The First Draft

I’m sure I’ll write a few of these, so I’m calling this one #1.

I’m a little over halfway through my first semester as an adviser, and I feel like I’ve got a lot of goals for next year. I’m writing them here because… by the end of the year, I’m going to be over it. I’m going to want to lay on my couch for two months and do nothing.

And to be honest, I’m sure I’ll have earned it. BUT there are things I want to improve and make better. Predominately in my yearbook classes, but newspaper needs some work, too.

Are we surviving? Yes. Are we thriving? Not really. I have some students who are productive on their own and some who aren’t even productive when I’m standing directly in front of them. I think PART of this could maybe be solved by setting up a Staff Manual of some sort, and having them (and their parents) sign it at the beginning of the year.

I also want to improve the general atmosphere of my classroom. When I think of Yearbook and Newspaper, I think of the workshops and conferences, and Mrs. Lee’s room. We always had fun. It was never just another class I had to go to. It was somewhere I wanted to be!

I’m hoping I won’t float as much next year… it’s hard to create a consistent atmosphere when all my classes aren’t in the same classroom. I want to have relevant posters on the walls, and be able to have the same setup for all my classes so I know how it works and what we’re doing all the time.

I want to try community circles in my classes, too, starting at the very beginning. I feel like the students who are having the best time are the ones that I’ve been able to get to know. Ideally I’d get to know all of my students, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that not all of them will talk to me. Whether I try or not. I have a talking stick now, so we’ll just have to get in the habit of using it!

I also want to introduce some different things into my class… I have a lot of students who have trouble sitting still. They want to be up and moving, not sitting in front of a computer. SoI signed up for a program through Breathe for Change, and starting in April I will be working on my 200-Hour Yoga Certification and B4C Social Emotional Learning Facilitator Certification. I’m really hoping we go over chair yoga, because I think that would be GREAT to teach my students, even for other classes.

I haven’t decided if we’ll do other yoga things for my classes… I don’t think it would be bad to do a few after-school yoga sessions when everyone is getting a little stressed. BUT I’m excited to learn more about something that could help my students (and myself) when it comes to mindfulness.

After I add those two certifications onto my list, I want to do my Certified Journalism Educator Certification! There’s upkeep to that one, but part of it could be giving presentations at conferences… that I already want to be at… where I could talk about mindfulness or social emotional learning or how to incorporate yoga into your classes to help your students focus. I feel like the possibilities are endless.

The last thing I kind of want to introduce to them (besides workshops) is the idea of Kaizen. We talked about it at my last job, and someone I was with recently mentioned it and it was kind of a “mind-blown” sort of moment. Why hasn’t I thought of that for my classes? Especially the yearbook and newspaper classes?

Kaizen is Japanese for continuous improvement. I’m always looking for ways to improve, and that’s something I should be trying to instill in my students. Maybe I can add it into our Staff Manual.

Like I said, I may write more of these as I go on… and this may not be the “best” blog post to read for everyone else… but this one is for me. Future me. Who wants to lay on the couch all summer and conveniently forget about all the stuff I need to set out to do in order to build strong programs for my school.

Here’s to hoping future Erin comes back to this post!