2019-2020 School Year Goals

I’m already 4 weeks into the school year, and I haven’t yet posted my 2019-2020 school year goals. I’ve been blogging a ton at my Mari’s EdD Journey blog, mainly because I was taking a blogging course, and felt like I’ve been blogged out lately. Not burned out, just a lot of effort directed to blogging for a different purpose.

That being said, I am hoping to maintain both blogs this year. I know it’s a lot, and my goal is to post weekly, and alternate blogs each week. I enjoy sharing, and I like to think I have something of value to add to both spaced (edtech/teaching in general and the EdD process).

This year, I am only teaching 7th grade science. It’s a huge difference from the last few years, where I’ve had 1 class period of technology resource plus 8th grade AVID. It’s strange to have 5 sections of 7th grade science and nothing else.

Science

One thing I am most excited about with science this year is that, since our enrollment is low (not a positive), there are only two of us teaching 7th grade science. The other teacher and I had a rocky start when he joined our team about five years ago, and since then, we’ve really worked hard to collaborate better. Now, we’ve built a solid friendship and partnership; I’m grateful to work with him!

Another thing I am looking forward to is supporting student teachers this year. I will have at least one student teacher placed with me, and I will be supporting two intern teachers (they are contracted .6 and .4 teachers of record, in lieu of student teaching) as a coach. We have a district grant that funds Residents and Resident Coaches to provide additional coaching and support to enhance the student teaching experience.

Ultimately, my goals in science are to help my students love science, help them collaborate effectively, and teach them how to write claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) paragraphs. If I can achieve that, then I’ll be happy. All of this comes with loving my kids to bits, and making sure they know how much I love spending time with them.

EdD program

As I shared previously, I started an EdD program in May (read more here). I just finished up my second summer course, and I start fall semester in a couple weeks. I know it is going to take a lot of intentionality to balance the demands of work and being in school. Luckily, I have other friends in masters and doctoral programs, so I’ll have some weekend coffee shop study buddies.

I’m excited for this new adventure. I plan to blog about my learning, research, and reflections on the program on my Mari’s EdD Journey blog.

Ultimately, I want to have fun, relax, and do great work! It seems simple, and I know it will take a lot of time and effort. My kids are worth it!