What's Your New Year's Resolution?

This week in Flyertimes, we talked with students about goal-setting, but how much time have you spent reflecting on your own goals for 2014?  In the Sparks' household, it's the year of lean:  lean bodies and a lean budget (cross your fingers, and if you notice that I'm crabby, it's because I'm hungry and I haven't gone shopping ;)).

Here's a great (and short!) clip that reminds you how to make sustainable change, in as short as 30 days!

So, what are you doing for yourself in 2014?

In addition to your personal goals, what are your professional goals?  It's my goal this year to read more professional literature, that stack of magazines that I've piled on my nightstand.  If you haven't thought about a professional goal, here are some great ideas....

Develop an interdisciplinary lesson each quarter.

Math and Social Studies have collaborated on the Oregon trail, allowing students to develop their math skills as they purchase supplies for their wagon train.

Weekly, teach an authentic lesson.

Here, students in the class are seated within their "wagon" groups for their trip to along the Oregon Trail.  Through this unit, students learn about Westward Expansion by becoming pioneers.

Working on units of measurement and fractions, students determine the cost of grocery items by the unit instead of package and determine how much to save per month for a trip to Disney.

Add an inquiry-based activity to each unit.

Students discover rocks and minerals by exploring samples, identifying and charting their properties, and making an hypothesis about each item. 

Integrate technology daily.

Students demonstrate their comprehension by taking a one-question online quiz; this helps students process their reading, provides depth for further discussion, and identifies core learning objectives to students.

Or, take any combination of these goals.  The point is that you continue to expand your instructional repetoire with enriching and relevant learning opportunities for students.  

Here's to you in 2014!