Refresh, Relax and Reflect

by Dr Cathy Coker

Refresh, Relax and Reflect

Good day teachers, it is now June and school is over for me. It was a crazy year. If you needed me to compare it, I’d say I was on a Roller Coaster ride and all I could do was hold on for dear life.

My students are now on vacation. I am wrapping up the year and I have a lot to think about. Starting late in September was a struggle because I did not get to attend all the important curriculum meetings or workshops that help a teacher set their roadmap for the year. I just hit the road running. I learned a lot as the year progressed. I now know how Eureka works and what is expected of me and my students. I did not do so well with Amplify because I had zero knowledge or training on how it was supposed to be implemented. There was so much I needed to learn that all I did was maneuver through this district’s, this schools’, and this grade level’s quirks to do what I had to do as a teacher. It was a challenge. But now I get to relax, refresh, and reflect on how this year went.

This summer as most of you will also do unwillingly is take some time to Reflect. I will take some time to reflect on what I did, what I could have done better, and what I will do differently for my students come August. One of the things I do plan to do is

stay ahead of the game especially when the district is solely working with scripted curriculum.

Programs like Eureka and Amplify work well for novice teachers because they are scripted but for a seasoned teacher like me it is like learning a whole new language. I already know how to teach Math and Reading. That was such a challenge. I did a lot of comparing and figured out what I needed to do to make life easier for me and for my students then I became more comfortable with teaching the scripted curriculum. A real teacher can not teach something she does not understand what the textbooks are saying without understanding the reasoning behind it. That is why we always tell our students what each lesson means, its importance, and how they will be able to apply it. So, grasping the curriculum first as a teacher is important to implementation of the subject effectively.

These subjects I already know by heart. If our ancestors/teachers knew how we are now calling adding and subtracting in 2nd grade they would be turning over in their graves. How times have changed teachers but being the diehard that I am, I will stay in the game one more year. I love challenges. Have a happy and restful summer vacation and never sweat the small stuff. I do suggest that you stay ahead of the game come August