Something new

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In spite of the fact that I am starting my 9th year of teaching, I have never had to create lesson plans. Weird, I know. This year I also have 4 preps - yikes!!! And, I've been teaching chemistry for all of the 9 years and yet every year I have to figure out how to start, where to go, what to do, etc. So my school is having us create curriculum maps and unit plans and eventually lesson plans. I have jumped the gun and got all my curriculum maps done and my unit plans are pretty well in place. All I need is to get the lesson plans done. So that has been my focus, along with getting school started. I'm using an online planbook - planbookplus - and I'm working on getting things put in there. I figure if I can sit on the weekends when I usually do nothing and get the previous week updated and sketch out the coming week, not only will I be ahead of things when the week starts, but I will be building a base for coming years. In some ways, I feel like I'm starting over, but I know in the long run this will pay off big time for me. I'm working on being highly organized and developing routines. I go in on Fridays to get caught up on my grading. If I do this every week, I will stay on top of things. I'm keeping notes of behavior during class so that I remember things that happen and know if I need to send notes home, etc. I feel like I've got a good handle on things and I'm liking the way things are going. I still have things I want to do, but I'm getting there. I'm trying hard not to put immense pressure on myself and to just work on things I can control. Feeling good about this year.

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