I made some goals for this school year, and I am posting them here in order to keep myself accountable! If you want to know more about my positive work vibes, check out my goals below.

1. Be early to work every day.

Honestly, I am legit embarrassed by this, but I’m going to admit to it anyway: last year, I was at least 5 minutes late every day. I am not a morning person and really struggle to get up early. However, I also get really stressed when I am rushing around before first period to get last minute things done. This year, I’m going to try to get to work 10 minutes early each day. This extra 10 minutes really alleviates my stress, and it’s a little thing I can do to make my life easier.

2. Put effort into my appearance every day.

This sounds really stupid because I don’t really believe in defining yourself by societal standards about beauty. However, I feel so much more confident and put-together when I put on a little lipstick. In the past, I’ve put on make-up if I was feeling particularly motivated. Now, I’m trying to put at least a dash of make-up on just because it makes me feel like a bad ass boss. I’m picking out my clothes the night before, so I don’t have to try on eight outfits and “settle” for something I don’t really want to wear. During the first three days of school, I’ve felt so much better than I have in previous years. Plus, who doesn’t love compliments about your appearance?

3. Contact parents when students do something good.

Two years ago, this was my goal, and I succeeding in building stronger relationships with both students and parents. In fact, a particular parent I contacted still claims that I deeply impacted her son’s life–just by sending her a four sentence postcard about her son’s writing skills. In order to make sure I actually stick to this goal, I used it as one of my Professional Development Goals since Sanderson, as a whole, is working toward establishing better relationships with parents/guardians this year.

4. Get my students out of their desks more.

I feel like this is one of those things I do but could be doing more. 90 minutes is a long time to sit and pay attention. I want to incorporate more activities that get students moving around the room. If you’ve got easy-to-use active strategies, send them my way!

5. Be more positive.

Over the summer, someone send the Positive Teacher Pledge to me. While I generally feel like I am a pretty positive person, I don’t feel like I really reflected that last year. Sometimes, it’s so easy to get caught up in the pessimism and to be annoyed by little things your students do and to feel like things will never change. This year, positive is my word. I will encourage my students. I will welcome them with joy. I will answer their questions with patience. I will spread my positive vibes to other educators. I will remember to enjoy the magic of teaching. I will smile at my students even when I’m not “feeling it”.

–Mrs. Doss “the Boss”