Monday Made It and August Back to School Goals

I can see my summer coming to an end!  I have 19 days remaining before teachers are to return at my school. 

I have accomplished a lot this summer but I still have quite a few things on my to-do-list.  I am staying positive that it will all be completed with time to spare. (If I type it… it has to come true… right?!)

I am a day late, but I am linking up with Tara at 4thGrade Frolics for her famous Monday Made It Linky. 

Last year I made owl birthday bags similar to these.

I included a pencil, a large crayon shaped eraser, a birthday certificate, no homework slip, and a ring pop in each bag.

Two years ago I made birthday balloons with candy straws and my students really liked them and so did I.  They are easier to make and storing them is no problem.

So this year I decided to make them again.

I made my balloons in four colors, three different titles, and used two different types of ribbons.  

Here are up close pictures of the three titles.  The words are the same but the backgrounds are different.  My mother came up with the saying so that it would match my camping theme.

After cutting out the balloons on the Cricut, I used the scrap paper to fill the vase.  I simply put the scraps through my paper shredder.

Jess at I {Heart} Recess is hosting a Monthly Goals Linky and for the month of August we are focusing on Back to School.

Here are my goals:

Personal - leave work on time – I plan to use my planning periods effectively this year.  I am going to close and lock my door during my planning periods and take care of business.  No talking to my coworkers, hanging out in the teacher’s lounge, or spending time in the office.   I can get done most if not all of my work if I follow this plan.  I don’t want to carry home a bag full of need-to-do work.

Organization - grade papers the day I collect them – I don’t grade a ton of work, because a lot of it is practice and I review it with my students.  What I do grade will be graded right away.  No more hauling stacks of papers home and grading them on their third car ride to my house.  Grading right away will also help me to know which students are still in need of re-teaching before I move on to the next lesson.  I want to help them while the concepts are still fresh in their heads and mine.

Planning - complete my plans a month ahead of schedule – I do make a yearly plan, which I am happy to say is already completed.  I have also complete my plans for August and September.  If I stay ahead of schedule it will give me the comfort I need throughout the year.  There are times when I am busy with life, sick, or just don’t feel like working on lesson plans.  I know I will have to go back and add, delete, and/or modify those plans but it will be less time consuming then starting from the beginning.

Professional – conference more with my students during workshop times – I found that I spend too much time with students during our conferences and don’t see enough students.  I plan to use a timer this year to keep my on schedule.  I love the way that conferencing helps me really to get to know my students and I want this to better utilize this time.

Students – help them set realistic goals and achieve them – Last year I worked with my students on setting goals and deciding on steps to achieve them.  I started off strong with this but I must admit I didn’t finish quite as strong.  I think it is important to teach students to set realistic goals and I plan to do a better job at that this year.

Motto - When I am tempted to lose patience with someone remember how patient God has been with me. – We have all had those students that push us to our limits.  I seem to have one or two every year.  I must remember to practice a little more patience with him/her and try to find something that will help him/her to be successful in my classroom.

Stop by Tara’s blog to see all of the wonderful projects bloggers have completed this week and Jess’s blog to see what goals others have set from back to school.

 

What do you do/give to celebrate your students birthdays?

Until next time…