My Journey as a Classroom Champion Teacher

My Journey as a +Classroom Champion Teacher

     This year has been moving forward quite quickly, and now that I am not teaching Phys Ed, I am looking at embedding each of the +Classroom Champions lessons into the core curriculums of English 8 and Math 8.  At first I thought this would be a breeze, afterall, teachers try to embed cross curricular competencies in their lessons, all the time. However, then I began to actually think about this deeper and I thought, uh oh, how can I embed Friendship, Fair Play, Healthy Living or Leadership into Math and ELA.  Well, I guess that is why I am a teacher; I need to figure how to do this so that I do not relate such topics to Phys Ed or Health.  

     To better understand this, I need to share some background information.  I am currently teaching our grade 8 students.  This will be their third year in this mentorship program.  Needless to say, the biggest concern the students have is how am I going to make this different than the other two yearss???  Well, one answer is simple, we have 2 charismatic mentors this year, not just one....that is like a #BOGO at the local shoe store during "Back to School" days.  @TristanLuge and @justinsnith bring a whole set of awesomeness, that our students have not had the opportunity to be part of.  However, I do need to make sure I follow the curriculum so I do not lose class time on topics that I do not have to necessarily teach.

     This is where the light bulb came on, as if the circuit had been temporarily cut off during a huge thunder storm.  I now realize, the challenge was not actually tying it into class, because we know that many students will agree that a break from the everyday of the 3 R's, is always a welcome.  But to tie something exciting into something that is unrelated and B-O-R-I-N-G for some students, was what I needed to do.  Let me share a secret with you about this new enlightenment.  Some of you may not realize it, but, guess what.  That is what teachers do everyday.  We take the mundane and turn it into magic.  Not only is i magic, it is meaningful and relevent to students lives today, tomorrow and in the future.  These young #padawans may not know it yet, but when they are adults and thinking back to their youth, they realize that it all makes sense.  It clicks; just like when the lightbulb turned on for me.

     Each year, many professionals take time to set professional goals that will help them to become a better employee and an all-around better person.  My own professional goal for this school year will be that I take the time to go through the topics for each month in Classroom Champions, relate it to  to those boring, "non-Phys.Ed"curricular outcomes, and still tie it in so it is engaging and meaningful for the students.  Not only am I going to do this, I am also going to do this while managing my personal life, my duties as an educator in a public school, herding my football players to where they need to be, and keeping my sanity.  That is right folks, I am going to do my job as a classroom teacher.

     To assist me along the way, I am going to begin looking at my time management skills, organizing my course materials effectively, share as much of my material online so others can take what they would like and tweak what they need to, stay on top of educational apps and programs that truly connect with other useful apps, so that I am not redoing steps in multiple ways and become a certified  trainer in computer programs and apps that help me to provide an environment to nurture a #StudentLearningCommunity.  My first short-term goal is to address my time management skills.  I already know they are not where they should be; after all, I spent a half hour this morning, looking at ink wells on #Ebay, #Amazon and other stores where you purchase fountain pen paraphernalia...slightly ironic for a person who uses digital technology where ever she goes.

     To outline how I envision this to look, I have created a chart to begin narrowing down the topics that I can connect with.  Throughout the year, I am going to add more information to become more specific on my goal.  I will also use this as a working Professional Development Plan to record the answers to the three most important questions I can ask when reflecting on my growth:

1. What did I do that went well?
2. What did I do that really did not go well?
3. What am I going to change to make this even better?