Summer Goals

Greetings Apples,

I am so sorry I've been away for so long! I won't waste your time with excuses, but here's a quick rundown of what's happened since we last met:

• STAR Testing
• Open House
• Report cards / Creating classes for next year
• Packing up my classroom to move

Oh, and…I finished my Master's Degree! Here's a picture from the big day:

April and May were packed with activity. I felt like I constantly had something to do or somewhere to be, and I am thrilled to see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Summer break, here I come!

That being said, I still have a pretty busy summer ahead of me. I have fun things planned (a couple of small trips, beach days, and a birthday I don't want to talk about..), but I also have a Summer To-Do List of projects I hope to accomplish while I have free time.

Work? In the summer? I know, but I try to accomplish a few "bigger" tasks when I don't have all of the daily demands of the job to deal with. Here's what I hope to accomplish before I go back to the grind:

1. Fill in gaps in my Smartboard math lessons. I have created a lot of Smartboard math lessons over the past few years, but I want to fill in gaps for the lessons I am missing (mostly toward the end of the year when I begin getting tired and less diligent.) I also am trying to scan in my workbook to correct on the board, as well as create progress monitoring quizzes throughout the units to take advantage of my Smart Clickers.
2. Learn our new ELA curriculum. Our district adopted a new Language Arts curriculum to align with the CCSS. Obviously, I won't be able to read every single thing that comes in my new kit (the amount of items I am getting is insane!) but I'd like to get a general feel for how this program works before the kiddos come back.
3. Create a new teacher binder. I have decided I want something more specific for my planning needs. I am working on creating pages in Microsoft Word that are unique to how I like to write out my plans, and I hope to put together a binder where I will also have space to carry things like a copy of Bloom's Taxonomy, my Year Plan, and the CCSS for easy reference.

Those are my main goals, though in my head, I will also create and implement every cute idea I've pinned on Pinterest in the last six months (I wish..)

What are your summer goals? Do you tackle any big classroom projects or block out work until your email starts dinging incessantly in August?

Miss H.