Starting the School Year - One teacher's goals and expectations

My Goals and expectations as a professional educator for World History.

1. The students will learn the content matter of World History (as specified in the State framework) and the relevance that it has to their lives today. Other goals detail how class lessons will apply to student's lives.
2. Students will gain a sense of how civilizations and technology have changed and progressed through time.
3. Though this will be tempered with students understanding that there are also many things about people that have not changed through the centuries. And perhaps some of these things about us may even always be this way. They will define what they believe human nature is.
4. With a background of human nature, students will analyze in new ways what people are like. They will determine forces that act both within and on individuals and therefore why they do or choose the things they do.
5. Studying the history of other peoples, students will gain a sense of their place in the greater context of the entire world. They will understand how the world is bigger than their neighborhood, or country and older than themselves or their parents.
6. But students will also gain an awareness of individual heritage, and what things they have inherited from people who came before them, even if the connection isn't direct.
7. Students will appreciate similarities and differences between people around the world.
8. Students will also gain a respect for the differences that they begin to notice. They will analyze the context of other peoples and comprehend some of the reasons behind the differences they see.
9. Throughout all content matters, students analysation and critical thinking skills will be sharpened. They will have much practice in thinking deeply about new subjects and reasoning out issues that puzzle them.
   Students will be able to identify the difference between fact and opinion. They will learn what point of view is and that most everyone's is different.
10. Students will then practice interacting with people of different points of view as they complete cooperative group assignments. They will improve in working together with teamwork to accomplish goals.
11. The students will understand how 'cause and effect' works in history. They will learn how people can do things to create specific and varied changes on the world around them.
12. Students will appreciate how history is not a record of isolated events. They will see the interrelations of history, technology, writing, art, science, politics, and economics.
13. Finally, students will leave this class with their interest in all of its subjects and especially their interest in cultures besides their own piqued. They will have a desire to find out more about class subjects on their own time. And they will have an affection for the things that we did together as a class.

My Goals and expectations as a professional educator for Language Arts

1. The basics of language arts are communication skills, so I want both to teach these skills and give my students ample opportunity for practice. Students will improve in the base skills of vocabulary and grammar as well as higher ones such as revising written text and tightening their control of their writing style.
2. However, communication is not simply written; my students will learn oral forms as well. Everyday students should practice both listening and speaking skills. These will be highlighted with opportunities to persuade classmates, or give their point of view. They also will give oral presentations to practice public speaking.
3. Finally, my students will learn research skills and have the chance to put them in practice. By research I mean everything from writing formal reports to just looking up simple facts. These skills combined with a quest for knowledge will give students to the power of further independent content knowledge learning.
4. The students will also exercise imagination as they design artwork related to literature we read or write stories on their own. Students' creativity will be naturally nurtured through the writing process, which allows for its expression.
5. Students will discuss abstract or relevant ideas and issues that are generated from things they read and write in small groups. And before these sessions they will have interpreted deeper meaning out of documents that they have read, and then contrast their ideas with those of other group members.
6. Ultimately, students will be "turned on" to reading. They will enjoy the stories that they read and have a desire to spend more of their time outside of school with books. If I can work it out, I will start a book club for them to share what they have read.
7. Hopefully, the same will happen for writing. Students will be attracted by the power of writing and the usefulness of being a good writer. They will discover how with writing they can make people laugh, persuade people, and present themselves as more or less intelligent than they actually may be. This will empower them and make assigned writing enjoyable.