Starting Your Second Semester Off Right: 365 New Days!

Starting Your Second Semester Off Right: 365 New Days!

As a classroom teacher, returning from holiday break was always bittersweet.  On one hand, I knew the pressure for “test prep” would be more intense, but on the other hand, the satisfaction of witnessing my students grow into wiser beings put a validating smile on my face. 

I imagine my students felt similar…a little anxious about getting refocused on learning and the routines of school-life, but excited to be around their friends and completing another school year. 

The New Year seems to offer people a clean slate or a fresh start from which to begin another 365 days of the Earth’s rotation around the Sun.  Celebrations with family and friends, eating delicious food, watching the “ball” drop with flashy fireworks, and reevaluating the past or creating resolutions for the next 365 days is how most Americans bring in the New Year.  Why not create a New Year’s Celebration in your classroom?  It’s an ideal time to celebrate your students’ academic growth and invite them to reexamine their goals.  (Food, fireworks, family, and a shiny ball are all optional.)  Here are two ways you can bring in the New Year with positivity and possibility.

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Resolutions vs. Goals: Let's discuss!

Resolutions vs. Goals: Let's discuss!

During the first few days of January, many people across the globe participate in the age-old tradition of writing a New Year’s Resolution. The custom of making a promise to do something differently to improve one’s life (mind, body, & soul) in the coming year has been going on since ancient times.

Writing a New Year’s Resolution is not the same thing as coming up with a goal for the New Year. Goals require

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New Year Check-In: Let's evaluate our progress!

New Year Check-In: Let's evaluate our progress!

As a classroom teacher, returning from holiday break was always bittersweet. On one hand, I knew the pressure for “test prep” would be more intense, but on the other hand, the satisfaction of witnessing my students grow into wiser beings put a validating smile on my face.

It was a common practice of mine to re-assign the Shurley English Pretest the day my students returned to class from their holiday break. The Teacher’s Manual did not tell me to do this; I simply felt it was an important way to

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