Reflection on 2016 OLW

I wrote about my 2016 OLW, transparency, HERE when I picked it and  HERE at the midpoint of the year.

With just 11 days before picking my 2017 OLW, I feel I should reflect.

To me, TRANSPARENCY meant being clear and open and tolerant. With my students. With my parent community. With my family and friends. I also thought of my OLW and my house which I just moved into as 2016 began. The house fills with sunlight due to the windows and open floor plan and I also saw keeping my new house clean relate to my word.

I am proud of how I communicate in a predicable way with my parent community. I notice that much of learning in school is invisible. So I tell the kids to “show me your thinking”. Parents weren’t seeing lots of worksheets going on because at times, we do more hands-on. To remedy this, I started a parent letter routine. On Friday’s I have each student fill in a form letter to their parents. It does home in their take home folder and each student has to add details about the highlights of the week. This routine of open communication is working to make our learning more open and clear. Along with this, I send a Friday afternoon or Saturday morning email to the parents, too. I briefly tell them my favorite part of the week and highlight events coming up. They like my openness. They like that this comes electronically to their email and can easily reply to me with any questions. Through open communications, I am proud of my transparency as a teacher.

In terms of being tolerant, I am trying. I have a challenging group of students. I work on my patience. I work on planning lessons to meet all the needs in my room. I work to delivery clear instructions. Sometimes, it works. Other times I struggle. Often I feel overwhelmed. But in the end, my tolerance is serving me well.

As for my house, I can’t believe it has been a year! I was able to clear out all the leaves from our 2-year ignored backyard. I still want to do much more with the yard but that will have to happen in 2017. As for the inside, I clean when people visit. And I think my time might be spent better hiring someone to clean! Maybe something to investigate in 2017! Slowly we are buying furniture and unpacking stuff to make it feel more homey. The best part is that everyday, I enjoy the clear view to the outdoors. My favorite is the beginning and ending of the day when the sky is so many beautiful colors. I see this so easily from the inside of my house.

2016 – TRANPARENCY – a word that served me well!

2017 – I think habit or routine will be my word. I have 11 days to finalize it!