Twas the Night Before School Started

I wanted to be all creative and write a poem, but I've decided if that was my goal I should have started a couple of weeks ago.

Students will enter my classroom tomorrow morning. And after wondering two weeks ago if my very hectic, very fast summer had been "enough," I am confident I am ready.

I have always loved the start of the school year. It is so full of promise and possibility. Oh, I know there will be frustrations and difficult days, but at the beginning of the year the hope of what CAN be shines brightly.

This year will have lots of new. I'm rearranging the order of topics in both Algebra and Pre-Algebra to hopefully be more efficient and give more time to what's most important. I working with a new colleague (a brand-new teacher who has brought back so many memories of my first year).  I am moving closer to a digital classroom. I am moving farther away from a textbook and closer to the type of classroom I want to have: one of inquiry, discovery, discussion, collaboration, and application. I plan to flip lessons for my Pre-Algebra kids (and continue to flip my Algebra classes, of course!).

I have started something "new" and "big" each year for the last several school years. Last year I told my friend that I would like one year where I didn't feel like I was starting over, where I could take what I did the year before and just repeat it.

As I've reflected on that statement this summer - while reading and planning for this year's "new" - I'm not sure I meant it.

I thrive on new. I want to be a better teacher. I want to improve what I do in the classroom and what and how my students learn. I want my students to have a positive, beneficial experience with math. I want each school year to be better than the previous one.

So, as I stand at the threshold of a new school year with ideas in my head and plans on paper and drive in my heart, I am ready to get started!

I can't wait to meet my new students in the morning and begin our journey through 8th grade math in Room 12 of Arab Junior High School!