Mission Possible

As we begin another school year we owe ourselves the time for self-reflection.

I always ask my students to write about their dreams, fears, hopes, and goals for the year; so this year I’m going to ask myself some essential and reinvigorating questions. Let’s start big. A mission statement is a statement of purpose, a simple way to describe why we do what we do. It should separate out what is important from what is not and help us focus energy on the big stuff. It should be brief: a sentence or two.

Try to distill the reason you teach into a very brief mission statement:

Essential Questions

·      Why are you a teacher?

·      What is the best thing about teaching?

·      What are you nervous about this year?

·      What are you really good at doing as a teacher?

·      What is one thing you could do to be a better teacher?

·      Who was your best student last year, and what quality makes them best?

·      What is your favorite subject/unit/lesson/topic to teach?

·      What advice would you give a first year teacher?

·      What is one specific goal you have this year and how will you achieve it?