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Goal Setting for 2018

As the year ends, I encourage you to reflect on both your personal and professional life. I am not super into "New Years Resolutions" because I know the statistics that say that most people have given up on them before the end of January. That being said, I decided to not set resolutions, but to set goals to meet that will further my career as an educator. I hope that this desire to get better will drive me to complete the tasks that I choose.

I have wanted to become Google Educator Certified for quite some time. This year, I got my Apple Teacher certification for both iPads and Macs and I became a Google Innovative Educator. Both of these courses are free and are a nice introduction to what these other courses are like. I continue to use the educator resources available to me through these certifications in my classroom often. If you have not done either of these courses, I encourage you to start with these.

Since I conquered these in the fall of this year, I am moving onto Google Education. I use the Google Suite with my K-5 kids during their technology elective time, so I think I know at least the basics, but am really looking forward to how I can learn more and how I can go paperless.

Another dream I have is to pass the Microsoft Office Certification test. I teach a course in Word & PowerPoint, but I have never once used Access. This is what has been holding me back from taking this test, but not anymore. I ordered the “Access for Dummies” book and am hoping that it will give me a crash course in what I need to know in order to learn how to use Access.

So essentially, my professional goals for 2018 are:
1.     Go more paperless than I was this year **
2.     Get Google Certified (Level 1)
3.     Get Microsoft Certified (MIT)
4.     Renew Florida Teaching Certification

**I love to use the terms “than this year” because it gives me something to work forward to that is reasonable. No one is perfect so to set very specific goals stress me out. If you need to pick the exact numbers of papers you are allowed to print for the week, then you do you boo. For me, I like to get better every year until I am where I need to be.  

&& my personal goals for 2018 are:
1.     Less Phone Time
2.     Cook more meals at home
3.     Be INTENTIONAL with those around me – let them know I care


To help you get on the right track with some goals for the coming year, ask yourself some of the following questions:
1.     What is something that I wish was more time effective in my classroom?
2.     What can I do to make me a more successful/more marketable teacher?
3.     What is something that stresses me out? How can I relieve that stress?
4.     What is something that I am passionate about that I do not put a lot of time into?

Lastly, I would encourage you to share these goals with someone so that they can hold you accountable. I have shared them with all of you (hold me accountable!), but also with my mom and my husband. I also hang them on the mirror that I get ready in front of every morning so that I am reminded of all that I am to accomplish that day.


Let me know what some of your goals are for this upcoming year,
Xoxo

Hilary  

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