You're my favourite class, too

I've been inspired by the 30 Goals Challenge , which encourages teachers to accomplish small goals in the process of becoming even better teachers. The challenge has been going since 2010, and the goals I'm pursuing are dated from 2012 - hopefully there will be a new set for 2013! The first challenge is to set a Me Manifesto  which outlines what you believe about learning and the ideals you want to have in the classroom. As part of my research into Me Manifestos I came across examples using Muzy ( Their Future blog) , Pixton ( janet's abruzzo edublog ) and Glogster ( Aspiring to Higher Tech ). I've never used any of these programs before so set myself the additional challenge of creating my manifesto using each of these formats. Me Manifesto My four main focuses as a teacher are: 1. The students are the most important in the classroom. My job is to help them to learn. Their families are an integral part of the learning triangle (school, family, student) and t...

Last year I experimented with using Google Docs for student tracking and goal setting. Each student in the class had their own 'progress chart' set up as a shared document between them and myself. It had term by term goal setting, reflections and feedback, and I entered essay, test and exam results so that they could keep track of their progress in the subject. It had great advantages. I didn't have to keep track of 28 pieces of paper for one. Students could access the material at home (ostensibly so they could also show their parents, who had been told about the chart through email), or whenever they happened to be in the computer lab. They could quickly see how their results stacked up (and it was amazing how often they forgot what they had gotten for an essay), and tally credits. On the not so good side, it took a bit of work to keep up to date and so wasn't actually up to date a lot of the time. Students didn't always constructively reflect on their efforts ...