I love making goals! Whether you are a new year's resolution junkie or abstainer, January is a great time to think about the past year, to look ahead to the next semester, and make some goals.
Here are a few things I'm going to be working toward:
Professional
January is the perfect time to access what you've been doing and where you're headed.
Binders are fantastic for organizing the random bits of paper that inevitably follow you back to the music room. A
teacher planner binder is a great resource for collecting all of the old lesson plans, standards checklists, and year at a glance forms that show you where you've been. Add in copies of upcoming assessments, checklists for events and hard copies of printables, and you have a great start moving forward.
Sweet Sounds: I would love to get a little more organized with lessons and programs. I usually feel pretty good at the beginning of the year, but by Christmas my brain is a jumble of ideas and lessons. I'm setting up a teacher planner binder so that I have everything I need in one place.
Classroom Culture
Review is a great tool in any classroom to allow students to practice known material, and let the teacher assess which students actually know the material. I create my lesson plans to be a continuous spiral of review and new material. While we are preparing for the next concept, we are practicing the newly presented concept.
Sweet Sounds: My classroom atmosphere is pretty laid-back, but I'm always trying to amp up the content. Like all music teachers, I want my kids to know EVERYTHING when they leave me. While I know that's not possible, I want them to be grounded with some solid skills when they leave. I'm going to intentionally add more review to each week's lesson, from the warm-up to the exit ticket!
Podcast/Blog/Social Media:
Connecting with other music teachers is so rewarding - and it's a great way to grow professionally! But when you're the only music professional in your building (and sometimes district!), it can be very isolating.
Selecting a few
blogs and
podcasts to follow is helpful, as well as choosing
social media groups to be a part of (such as Facebook groups). They can widen your perspective and be a great source of encouragement and ideas when you hit a road block.
Sweet Sounds: I'm a member of the national Kodaly page, but I also participate in a few smaller groups that specialize in a particular style or area. I would like to find a podcast to follow that caters to my specific type of Kodaly instruction. I would also like to add some diversity to my teaching, so I'm going to be seeking non-musical groups that are doing the hard work of building bridges and starting conversations.
Personal: Self care is so important in our field. Teachers are generally givers by nature, but sometimes that can lead to unhealthy choices. You have to learn to take care of yourself and develop the self-discipline to make healthy choices in times of stress or overwhelm.
Sweet Sounds: Last summer I attended a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer, entitled, "Gideon." It had some powerful reminders of how God looks at me and thinks of me. I want to keep that going throughout the school year, so I recently bought another one of Shirer's Bible studies called "
God is Able." I'm excited to get started on it.
Another form of self-care is spending time with loved ones. I plan to spend more time with my husband, puppy and less time stressing over work! I also hope that I can spend more time with my church friends. Friends are so important when stressful times hit!
Student Goal-Setting: Students benefit from occasionally pausing and setting the reset button as well. Giving them
time to think about what they would like to achieve (and how to get there) is important.
January is a great time to set goals as a class, and individually set goals as well. Leading them through the process of brainstorming and dreaming up ideas is important. Putting those thoughts on paper and elaborating is also an important next step. Finally, writing a plan to achieve these goals can be a great tool to help students realize their action steps.
Sweet Sounds: I created a printable that walks my students through each step, from brainstorming, to elaborating, to creating a plan to accomplish their goals. It also work great as a "new years" bulletin board to keep their ideas in sight and their goals in the front of their minds.
What are some of your goals for the new year?
Let’s Connect!
