One week left!

Hi, all. School starts for me next week, so while I hope to blog, it might not happen for a while. You know how it is! Once you get sucked into the vortex of a new school year, you can't get out. I hope to surface by Thanksgiving.

Since I didn't travel, I did a lot of professional stuff this summer, and it was very good. I feel really focused on the coming year. It's year 14. I feel so old!  Older, but wiser hopefully.

Here are the priorities I am thinking about for the fall:

1. Get kids' writing back to them ASAP. The longer I don't provide feedback, the more worthless it is.
2. Try really hard to be a good co-teaching partner. I learned a lot last year and want to do what I can to really have a 50/50 relationship.
3. Start using Google Classroom. Our kids are getting Chrome books, so I'm hoping to streamline what I do.
4. Do work at school. Lugging bags of papers back and forth from home is silly because I'm too tired to do it when I get home anyway.
5. Make concepts more concrete. Though English is skill-based, get more specific so students have something to guide them more than vague suggestions.
6. Conference more. I'm planning on scheduling after school writing conferences. Once students try it, they will love the individualized attention.
7. Raise my AP scores. I'm not crazy about scores, but I KNOW I can do better this coming year.
8. Make students more aware of their Lexile levels and how to improve them. Help them find books they like and can actually read.
9. Do a better job with parent contacts for both good and bad reasons.
10. Step it up with formative assessments. Make students more accountable for processing what they are learning.

I know 10 are too many, but I hope to make some progress on all of them!

Before I forget, EdCamp Malden is October 17. It's just a morning: 8 am until 1230 pm. It will be a great day, especially if you work with ELLs. If you've never been to an EdCamp before and you live nearby, this is a very manageable one to try. The raffle prizes are remarkable; companies and authors have been very generous.  Get a ticket! http://edcampmalden.wikispaces.com/

Have a great school year, everybody! As always, contact me with comments, questions, and suggestions! My personal email is abbeydick1@gmail.com.