A Teacher's Year-End Report Card

Posted by Susan Hyde May 8, 2007

As the school year comes rushing to a close, teachers are busy with end-of-year grades, IEP meetings, and classroom cleaning. In the rush to finish out the year's business, it is easy to miss an opportunity to reflect on personal and professional accomplishments that the year has brought. Each school year brings new educational mandates, budget battles, discipline issues, parent conferences, testing, and, hopefully more than a little time spent teaching and learning. Now that the chaos is ending, will you rush out the door without looking back, or will you take the time to evaluate your year?

Taking stock of your career is every bit as important as recording student accomplishments. Assessing your professional progress will validate your successes, provide a pathway for professional growth, and energize you for the upcoming school year.

• What were your hopes for the year? Did you have specific goals? How successful were you in meeting those goals?
• What were some student accomplishments in which you know you had a positive role?
• Were your students' achievement scores on state or national testing what you expected? If so, what strategies worked well to prepare your students? If not, what might you do differently next year?
• In hindsight, were there any students for whom you might have worked harder or for whom, in retrospect, you probably needed to offer different or additional teaching strategies?
• Did you find yourself unprepared to teach any student with a special need? If so, what did you learn from the experience? Are there any resources or courses that you should utilize to be better prepared for future students with exceptionalities?
• Did you appropriately challenge every student this year?
• Did you communicate effectively with students, administrators, colleagues and parents? How can you continue to build these skills?
• Did you take time for professional growth? What can you add to your professional resume this year? What would you like to be able to add after next year?

Competent teachers reflect often on their own performance. Your professional "report card" can help you to develop professionally even after the school year is over.