Teacher characteristics and goals

Teaching characteristic I would like to develop/strengthen:

1) Collaborating with peers and other middle school professionals

what: ensuring I am current in professional development, curriculum, best practices, and technology.

why: This will help my professional growth and make me a more efficient educator.

how: I can attend meetings, conferences, team-meetings, and social events to ensure I am current on the aforementioned topics. I need to make sure I am collecting materials/taking notes/establishing relationships that will encourage and support my professional development. I need to take advantage of resources available--courses, books, magazines, websites--that will help me grow and increase my knowledge base.

2) Communicating with parents

what: Keeping parents abreast of academic growth/support, participation, and behavior.

why: It is important that parents/guardians are involved in their student's school life. They need to know how they are meeting criteria, milestones, and developing their strengths as well as how any weaknesses need to be addressed. They need to know what kind of activities their children are involved in, not only to know that their students are safe, but how they can be participate in school events. Parents/guardians also need to know how their child is behaving in school--ensuring positive behavior is praised and encouraged, and any modifications/interventions for negative behaviors.

how: Emailing, calling, weekly updates on class activities on a regular basis. Providing parents with resources they may not know about/have access to. Being available at their availability to discuss progress/issues at hand. Creating a safe environment at school where parents feel welcomed and encouraged to participate in school activities. Having supplementary professional support which they can access and  how to go about finding this support/setting up meetings with necessary staff that will address any issues at the parents'/guardians' availability.

3) Organization

what: create a classroom environment that is both organized for me and my students.

why: To ensure I don't get overwhelmed with any kind of messes in the classroom. Being organized is really important to make sure I am up-to-date on school events, current with grading and homework, and having resources available to students.


how: Firstly, it is critical that I read emails, flyers, and communicate with staff members. This is so I  can identify which items are most important and make sure I am responding to, attending, and staying in touch with peers. I can have a calendar citing these events, set up meetings, and keeping files in my computer and in a filing system in my classroom with notes and any handouts from events and meetings. I also need to weekly stay on top of my grading and homework and have a spreadsheet on my computer/planner to track assessments, work habits of students, and their grades. I need to have a homework system in place for students to turn in assignments--in and out boxes/mailboxes/and folders to show academic progress.
Keeping my desk and classroom is critical. I need to make sure I have binders, folders, bins, and other supplies at the ready for organizing materials. I need to allow some classroom time weekly for students to help me organize books, resources, and materials.