Looking Forward to Next Year

Reflecting back on my first year at Arapahoe, I can think of a number of things that worked well for me this year and a countless number of things I want to improve upon next year. Now that our first year at Arapahoe is coming to a close and we have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the school, the students, and the overall expectation for teachers, what are some of the changes you want to make next year? Is there something you tried this year that worked well and you will continue to do next year? Is there anything you experimented with at Arapahoe that didn’t work and you won’t try again next year? What do you look forward to most about having a “fresh” start next year as a “veteran” teacher?

CSAP and YOU

In the spirit of CSAP week, I was wondering about how much lesson planning is geared towards CSAP. During the course of this year, my lower level algebra course was very much influenced by the CSAP tests. I focused on CSAP vocabulary, problem solving, and answering in complete sentences. Does the CSAP test influence your lesson plans? If so, how? What about subject areas that are not covered in the CSAP test (World Language, Counseling, etc.)? How do you address the CSAP test?

The Image You Portray

My mind has been thinking hard about what to post on here and today I had an incident that sparked this blog. Image. What does image mean here at Arapahoe? Is it what you wear or is it more than that? On a personal level, what kind of image do you think you are potraying towards your students or towards your colleagues? What kind of image do you want to model for your students and how do you know if you are accomplishing that? And when the image is distorted on both ends, how can you change it (ends referring to you and your students).