New Year’s Resolutions from Educators
Teachers Share Their Top Goals for 2022
In many ways, the first half of the 2021–2022 school year has been a time to play catch-up in the wake of learning loss. It’s been a challenging year for teachers and students, who are all striving to meet high expectations while adjusting to new norms. However, it’s also been a year of restoration — of re-establishing roles and routines, restoring relationships, and building a sense of community and togetherness.
When we asked a few educators from the Art of Teaching Project to share their new year’s resolutions for teaching, those themes of restoration and relationship-building were strong, despite the geographical distance between these educators and the variety of roles they hold. We also noticed an emphasis on student voice and agency in teachers’ goals for 2022, and a focus on providing students with the platforms and tools to make decisions about learning, be creative, and tell their stories.
Here are a few new year’s resolutions from talented and passionate K-12 educators — hopefully, they will provide you with some inspiration in your own goal-setting activity for the new year!
Karla Banks, Special Education Teacher:
“My New Year’s resolution is to make self-care/mental health a priority this year. If I don’t take care of myself, then I can’t take care of everyone else.”
Read more from Karla:
Zach Bruner, Superintendent:
“As a school Superintendent, it is easy for me to spend a majority of my time in my office getting that type of work done, but my New Year’s Resolution is to be more deliberate about getting out into the buildings and engaging in conversations with students and staff to continue building stronger relationships.”
Read more from Zach:
Traniece Brown-Warren, Assistant Principal:
“I am hoping to build a culture where students feel empowered to share their voice and their story on our campus podcast. It is important that students hear from other students and start to build connections. Storytelling is the best way!”
Read more from Traniece:
Jason Blair, Art Teacher:
“One thing we know in education is that students need to feel a sense of agency in their learning. Knowing this, in 2022, I am going to continue to explore ways to empower students to think like an artist, a designer and a change agent. Thinking like an artist develops agency through self-awareness, risk-taking and creative expression. Thinking like a designer provides opportunities for agency by becoming problem finders and exercising empathic curiosity. Lastly, thinking like a change agent empowers students to create art that attempts to challenge the status quo by making the world more fair, more beautiful, more just and sustainable for everyone.”
Read more from Jason:
Dean Deaver, Assistant Principal
“New Year’s resolutions are generally not my thing. However, they should be. Here are some items that I “should” address this year:
(1) Lose 10–15 pounds (I lied, it is closer to 20. Stupid pandemic!)
(2 ) Read books for pleasure (Current available time is between midnight and 3am!)
(3) Less time on social media (But how else do I find out anything?)
In truth, all three are ideal but unrealistic. After careful consideration, my resolution is to be more purposeful and present with people. The students and staff at my school deserve this from me doused with buckets of grace and kindness. My family deserves this from me especially since there have been so many times that this wasn’t my focus. My friends deserve this because they have been by my side through very challenging life events.
Recently a social media influencer stated, “Don’t Stand on Issues, But Walk With People.” It is a new year, but the challenges and concerns have not changed and are the same for everyone. As an educator I have the privilege to impact many families and hopefully, in 2022, it will be in a positive, supportive, and equitable way.”
Read more from Dean:
Jenna Moniz, Education Program Support:
“Connect with schools and districts that are willing to invite students and staff to tap into the Intelligence of their Hearts to do what we can collectively to promote Resiliency and Connection during these very trying times.”
Read more from Jenna:
As we all prepare to return to our learning communities in the new year, we hope that students and teachers find joy in togetherness, discover something new about themselves and their peers, and make progress toward learning goals that perhaps seemed far away at the beginning of the school year.
If you would like to share your teaching goals for 2022, experiences in the school year so far, or other reflections about teaching and learning, consider telling your story with the Art of Teaching Project:
