There is no doubt that 2012 was a great year. I have been hearing a lot of stories from many of the I’m a New Teacher readers about how they have settled in to their new roles, completed their teaching accreditation and how they have been trying new and innovative approaches to teaching. 2012 was a great year, full of exciting teaching testimonies and challenges that were over come.
Thank you to all of the readers who have supported the work that I’m a New Teacher did last year, I’m looking forward to hearing more from you in 2013.
Most of you will now be enjoying a well-deserved break; with family and friends and returning o school will probably be pretty far from your mind.
I’m a huge advocate for rest, but before you start the next term it is can be beneficial to take some time to think about what you want to achieve in 2013. Many of us make New Year’s resolutions for our health and well being; maybe to run more, eat less, to start of new project of to stop doing some thing that you know you shouldn’t be doing. These are great goals, but taking time to think about your professional goals can make an even bigger difference to the kind of year that you have..
I have written before about the principle of Beginning with the End in Mind – a term coined by Stephen Covey. Here are two things to remember when planning for the year ahead:
1.Work backwards from the year – decide what you want to achieve, and work out what you need to do each week and month to see this happen. If you want to complete you teaching accreditation, you can start think about your evidence today, and reflecting on your teaching.
2. Think carefully about where you want to go. In her journey through Wonderland, Alice and the Cheshire Cat once a had the following conversation:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
Where do you want to be at the end of 2013? What do you want to achieve?