Sometimes the tasks on your list outnumber the minutes in a day. That's when you have to take the long view as you rearrange your schedule, desires, and needs.
This is one of those times when that task list is top heavy with regard to minutes in the day. I can see so much more than I can do right now and that's a call for breaking down that to do list into manageable pieces with a focus on what's most important.
Professionally what's most important right now is next week's family-student-teacher conferences. This special time to meet with family members and students is a critical component to students' happy and successful experiences in school. At the conferences, students present who they are with a happiness survey, past-present-future timeline, a writing piece, SEL/academic goals, and images and examples of signature learning events. Teachers present a number of stats related to students' learning as well as observations, inquiry, and goal while parents typically provide background information, ask questions, and share ideas for the year ahead.
This rich exchange sets a strong foundation for the months of learning ahead. The students' showcase portfolios serve as a conversation piece while observations and student stats provide a snapshot of a child's overall academic strengths, challenges, and direction forward. This important aspect of the teaching/learning year takes precedence this weekend as I look for time to clean up the classroom, organize the paperwork, and make time and attention for this week-long event.
The second primary professional focus next week includes the student teacher takeover week and our collective focus on the coordinate grid unit. I'll support the student teacher as she navigates a full week of teaching 22 fifth graders. She's done a tremendous job putting together her plans, preparing the materials, and readying her knowledge for teaching all subjects throughout the week. She and I will teach the coordinate grid unit to all fifth graders so we'll have the chance to share how the plans are working and to work together to make needed revision, refinement, and enrichment where needed. This kind of collegiality will benefit both of us and the students too.
And finally the third priority will be an intense half-day focus on the physical science unit. Since the student teacher is taking over, administrators have given me a half day to dig into updating the physical science unit to better meet the new systemwide goals of deepening our science teaching and practice. I look forward to this intense investigation and know it will result in richer teaching of this unit.
There's a number of significant family events ahead, and that's another reason why I want to use the next two weekends, in part, to focus on these professional learning events and more. As educators we are always creatively using time to do our work well and live our lives well too. It's a balancing act that requires the long view. Onward.
