New School Year Resolutions Linky:)

I know many of you have already started school, but for us New Yorkers, students don't start until after Labor Day.  Since I discovered the blogging world at the end of June, I have spent almost every night stalking blogs, starting up my own, pinning, printing, buying goodies, and reading Daily 5, CAFE, and The Book Whisperer.  I have such high expectations for this school year and am linking up with Amanda at Teaching Maddeness for her New School Year Resolutions Linky!

1.  Be Present  I need to improve on being present in the moment!  My days at school are filled with a never ending and ever expanding to-do list and I often find myself thinking of what is next on the to-do list instead of truly attending to what is right in front of me.  Fourth graders LOVE attention and telling their teachers stories.  I need to better manage the time available for students to tell me a great story and then give them my full attention instead of rushing them.  One idea I have is to offer more lunch dates with my students for that individual time with the kiddos:)

2.  Work Smarter, Not Harder  I am optimistic that my implementation of D5 will help me achieve this.  I usually spend so much time grading my student's reading and writing work, making comments, passing back, going over the comments (that don't really apply to everyone anyway), and the students still don't always listen.  I have printed the CAFE reading and writing conference forms and cannot wait to implement individualized conferences as the D5 gets up and running.  In a couple minutes with a student I hope to be able to check their writing and give them instant feedback tailored to them!  This will alleviate me having to lug all the journals home, write out comments, pass them back, and hope the students read the comments and understand what I meant!  I am very nervous about how I will have time to fit this all in my ELA block, but am anxious to try it!

3.  Don't Rush in the Morning  It is quite a challenge in the morning getting myself and my two kiddos (ages 2 and 5) ready.  It seems like we are always rushing and there is nothing fast about getting two young kids out the door.  This is when my fuse is short and when you factor in the over 200" of snowfall each year, it is stressful (very rarely are there snow days...last year we had zero)!  In addition, my daughter will be starting Kindergarten this year (breathe!) and I will have to take my kids to two different drop offs before making my way to my school.  So...my plan is to make sure I leave even more time to get ready and leave room for those unexpected days when things take longer than normal!

Well, writing it all out really does make me feel better:)

Tomorrow, I will be leaving to go to the woods for a week with my family where there is no internet or phone service!  We always go on vacation this time of year and when I come back I will have one more week to get ready for school.  I am looking forward to hiking, canoeing, relaxing, and spending time with my family.  

I have been working on some NO SEW curtains for my room that only require fabric, hot glue, scissors, and a tape measure.  Stay tuned for this post and pictures when I return from vacay!!!!