Novels over the Year

 During a meeting with those on my team for this upcoming year, I was asked about the books I was planning to cover with my students this year.  At the end of last year I was very happy with what we had gotten through and now that I have been able to sit and refresh and recharge I am now dare I say coming up with some more ambitious goals for my students this year.  We covered about 3 novels last year: The Giver, excerpts from Trevor Noah's Born a Crime which we compared with an excerpt of Nelson Mandela's A Long Walk to Freedom, and then finished with the Hunger Games.  I want to have a novel for the beginning quarter and I think I am going to do Tangerine, but I also want to incorporate Book Club corners where the students choose their book and see if I can have it align with the book we are currently working on in class.  I still have to figure out and plan how I am going to get it all done BUT I think that is going to be a goal.  Next week is when I plan to have the start of my organization and plotting of a lot of what I want to complete this year as well as the process.  My goal this year is to be much more put together and organized with my intentions and coming up with ways to track.  I have noticed  that the more together my school stuff is the less it invades my home life though, these next few weeks I wont be paid and it will cut into my family time and summer break but the hope it that it wont cut into those times during the year because those are the times I need it the most and it if I dont it will do the most damage.  

Once of the best things last year was the collaboration from my 7th grade team.  I dont necessarily have that with my department BUT hopefully I will at least be able to work with the higher grade level teacher so I can align and have the students prepared for when they move up to 8th grade. Trying to seamlessly have the students move into their next grade is my goal each year.  So here's to next weeks mountains of coffee and the hopeful organization for the following year!