Giving new meaning to "transitional year"
Well, I had disabled the blog last year because I ran out of time to update it, but I'm back and I'm trying again.

As I prepare for "la rentrée" (the first day of school), I find myself faced with a list of questions:

Do I want to revise my grading structure to better reflect what the students do in class? (yes...that was easy. Oh, wait...how do I revise the grading structure? No easy answer to that one!)

Do I want to rework my homework packet system so students and parents get more frequent information? (yes...and, this was much easier. Students will now turn in homework packets weekly so that they always know when the packet is due.)

How do I send solar-powered lights to our partner school in Burkina Faso? I have money (but not enough); I have a field trip planned to learn about solar lighting, but there is so much more to be done, especially with the intracies of sending large amounts of valuable equipment to a foreign country.

How do I ensure the ACE program for college credit will be successful for my students? Better yet, how do I ensure I am offering college-level content to those classes in a way that is engaging, meaningful, and effective?

How can I better incorporate regular reading? Maybe a return to Silent Sustained Reading? A Spanish teacher in Elk Grove tried that with fairly good success. Maybe Thursdays could be at least partially dedicated to reading.

What can I do to improve my use of the journals I started last year? Perhaps it would be valuable to tie them into the weekly reading...there's a thought!

How can I enhance the effectiveness of the interactive white board installed in my room? I wanted the interactive whiteboard for its...interactive...capabilities. I never wanted a glorified white board that the students don't use. The learning curve has been steep, but hopefully, I now have a better idea of how to create student-response activities using the board's software and hand-held response units. We'll find out on day 1 since I'll be using the hand units to survey my incoming French 1 students.

Each year of high school is a "transition" year of sorts for the students...changing grade levels, changing teachers, changing levels of responsibility, preparing for college and other post-high school endeavors. For the first time in a long time, I feel like my students. I'm approaching the year with a clean slate and a lot of questions that don't have easy answers. Fortunately, all transitions are an opportunity to change for the better, which makes this year a very exciting time!