Do your work well

All of us have work to do--that work varies greatly from person to person, but we all share the common experience of having an agenda to follow and efforts to complete.

It's easy to procrastinate when it comes to our work, but when we clearly establish the goals for our work, and use our time well, we achieve in ways that bring us great satisfaction and good impact.

I am mindful of this as I embark on a week of deep science study as one way to elevate my ability to teach my young fifth graders next year. I know that if I understand the science I'm tasked to teach well, I will do a better job helping my students to learn, think, and work as successful scientists. I know that to understand science well and be able to successfully employ science practices gives students an advantage in the high tech world we live in, a world that's continually evolving and a world that looks to science in many ways to solve problems, innovate, and make better.

With the world of knowledge related to learning and education changing rapidly, there's much to learn this summer in order to be ready to teach well next year. Other areas I'll work on in the days ahead include the following:

• Reading about and creating learning experiences related to teamwork--I want my students to be effective team members and utilize teamwork to solve problems, learn from one another, and support one another.
• Reviewing the math curriculum and updating the related website.
• Studying new brain-friendly mathways, and creating a number of rich tasks that promote rich math study and learning.
• Studying Graspable, a new math software that will help students deepen their use and understanding of numerical expression.
• Building a unit related to what mathematicians do and who the famous mathematicians are.
• Planning an inspiring year of expert visitors and field studies with colleagues.
• Analyzing standardized test data to cull information about areas where all students did well with regard to the standards and areas where we can teach differently so that all children succeed.
• Making myself personally ready for a busy year of invested teaching and learning.
• Reading a good book about teacher leadership to hone my skills in that area.

There's lots to learn in the  months ahead and a good use of time and energy will lead me in that direction. There's also some fun to be had during these summer months and that's important too. Time, like money, provides a great advantage if used well and directed in worthy ways.