End of the semester

I can't believe it is the end of the semester already. As a high school teacher, I have some classes that end now and some that this is the halfway point. No matter what, I always make sure to do a survey for my students so I can reflect better on the year. The students love it because they feel they have a voice and that it is really their class. It is important for me so I can see what is working and what isn't. This year has been a change in my homework assigning. I am definitely doing less of this, and giving more freedom on the assignments, so I was excited to see what the students thought about this new policy.
The results were overwhelmingly positive, but there were still some that said the weekly assignment is still too much. There were a few that wanted the "traditional" worksheets for their assignments too. It proved to me that I am going in the right direction, but have not arrived at the destination. But isn't that the point? That as a teacher we never really arrive at a destination but always are on the journey to make our classes better? Isn't that why we do professional development, and twitter chats, and read the books and most importantly reflect on our year? So we can keep journeying on.

 

 

I have realized that less homework has been a good thing, and I am going to even reduce the amount for next semester. I realize that I need to keep impressing on my students the importance of creativity and hard work. I am goin gto work on bringing more creative assessments to my class, and as always keep the balance of what is done. Have a wonderful break everyone and best of luck in the new semeseter.