End of the Year Reflect and Refresh: Part 1

So, if you follow my blog, you know that I am an elementary teacher JUST turned middle school teacher this year.  I absolutely LOVED the transition!  It was so much more than I every thought it would be, and I LOVED everything about it!

That being said, now that I have one year under my belt it's a great time to link up with Mrs. D's Corner for a chance to Reflect and Refresh! :)

Communication:

I had a really hard time this year trying to figure out what level of communication I needed to have with parents.  When you're in elementary (as many of you know) you communicate EVERYTHING.  However, once students get to middle school I noticed that there is a lot less parent communication because there is a level of responsibility that now comes from the students regarding being responsible for things.  However, I think that this next school year I want to make my website more up to date of the things that we are doing in our classroom.  I want to include things such as what objectives we are covering, and big projects we are currently working on.  This is where some text message system might also come into play as well. :)

Organization:

I want to simplify my behavior plan a little more this year.  I loved how my teammate and I did our behavior system this year (which again was a challenge after being an elementary teacher for so long), but there are some things that I want to change. 

This year I also want to have my students have a very detailed syllabus for my math and science class with ALL of my expectations and procedures included.  That way it keeps us ALL on the same page.

I also want to revamp a lot of my procedures.  I wasn't exactly sure about WHAT procedures I would need this year.  However now that I know, I will be able to run my classroom a LOT more efficiently next year. 

Content:

I was VERY happy with my math instruction this year, however there are a lot of things that I want to revamp with my science instruction.  

This year I did create some very fun things for our interactive notebooks, but I want to make sure I do a lot more writing and reflecting as well.  I also want to spend more TIME on the content.  Things like real life research, webquests, etc.

My Big Summer Project:

Well, in all honesty family always comes first.  I will not be spending countless hours creating.  However, when I DO have time, I want to create some great science resources! :)

So, now it's time for some relaxation and recharging before the 2015-16 school year! :)