B2S Goals 2013-2014 Linky Party

I am linking up with Jess, of I {heart} Recess for her Back to School Goals linky.  

 Personal I commute about 55km (that's about 34 miles) to school.  I'm usually at school at least an hour before school starts and don't leave until usually 5 pm, which wouldn't be so bad if I lived closer.  But ...commuting makes for a long day...as I don't arrive home until 6 ish.  So my goal is to leave school by 4pm.  Ironically, my husband and I commuted for a few months last year and it forced me to be ready when he picked me up at 4pm.  so I know, I can do it! :)

Organization  My classroom closet starts out decently organized at the beginning of the year, but inevitably becomes a dumping ground for stuff I'm not sure where to put or I'm too lazy rushed to put away properly.  I need help in this dept!

Planning  My province has Prescribed Learning Outcomes which I'm pretty sure are the equivalent of US Common Core Standards.  Last year, I felt that my writing lessons were a bit 'scattered' (I tried to fit them into Daily 5 mini lesson time) so I'm currently working on a more defined scope and sequence for those mini-lessons.

Professional  I've had my SmartBoard now for a year and LOVE it, but feel I could use it much more and would like to focus on developing my own SB lessons for the subjects/activities we do in the classroom.

Students  Reading is my passion, so I want my students to leave my classroom with that same passion.  I spend a lot of time ensuring that my classroom library is diverse enough that there are books that will appeal even to the most reluctant readers.  

Motto  Perseverance seems to be going the way of the dinosaur it seems?...especially in this immediate gratification society we live in today.  I find students just don't/can't persevere, so I'm going to try and infuse this motto throughout everything I/we do this year in class. :)