After reading Tyler Rice’s “My Educator’s Oath,” I wanted to create my own. Here are my goals for myself this year!
1. I will treat each student as an individual, unique in her strengths and in her needs. I will avoid making assumptions about her and use my best skills to investigate and understand her.
2. I will seek to encourage all of my students to ask questions and to investigate, to present their ideas and to defend them.
3. I will remember that learning is hard work. I will work on pacing my classes so that there are times of intensity and times of play.
4. I will present new ideas and skills in many different ways so that students have an opportunity to learn them through diverse methods. I will surprise and engage them.
5. I will not assume that something is “easy” until I am sure that every student understands it.
6. I will make sure that there is a purpose to every assignment and every task that I give. I will avoid giving work simply to have something to be done for homework.
7. I will not teach a lesson simply because that is how I did it before. I will evaluate and critique before class, looking for the ways to make each one better.
8. I will identify what the learning is that I want the students to do and will explain it clearly to them before they begin.
9. I will grade assignments as quickly as possible, getting them back in time for the students to learn from their successes and their mistakes.
10. I will share my own love of learning, being open about the challenges and the joys involved in it.
11. I will laugh at my mistakes and never try to hide them from my students. I will apologize when necessary and model a willingness to learn from them and move on.
12. I will not allow myself to become stagnant or complacent. I will spend time each week connecting with other educators, seeking to learn and grow in my own practice.
And a new year starts!
Middle School Matrix 
Thank you for sharing! I really enjoyed your “12 Goals.” I especially liked 2, 6, 10, 11, and 12! Well done and I hope you have a spectacular year and your students learn like crazy!
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I would love to see your list when you finish it. Thanks for the comment!
I am an elementary education student at the University of South Alabama taking a microcomuting course that is geared towards teaching us how to integrate technology in our classes. Dr. Strange is the professor and runs a class blog called EDM 310 at http://www.edm310.blogspot.com. Your blog was the first blog I have ever read and I must say you deeply inspired me. If you can just do one of these goals you have gone beyond what most of the teachers I have had in my life. I like that you included things like not becoming stagnant and laughing at your mistakes. I have observed so many teachers who seemed to have died inside. They transmit to their students this unenthusiastic attitude towards learning. When I get to be a teacher I will keep this list somewhere near by for me to read to be reminded of what a great teacher strives to do. I look forward to learning great things from you about being a teacher from your blog. On my blog I will post summations of your blogs that I read and comments for my my class and others in order to continue the sharing starting 10/10.
First, let me start by saying thank you for posting your “12 goals” for this year. I have read over them several times and I just keep thinking how awesome it would have been to have you as a teacher. I have had a couple of teachers who would have never admitted that they were wrong, which I think is unrealistic. As human beings, we all make mistakes it is a part of life. For you to teach these children that mistakes are okay as long as you learn from them, is also teaching them a life skill. You goals are attainable, yet they have such a special quality about them.
My favorite three goals are numbers two, four, and nine. I think it is very important that students ask questions and maybe even question how we as educators know what we know. It keeps their minds thinking creatively and keeps us as teachers on our toes. Allowing many different ways of teaching in your classroom is also very important, because not all students learn the same way and I like the fact that you acknowledge that. And last, but certainly not the least, you are going to grade all assignments and be sure that the students can see their mistakes. This gives the students a chance to see what they did wrong and why. It also gives them time to ask questions if they have any. With goals like these, you are sure to have a wonderful year.
Wow, your 12 goals were very inspiring! I hope to do the same! It is great to read blogs from an experienced educator! I hope that I can incorporate some goals of my own to become a better learner so that in turn I can become a better teacher. Thank you for sharing!