Day One: Goals

In an effort to jumpstart my reflective writing this year, I've decided to participate in @teachthought's 30 day blogging challenge.

Day One: Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or as abstract as you'd like to be.

Before the school year began, on a walk with my family, I said that I had one goal for this school year: Be. Bold.

The primary source of this goal comes from my district's move to a 1:1 district using Google Chromebooks. I told my husband that I was afraid that if I didn't set a major intention to be bold using technology, I would let the fear of the unknown, of the temptation to constantly monitor, of my own skill deficits in technology, to hinder the potential of student creation, collaboration, and meaningful work that access to these tools would offer. I didn't want to spend the year managing or worrying; I wanted to spend the year challenging students to come up with new solutions that didn't exist before. I wanted to spend the year allowing students to teach me about their online literacies so I could help them build more cohesive, informed, engaging voices--so they can participate better in what actually matters to them while I expose them to literacies that matter to others.

But boldness in the classroom isn't just about technology. It's about loosening the reins and the plans so real learning can happen. As a first year teacher, I had my share of management problems. (And while we can all tell stories, did you have a fire set in your classroom? Didn't think so.) And they made me miserable. So I have been bound and determined, ever since, that I would be the boss of my classroom. This has led me to start student desks in a grid, every year, to emit seriousness and structure. This has led me to stop every sidebar with a hawklike look so that they don't escalate into larger problems. This has also led to somewhat weak discussion patterns, in part, because I am afraid at times I hold too much authority in the room. Now in my ninth year, I don't need to be afraid of management. I don't have to pretend that I'm the boss anymore because I just know it. I can handle things as they arise. So as one step, I started my desks in a rectangle, a discussion formation. So far, there has been no mutiny.

Boldness also moves into trusting myself as a master educator. While I have loads to learn, still and always, even my license says that I'm an expert. I will do my job and teach the standards I am supposed to teach. But I will do so in a manner that fosters curiosity and bold behaviors in my own students. I will trust my gut when things don't feel right and allow myself to follow a teachable moment when things do. I have spent the last few years letting too many outside forces shape what my classroom is rather than allowing the outside forces to enhance it.

This is the year that I trust my students to learn from their own mistakes regarding technology. This is the year that I trust conversation to lead to learning. And this is the year I trust myself to know what is right. The two rules in Room 9 this year are Be Bold and Be Curious. It has to start with me.