From Underground more clearly this time around--that I don't often stop, breathe, and think about what I can do during the year to become a better teacher.  In recent years I've juggled raising two little girls with returning to work full-time, so I didn't really think about my own professional development.  Keeping the wheels on the bus seemed a bit more pressing.

This year, though, I've resolved to make the time and create the space, both literally and figuratively.  2012-13 marks the first year I've had a classroom of my own, a room with some amazing new tools and toys (including a new glass wall that I'll blog about). I'm teaching sophomore World Lit and AP English Lit, and I'm ready to devote myself more fully to creating an environment, both online and off, where my students and I learn with and from each other.

I'm also focusing more of my time on developing a professional learning network and connecting with my colleagues, both on campus and around the world.  I'm looking for ways to collaborate with other teachers in my department and across the curriculum.  I've found Twitter to be an easy way to keep my finger on the pulse of what's new in education and 21st century skills, I'm excited about several upcoming conferences I'm planning to attend, and I'm becoming a more active contributor to a few forums for teachers, where I can collaborate and share ideas. In just a month or two of actively taking the time to see what's out there, I've learned so much, and I'm genuinely stoked to try some of this new stuff on my sophs and seniors.

So, my New Year's resolution is to take advantage of as many resources as possible to be the teacher my students deserve, and to seek out opportunities to reflect, share, and, as Mark Zuckerberg would say, "make [my teaching] world more open and connected."