by Sandy Mittelsteadt
Resolution #1: Resolve to get the word out about your career academy to the local community. Start tweeting or blogging. Write an editorial for your local newspaper or have your students write articles and submit them on a regular basis. Create a public service ad.
Resolution #2: Resolve to communicate more to your school and district administration. Remind them on a regular basis what your career academy is doing–especially your successes.
Resolution #3: Resolve to energize yourself by learning more about the subject matter of your career academy theme. Go on a teacher externship for a day and connect with a new business or community partner.
Resolution #4: Resolve to energize your classroom by adding a sticky learning curriculum activity. Do this by adding a discovery learning activity to your curriculum. Make sure it is up to date and is relevant to both your subject area and the academy theme.
Resolution #5: Resolve to integrate your curriculum in a small way. Find a particular concept important to your subject matter, but make sure the application of that concept integrates with another subject. For example: if you are an English teacher, have your students write a resume in your class instead of the business class. If you are a biology teacher, team up with the art teacher to have students create a sample cell with art materials. If you are a history teacher, have students team up with drama students to “act out” an event in history. A foreign language teacher could team up with the English teacher in a Medical Career Academy to teach the 20 more common medical terms in Spanish, French, etc.
Resolution #6: Resolve to invite a guest speaker to your classroom. Be sure and prep the speaker so they know what to expect when speaking to high school students.
Resolution #7: Resolve to be more thankful. Write a short note to three people (another teacher in your academy, a student, and a community partner or parent) recognizing a specific act of kindness to you or the academy. .
