Since I am now teaching both math and science to 105 6th grade students, my short-term and long-term goals relate to the integration of math and science teaching and learning.
One of my short-term goals is to become more familiar with the common core state standards for math as well as the various math curricula available for 6th grade students. Another short-term goal is to enact a Statistics module from the engage NY curriculum, a fairly well-received common-core aligned math curriculum that is available for download online. I will conclude the Statistics unit with a student-driven statistics project.
One long-term goal I have is to more closely integrate the math and science curricula for 6th grade. I will spend time looking at how NGSS and common core math goals overlap and how I can integrate them more closely. Since instructional time can be limited, it will be important to focus on the most important skills, strategies and standards that students will need to learn in both science and math. I will create opportunities for student projects and technology integration.
One of my goals for this school year was to become more familiar with Google Apps for Education (GAfE) and to incorporate these tools in my classroom. This has been a very successful learning process. I currently have active google classroom site for both math and science. I assign homework through google classroom, and post class notes and announcements. Students can communicate with each other about the content posted on our google classroom sites. I have also created science quizzes using google forms. Another goal I have for the next few years is to continue learning more about GAfE and integrating more useful technologies into my instruction.