When I wrote this topic, I was (of course) thinking in the mindset of the school year beginning and found that a perfect opportunity for goal-setting, especially since we're doing so much of it in our teacher orientation this week! But I've been pleased to see that people are finding this question open for interpretation: setting both long- and short-term goals, looking forward to the school year and beyond, and even jumping ahead to a long-awaited spring vacation! My goals are going to read a little more educational, so bear with me.
Usually when I make new years/school years resolutions, I find them hard to keep because they're so vague and unmeasurable. Was I happy this year? Did I try my best at something? As a teacher, we set goals for ourselves and our students on a fairly regular basis. We have short-term goals and long-term goals, broad reaching goals and narrower goals. There are a few criteria we must always keep in mind, however, and I've tried to be mindful of them when writing this post: goals must be specific, measurable, and timely. I've been thinking about these goals for over a week now (yes, I plan these topics that far in advance), and I'm pretty psyched about them. I've decided to set a personal goal, a professional goal, and an interpersonal goal.
Personal Goal: Run a 5K
I've written here a few times about weight loss and being healthy, but I've never quite had measurable goals for my personal fitness. Sure, I'll tell myself that I plan to go to the gym three times a week, but I never hold myself accountable. And to many people, saying "I'm training to run a 5K" is the most ridiculous statement in the world. Training to run three miles? I could run 3 miles in my sleep. To me, though, being able to run just one mile is so much more of an indication of how far I've come health-wise than the number on the scale. In school, I was always the kid who avoided gym class or the fitness test. My "best mile time" was probably 13 minutes, and to be honest, I'm sure I walked most of it. Now that I walk about a 15-minute mile without even trying, I think it's time to kick it up a notch. Towards the end of the summer, I started learning to run: training in short intervals of running and walking, testing indoor/outdoor speeds, buying fancy new shoes that are specifically tailored to my overpronation. It's a process, but I'm confident that I can get my legs, my lungs, and my spirit up to running at least a couple of miles before next summer. The hardest part will be maintaining a running schedule when school gets intense, but I think having a set goal in mind will help push me over laziness and exhaustion and into my running shoes.
Professional Goal: Allow my student population to teach me more than I teach them
The school where I will be teaching this year caters exclusively to students with learning disabilities. I have some experience working one-on-one with students with LD at my student teaching placement, but this will be my first time being solely responsible for differentiating all of my instruction to a whole class of students with various difficulties. In the last two weeks of orientation, we've talked a lot about "our student population" - the daily tasks our students struggle with, the various means of input we need to provide for them, the incredible moments of insight they can have, their beautiful resilience in the face of their own difficulties, and so much more. At first, it can be overwhelming to think about all of the things you need to teach a high school student in order to prepare them for college and beyond - and that only gets more overwhelming with this population - but then I start to think about just how much I have to learn about our students. I absolutely cannot wait to work with these students. My goal for the year is to keep my mind and heart open so that they can teach me, both individually and as a whole population, as much as I try to teach them.
Interpersonal Goal: Make new friends, but keep the old
I set this goal for myself every year, and I find I am increasingly bad at it. I am so blessed to be surrounded by people in NYC that I care so deeply about: the amazing teachers I met through grad school, the beautiful women I've lived with over the last two years, my closest friends that I moved here with, and so on. Unfortunately, I don't live with a lot of these people anymore. I don't have class with them on a weekly basis. I don't work in the same building as they do. It's up to me to seek these people out and make sure we stay in touch. I also struggle with calling friends who live outside of NYC - sorority sisters, my high school best friends, and the ever-growing number of people I know in the People's Gaypublic of Drugifornia. How am I ever going to maintain these friendships if I am not the one to call sometimes? Of course, there's another factor to this: I love the people in my life, but I am open to the people that have yet to enter. I have a brand new set of coworkers, and I'm seeking out new recreational/educational activities that will no doubt have people I'd like to get to know. My goal this year is to break out of my comfort zone and not be afraid to make plans and open myself up to new people, but without sacrificing the people that I do have in my life already, near and far. The best way to do this? Invite everyone, of course! I know this seems hard to measure which defies everything I've written about goal-setting and my whole educational philosophy, I think I'll know this one when I see it.
What are
your goals for the upcoming year?
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