So I’ve opted to take part in the 30 day blogging challenge that I learned about on Twitter. I’ve spent quite a bit of time this summer going over curriculum, creating my game, connecting with innovated individuals on Twitter, and being schooled in Minecraft by students in summer school.

I’m really looking forward to gamifying my classroom this year, and my theme is zombie apocalypse. Since my last name is Henze, my new setting for my classroom is Henzelandia. I am definitely going to be utilizing ClassCraft in my classroom, which will help me gamify easier. There are unite a few staff members that are looking to use a class dojo with students since we are 1:1 iPads, but I think kids are going to be pretty excited about using ClassCraft. So that brings me to my first goal of the school year- keep my motivation and momentum with gamification so that each day is exciting for both my students and me.

Last year I did standards based grading. It was a bit difficult because the community and students had never really seen this form of grading before. It makes far too much sense to look at actual student knowledge and achievement instead of giving students a false sense of achievement with scores on homework and minor things like that. This year, the entire science department has opted to use standards based grading, and I am really excited to be a part of this leadership in our building. So goal #2 would be to help persuade others that this makes sense, and that more people should embrace the idea of grading based on achievement.

My personal goals include getting the house on the market to sell in hopes to be one step closer to a move to the Big Sky state. In addition, I would like to increase my ex cerise and to continue with my downward trend for my weight. I was able to successfully maintain my 25 pound loss over the summer, but now it is time to kick it into gear. This might include a 5 or 10K. I’ll keep you posted on that!