Uniformity

As a teacher, I have always been supportive of school uniforms. The thought of not having to worry about what my students are wearing seems to be a little bit of heaven to me. It has nothing to do with wanting kids to look the same. It has everything to do with not having to tell a fourteen year old to wear a shirt that doesn't show EVERYTHING.
Now I am a parent of a kindergartener who goes to a school that requires uniforms. When I found out about the policy, I was thrilled. We wouldn't have to worry about what to wear every day. As far as I was concerned, it was the ideal situation all around.
Flash forward a quarter into the school year.
My delight at school uniforms has quickly waned. I miss picking what to wear every morning with my daughter. I miss being able to listen to her opinion on what is fashionable. In fact, I am starting to feel resentful about this loss of experience with her. As a parent, I should be able to choose what my child wears.
The principal of her school said at the beginning of the school year that she is planning on having a poll to see what the community wants to do with the policy. If someone would have told me that I would vote no on uniforms, I would have told them they were crazy. Isn't it amazing what a change in perspective does to a person?
--created using the blogger app for droid--

My Last Weekend of Summer Vacation

This is the last weekend I have as a mom and a wife only. Come Tuesday, my classroom will be filled with the chatter of brand new freshmen and a few repeat students. It is a bittersweet weekend. I love spending time with my family, but I cannot wait to embrace this new group of kiddos and become a part of their support structure.

The great thing is that I have had quite a few of these students before as seventh graders. When I check my rosters, there are little pictures of them. There are so many of their little faces that I recognize and it fills my heart with happiness. I can't wait to reacquaint myselves with them and to get to know the others whose faces are unfamiliar.

My summer has been filled with so much professional development. ISTE, Anita Archer, Teach like a Champion, posts from my PLN on Twitter and Google+. Honestly, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all of the new ways that I have to reach my students. I decided that this is the perfect time to reflect on what I've learned and set goals for myself.

I am going to keep my goals SMART this year. If I do so, I will be able to develop a good plan to achieve them. So, here goes:

1. I will keep my word wall up to date by posting my words in the morning on the day I teach them.
2. I will give my students more choices about how to learn their objectives. There is more than one way to get to mastery.
3. I will create authentic audiences for my students, even if it takes more time to find them.
4. I will faithfully preassess before every unit. I do this for many of my big units, but I sometimes just wing it on others. 

These are my goals for this year.  I will revisit these and see how I'm doing.

What about you? Do you have any goals that you want to focus on for this upcoming school year?