Done Differently Next Year

I believe that for any school teacher, especially the novice ones, what to do differently in the next year is a grand thought. I know by midyear, I knew I wanted to better involve parents, change my handling of unruly students, and improve my communication with administrators. Hindsight, of course, allows me to revisit some rookie errors with a fresh pair of eyes and easily identify what wrong and what better to do next time.

I have indeed been lucky enough to have some truly great and supportive parents, many of whom showed genuine interest in the student, the classroom, and the curriculum. Those parents were always available to help out or could easily be reached for a conference. On the other hand, as much as I appreciated the parents who made sure to be visible, I was and am still bothered by those who ignored parent conference requests. Being sent notes that read “I work days” came across as a double-edged sword. Yes, here is a parent who is employed, wanting to take care of his/her family’s financial well-being. But I also figured said parent could not take off day during a ten-month school year to come and pick up a report card. There were, too, the parents with whom I have played phone tag all year long. Our only conversations being those where we leave ten-second messages back and forth. Next year, I hope to have every parent participate in at least part of the classroom setting.

Next comes the topic of the students who set to set out to break every rule, not do any assignments, talk incessantly, and swear up and down that the teacher is picking on them. I took an easy way this year. My disruptive players, as I called them, were removed from my class early on in the year. They were placed in the school’s alternative setting, away from activities and interactions with the other students. While this worked, I contend such moves robbed me of employing many of the strategies I had been taught during the summer training. Next year, I want to see if I can better assess what really goes on with the troublemakers.

Given many opportunities to ask questions and state challenges with administrators, I spent too much time saying all was well and the students, while challenging, were nothing that I couldn’t handle. I do not stray too far away from this, but I rather think I need more help in explaining many of the new objectives sixth graders needed to know. Further, there were occasions when I wanted to shout out loud that many of the policies suggested were foolhardy and best left for use in prisons and sanatoriums. In my endeavors next year, I will be calm and courteous, presenting challenges as minor roadblocks that need creative handling.

In sum, I have three things to focus on for next year. I want all my parents to be active and visible, letting me and the students know the parents are willing to participate. I want to improve relations with disruptive students, quickly preventing their rule breaking. Finally, I hope to work with administrators to iron out small problems before they grow larger and thus, more cumbersome.