A New Year for Wonder Teacher

Happy 2014!

We’re back to the school grind around here. The decorations are put away, the wrapping paper is recycled, and the Christmas candy is (mostly) eaten. I must admit that I loved every moment of our lazy two-week break!

However, I also LOVE getting back into a routine. We teachers usually like having a plan for our day, and that certainly applies to me. Wearing jammies until 11:00 AM is fun on occasion but enough is enough! ;-)

I spent a good bit of time during the holiday reflecting on my past year and identifying new targets, especially for Wonder Teacher. I realized that this blog is one of my big passions and yet I have allowed other (less important) things to interrupt my work here.

I set some firm resolutions for this space, and I thought I’d share them with you, my loyal readers.

5 Goals for Wonder Teacher in 2014

1- Post consistently. If you have been following this blog, you know that I’m not the best at sticking to a posting schedule. In fact, it appears that I don’t even have one! I’m full of good intentions, but I also have a husband and kids and a part-time job and supper to cook, etc. Frankly, I’m at a stage where life can be unpredictable (or predictably crazy) and that has knocked me off my game. I have put some new routines and daily disciplines in my life that should help me stay on track in this area! (More on that later. Let me try them on, shake out the kinks, and then I’ll share!)

Bottom Line: My goal is 3 posts per week! Boom!

2- Offer unique and creative ideas. When I think about my favorite blogs (see the resources page for a list) I realize that they are the blogs with a lot of fresh content and originality. In other words, it’s not a rehash of the same old thing you’ve seen 100 times before. Let’s get real: with a few exceptions, almost everything you see out there in Blog-land is an idea that has been recycled, renovated, or rejuvenated. However, the fact remains that I think it’s important to strive for originality as much as possible. I try to do that on Wonder Teacher. I realize that a unique voice and fresh content is what keeps me visiting my favorite blogs and I want to copy them! ( Ha ha- you know what I mean.)

3- Advocate passionately for my beliefs about good teaching. I try really hard not to criticize other teachers or judge the pedagogy of my peers. After all, teaching is a challenging gig and none of us are perfect (especially me!) However, the fact remains that there are some practices currently used in our schools that just are not best. We know it. Research proves it. It’s usually obvious. One of my missions in my professional life has always been to search out the best practices (AKA “Wonder Teaching”) that motivate and inspire my students to succeed. I will continue to search for those best practices and share them with my readers.

4- Offer more resources. One of the main reasons for Wonder Teacher’s existence is to make creative teaching a little easier. In the past I have offered some resources with that intent and I want to do even more of that. I will continue to offer free downloads and also plan to expand my Teachers Pay Teachers store with new products ASAP!

5- Build the Wonder Teacher tribe. In the last year, when people asked me to identify my intended audience for Wonder Teacher, I simply replied, “Teachers.” I have realized that answer is too broad. Here is the real answer: Teachers who are passionate about teaching in an authentic and creative manner in order to best meet the needs of their students. In other words- Wonder Teachers! I want to find that group and connect. I want to learn from you, too, by reading your blogs, following you on Facebook, receiving your Tweets, etc. One of my goals for 2014 is to find ways to make those connections stronger.

6- Do a better job of marketing Wonder Teacher. I realize that in order to build a tribe, I need to help “my people” find this site! I have been pretty slack with Tweeting and Facebooking and Pinning in the past but plan to up my game in 2014. I also am planning to stick to a monthly newsletter schedule, so make sure you have signed up! (It’s that little box over there in the upper right area!)

Do you want to help? Can you think of anyone you know (current teacher, teacher-in-training, homeschooling mom) who might be a potential tribe-member for Wonder Teacher? If so, would you please send them a link to this blog? I would really appreciate it! Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool. If you find something on Wonder Teacher that helps you, inspires you, or equips you for better teaching, I’d love for you to help spread the word through Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I would appreciate it soooooo much!

What about you? Have you set some goals for yourself in 2014? I hope one of them is to keep reading Wonder Teacher!

Warmest regards and best wishes for a TOTALLY RAD 2014!

♥, Susan