Year 12: Let's Set Some Goals

Summer comes and goes faster and faster each year, you know? It's astonishing.

But here I am, about to embark upon my 12th year of teaching and my 7th year as an Instructional Technology Facilitator. This year, as I previously mentioned, I'll be navigating an A/B schedule. I'm thrilled to continue to have some flexibility in my daily schedule, and I'm also excited to be getting back into working with the students in the lab.

Tomorrow is our first official work day, and I'm excited to see my coworkers and get prepped for another awesome year. It's going to be busy and chaotic but I know that it's going to be great, too.

This school year, I have a few goals I'm hoping to accomplish or make progress on.

1. Maximize productivity during my flex time. When I'm not teaching, I really want to be pushing into classrooms or working on PD or doing things that are super constructive and helpful. This year I'll have to budget that time a little more cautiously since there will be less of it, but I want to make sure that I'm getting the most I possibly can out of my flexible schedule times.

2. Innovate more with regards to my lessons in the lab. I have a set of resources and activities that evolves slightly from year to year, but I'd love to get some more innovation into my time with students in the lab. I want to take advantage of the resources we have and plan lessons that push me to think more creatively.

3. Expand my professional online presence using Twitter and also things like this blog. I want to connect more and find online communities I can plug into for inspiration, and I hope to be able to provide some insight and inspiration for others who might connect with me, too. (By the way, you can find me on Twitter @EdTechJunkie509! Please give me a follow if you don't already!)

I think those are some pretty decent goals going into the 2019-2020 school year, and I'm honestly hoping to be more present and communicative about my progress with them. What goals are you setting for this coming school year? What do you hope to achieve?

Setting goals and being reflective is so critical to our professional development, and if you haven't already tried this exercise of naming a few goals you have for the school year to come, I encourage you to do so!

I'm off to enjoy my last weeknight evening before work days commence tomorrow--good luck, and I'm sure we'll talk more soon!

-Marlee
 

Reflections on a Busy School Year + Summer Excitement

This school year has been a blur, friends. It’s been one of the most interesting years I’ve had as a Technology Facilitator for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one was that I was given the opportunity to experience a fully flexible schedule through the inclusion of a Teacher Assistant who taught my classes in the lab.

This meant I was free to push into classrooms, to develop and implement PD during the school day, to serve in whatever capacity I was needed to serve...it was a great and busy year. Some highlights:

-I created an appointment calendar and had a handful of teachers sign up for me to push into their classrooms, where I was able to offer targeted support in direct ways that met my teachers’ varied needs. 

-I offered my first PD that was available during teachers’ planning periods, and while the group who participated was small, they were engaged! We had some great discussion and reflection around a variety of topics and I really enjoyed the format of our time together.

-I was readily available to teachers as they needed me, whether it was for a simple tech issue or an implementation question.

-I was able to spend time researching, learning, and developing new tools for my school, like my own Potty PD series, which I got from an idea on Teacher Twitter during the school year. I’ll create a post where I talk more about those, but just know that I’ve had so much fun designing posters that deliver little tidbits of information to a, well, captive audience.  

Next school year will be a bit different, as my Teacher Assistant’s position has unfortunately lost funding. We’ll be implementing a new schedule that will have both my Media Coordinator and me on a partially-flexible schedule, which is just super exciting for both of us. While I’ve enjoyed my flexible schedule this year, it’s left me feeling a bit disconnected from students, so I’m looking forward to getting more time with them next year. I’m also beyond stoked that my Media Coordinator will have a partially flexible schedule, too. We’re already starting to brainstorm about how we can work together on things more next year with regards to our classes. It’s going to be great.

But right now, we’re in the height of end-of-school-year-mania. Our world is confined to deadlines and paperwork and counting devices and books and feeling like there’s no way we can finish. We’ll finish just fine, of course. But it never feels like we will. 

This summer, I’m looking forward to getting a bit of extra work in. I’ll be working an extra few days for my principal after the school year wraps up to prep some things for next school year. And then, at the end of the month...I’m going to ISTE! 

Y’all. I’m so stinking excited about going to Philadelphia with a bunch of my colleagues and experiencing my first ever ISTE Convention. It’s going to be so much fun! I’m definitely planning to write and maybe even vlog a bit while I’m there. I’m hoping to come back full of ideas and ready to rock a new school year. 

I’ll be spending July at school helping out and working during Summer Reading Camp, which will give me time to work on some other odds and ends around the school. Overall, I’m just looking forward to closing out another successful year, and preparing for the best one yet. 

Life is good, friends. I’m going to try to write more about that, okay? 

I’ll be back soon—until then, hang in there if you’re almost done with the school year like I am. We’re so close! 

-Marlee