Teacher Resolutions: Revive and Revise

By now, many of us are reevaluating resolutions we set in January or, more likely, abandoning them altogether. What about those personal affirmations that we educators also set for our students regarding student achievement or SEL? 

For several years, I was determined to foster a love of poetry in my pupils. I would start by teaching different forms of poetry and requiring students to replicate those forms. I then created a portion of the bulletin board titled “Writer of the Week” to spotlight students’ poems. However, by the middle of the first quarter, other content goals, curriculum changes, and reteaching became more of a priority. After a few years of this, I relinquished my goal. In retrospect, I wish I had found a way to revive and revise my goal. Instead of a different poem each week, I could have instituted a poem of the month lesson which would have been completely doable! 

Reflect on your academic and career goals from the beginning of the year or those you have abandoned since January 2025. Consider ways to revive and revise them. 

Examples of Goal Revisions:

Goal: Come in an hour early on Mondays. 

• Revision: Prepare materials or load Google Classroom content on Fridays.

Goal: Contact parents every week. 

• Revision: Email a classroom newsletter to parents every other week. 

Goal: Use SEL strategies and lessons.

• Revision: During brain breaks, incorporate SEL mini-lessons.

I would love to hear about your success, so comment and share!

Ms. Witt