>>I almost think I am overwhelmed. I have just about a billion things to do, and there is not enough time in the day. It is easy to get carried away and find myself not even teaching because of all the other things I need to do. It is easy for me to just get caught up in all my paperwork and things I need to do. I have high school in take paperwork for my 4 8th graders to do (I am already not looking forward to the paperwork I have to do next year for my 10 7th graders). My lower reading group just finished a book so I had to copy the whole entire book for them, then my middle group for math needs multiplication worksheets, and about 5 of my students need homework, and my desk is covered in crap and i have ANOTHER day of training tomorrow so I have a substitute that I dont know coming tomorrow so that adds more stress. Plus I have 4 IEPs due (well.. they were due in Jan and now it is Feb. so they need to get done)
>>Everything i listed above is do-able. I can complete it all. I can figure out IEPs, easily do high school in take paperwork, meet with papers, and make copies. These are things that I can complete, but they are time consuming. Today I was at school until 430 (we get out of school at 2:30) Every other teacher was gone expect for our two vice principles. And all i got done was a few sets of copies and my sub plan. I did not get a chance to change the classroom calender, or remember to bring home my goal notes for one of my IEPS. I got home, paid my bills and then preceded to write a report until about 6. I feel like this is all part of being a teacher. Of being a good teacher which I have been told I am. But, it's overwhelming. I am learning and I am trying to keep up. I hate being late. I hate having 3 IEP's that are past due. It drives me bonkers, so much that I almost cannot go into SEIS (where we do our IEPS) because it warns me everytime that these IEP's are late.
>>I refuse to admit that I am stressed. I can handle this. But, I feel every minute there is something I SHOULD be doing. There is only so much I CAN do. Breath.. Make lists, organize my calendar.. This makes me feel better.
wow..
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Funny yet ridiculous.
These are a few of the funny yet ridiculous things that happened to me today:
I started off the day meeting with the uncle of Jaime because he is now living with him. I learned prob way to much including the fact that he hasnt taken his ADHD medicine in years because his mother was selling it. Wow.
There is a women who has been teaching a drama class with my students, plus another functional skills class two days a week. It started on monday, and this was the second day that they've done it. Many of my students were not enthuastic about this class, and were being very anti social and mean. The teacher handed out scarfs and asked the kids to pick something that the scarf could be instead of a scarf.
Steve: LOOK ITS SPERM! (yes, he was exited from the class)
During lunch I take Grace down and help her get her lunch, and then set her up. My students all sit at a table inside the gym that they set up for them, After I get her set up, I go outside and check on Phillip to make sure he is eating his lunch. After doing that today, the yard duty came up and asked me, "Are you in charge of Phillip?" I told her "WEll, I am his SDC teacher, I am not his 1:1 aide though, and I usually just get him set up for lunch and he is fine" she then explained to me how yesterday he was becoming very "aggressive" during basketball and pushing other kids. Phillip Is a 12 year old boy. He has down syndrome and is literally 4 feet tall. I explained to the yard duty that usually if you tell him to knock it off he will, or you can send him to room 1 or room 2 (my room) and he will usually listen. Then i gave her my cell phone number and told her if there were issues to call me and I would come down and help. I then look over to Phillip and he gets up and walks about 2 inches from some girl and chucks a chicken finger at her head. Yes, he got in trouble.
during 7th period Phillip asked to use the bathroom. He left and then I get a call from the school secretary saying Phillip is in the office refusing to leave. I go down there to pick him up and I said, "what were you doing?" and he said "I was hiding" I said, "hiding why?" He replied. "Because its time to go home. " then i asked, "where did you put my hall pass?" and there it was sitting on the floor right in front of my classroom.
Im sure there was more but thats all I can remember. I also had an IEP meeting after school, finished assessing a student for his big 3 year evaluation, dealt with a mean child county services women who's grouchy, and planned a high school visit. My life is crazy. :)
I started off the day meeting with the uncle of Jaime because he is now living with him. I learned prob way to much including the fact that he hasnt taken his ADHD medicine in years because his mother was selling it. Wow.
There is a women who has been teaching a drama class with my students, plus another functional skills class two days a week. It started on monday, and this was the second day that they've done it. Many of my students were not enthuastic about this class, and were being very anti social and mean. The teacher handed out scarfs and asked the kids to pick something that the scarf could be instead of a scarf.
Steve: LOOK ITS SPERM! (yes, he was exited from the class)
During lunch I take Grace down and help her get her lunch, and then set her up. My students all sit at a table inside the gym that they set up for them, After I get her set up, I go outside and check on Phillip to make sure he is eating his lunch. After doing that today, the yard duty came up and asked me, "Are you in charge of Phillip?" I told her "WEll, I am his SDC teacher, I am not his 1:1 aide though, and I usually just get him set up for lunch and he is fine" she then explained to me how yesterday he was becoming very "aggressive" during basketball and pushing other kids. Phillip Is a 12 year old boy. He has down syndrome and is literally 4 feet tall. I explained to the yard duty that usually if you tell him to knock it off he will, or you can send him to room 1 or room 2 (my room) and he will usually listen. Then i gave her my cell phone number and told her if there were issues to call me and I would come down and help. I then look over to Phillip and he gets up and walks about 2 inches from some girl and chucks a chicken finger at her head. Yes, he got in trouble.
during 7th period Phillip asked to use the bathroom. He left and then I get a call from the school secretary saying Phillip is in the office refusing to leave. I go down there to pick him up and I said, "what were you doing?" and he said "I was hiding" I said, "hiding why?" He replied. "Because its time to go home. " then i asked, "where did you put my hall pass?" and there it was sitting on the floor right in front of my classroom.
Im sure there was more but thats all I can remember. I also had an IEP meeting after school, finished assessing a student for his big 3 year evaluation, dealt with a mean child county services women who's grouchy, and planned a high school visit. My life is crazy. :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Things I have learned in my first year of teaching..
>>Things I have learned in my first year of teaching #1: Never be afraid to ask questions or ask for help.
I am definitely the type of person who finds a way to do something and sticks to it. I am sort of controlling in the sense that I like my routine. I like things to be structured. At least I like to know what to expect. Although it's really hard as a teacher, and I can go with the flow, if it is up to me I like to know what will happen, what time, when, who will be there, even to the point where I practice what to say before I meet with people so that I am prepared. I like organization. I like to have my own style of organization that works for me. Even though I have 3 instructional assistants in my room I like to do a lot of the work myself. I like to plan the lessons. I like the prepare the worksheets. Make the copies. Copy my assessments. Organize my IEP files. Discuss issues with other teachers. Plan my meetings. etc. etc. etc. Throughout this year I have had to learn to ask for help. Not only with these small things like organization or teaching a certain skill, but with the kids. I have had to admit that I cannot handle everything and that there are a lot of people who have a lot of experience and I need to be able to ask. I need to ask advice and ask when I don’t know how something works, what something is, or what I should do. I have learned that it doesn’t make people think you are less experienced or unknowledgeable to ask them questions, or ask them what I should do. It has made me a stronger person I think to be able to admit when I need help.
>>On another funny note, I got super glue in my hair today while I was gluing one of my student’s backpacks together after one of my other students ripped it apart. The funny part was, I didn’t notice I had gotten it in my hair until about 2 hours later and (I am almost embarrassed to admit) there were many things I thought could have been hard and crusty in my hair before I remembered the super glue. Wow, this is how it must feel to be a parent.
>>And finally, maybe this is just a kid thing, but I am so sick of tattle tails in my class. Everyone has to be involved in everyone else's business. I have kids telling me all the time about this kid did this to another kid, they are telling me about things that they weren’t even involved in. I had to give a big speech that unless it's something someone is doing to YOU, or if it is something dangerous I do not want to hear about it. I feel like that is almost cruel but its getting to the point where I have 7 people telling me about one situation or I am getting told about what so and so is doing every single second. There has to be a balance. Hopefully we can find it.
I am definitely the type of person who finds a way to do something and sticks to it. I am sort of controlling in the sense that I like my routine. I like things to be structured. At least I like to know what to expect. Although it's really hard as a teacher, and I can go with the flow, if it is up to me I like to know what will happen, what time, when, who will be there, even to the point where I practice what to say before I meet with people so that I am prepared. I like organization. I like to have my own style of organization that works for me. Even though I have 3 instructional assistants in my room I like to do a lot of the work myself. I like to plan the lessons. I like the prepare the worksheets. Make the copies. Copy my assessments. Organize my IEP files. Discuss issues with other teachers. Plan my meetings. etc. etc. etc. Throughout this year I have had to learn to ask for help. Not only with these small things like organization or teaching a certain skill, but with the kids. I have had to admit that I cannot handle everything and that there are a lot of people who have a lot of experience and I need to be able to ask. I need to ask advice and ask when I don’t know how something works, what something is, or what I should do. I have learned that it doesn’t make people think you are less experienced or unknowledgeable to ask them questions, or ask them what I should do. It has made me a stronger person I think to be able to admit when I need help.
>>On another funny note, I got super glue in my hair today while I was gluing one of my student’s backpacks together after one of my other students ripped it apart. The funny part was, I didn’t notice I had gotten it in my hair until about 2 hours later and (I am almost embarrassed to admit) there were many things I thought could have been hard and crusty in my hair before I remembered the super glue. Wow, this is how it must feel to be a parent.
>>And finally, maybe this is just a kid thing, but I am so sick of tattle tails in my class. Everyone has to be involved in everyone else's business. I have kids telling me all the time about this kid did this to another kid, they are telling me about things that they weren’t even involved in. I had to give a big speech that unless it's something someone is doing to YOU, or if it is something dangerous I do not want to hear about it. I feel like that is almost cruel but its getting to the point where I have 7 people telling me about one situation or I am getting told about what so and so is doing every single second. There has to be a balance. Hopefully we can find it.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
sick
I've been sick for the past week. I give my students credit because they really have been giving me a break this past week. I think they understand that they need to be patceint and work hard especially when I dont feel well. But, I did get called crabby once or twice :)
>>I never ever thought I would be a middle school teacher. All the time I've wanted to be a teacher it was always elementary. I feel the most confident teaching elementary school (especially with the curriculum they need to learn) and I also just felt the most comfortable with elementary school students. Last year when I was asked to long term sub/do my student teacher in a middle school SDC class I was very very hesitant. I was beyond uncomfortable with the idea of middle school, but I sucked it up and did it and I don't think I will ever go back to elementary. Maybe some day, but there are so many things that are fantastic about working with 12-14 year olds. First off, less dirty diapers. Although in elementary school there shouldnt be many dirty diapers, in special education there are a lot. I have 3 students that wear diapers and they are all very capable of changing themselves which is an amazing fact. Another thing is they really are more independent. I can send them to the bathroom by themselves. They can blow their noses themselves. they can tie their shoes, and even go to some classes without help if i was in a lower grade I'm sure that would not be possible. But, finally one of the best parts of middle school is that you can talk with them. You can reason with them and explain to them why things are a certain way and they understand you. You can say, "come on guys, lets get some work done and then we can have fun" and that makes sense to them. When they are frustrated they can come and tell you exactly what is going on. And they are funny. They have such good senses of humor that its just so funny. Middle school is awesome. Who thought I would say that.
Funny quote of the day:
(I was reading with Steve)
Me: Wow Steve. that was amazing! I am so proud of you! You know (whispers) don't tell anyone this, but I really think you are probabley the best reader in our whole class.
Carl:(at the group nearby) Uhm.. what.. except I heard that?!
>>I never ever thought I would be a middle school teacher. All the time I've wanted to be a teacher it was always elementary. I feel the most confident teaching elementary school (especially with the curriculum they need to learn) and I also just felt the most comfortable with elementary school students. Last year when I was asked to long term sub/do my student teacher in a middle school SDC class I was very very hesitant. I was beyond uncomfortable with the idea of middle school, but I sucked it up and did it and I don't think I will ever go back to elementary. Maybe some day, but there are so many things that are fantastic about working with 12-14 year olds. First off, less dirty diapers. Although in elementary school there shouldnt be many dirty diapers, in special education there are a lot. I have 3 students that wear diapers and they are all very capable of changing themselves which is an amazing fact. Another thing is they really are more independent. I can send them to the bathroom by themselves. They can blow their noses themselves. they can tie their shoes, and even go to some classes without help if i was in a lower grade I'm sure that would not be possible. But, finally one of the best parts of middle school is that you can talk with them. You can reason with them and explain to them why things are a certain way and they understand you. You can say, "come on guys, lets get some work done and then we can have fun" and that makes sense to them. When they are frustrated they can come and tell you exactly what is going on. And they are funny. They have such good senses of humor that its just so funny. Middle school is awesome. Who thought I would say that.
Funny quote of the day:
(I was reading with Steve)
Me: Wow Steve. that was amazing! I am so proud of you! You know (whispers) don't tell anyone this, but I really think you are probabley the best reader in our whole class.
Carl:(at the group nearby) Uhm.. what.. except I heard that?!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Parents
>>I walked into my principles, Rs, office after school today to tell my vice principle S something about a student of mine he is has in his science class. In the R's office, S and my OTHER vice principle P were all in there. The first thing I hear is is P say, "R! Listen up right now, I am nominating this girl for teacher of the year. You heard it right here". S replied with "Yes! I agree, The stuff she puts up with is crazy and she doesnt even have kids" and R replied with " I agree! I cant believe how lucky we were in hiring her." It makes me feel appreciated. Something small like that really makes me happy.
>>Although there are a TON of things that are hard to deal with in my job, the hardest one is parents. My students parents are such a wide range. (just like students). Some are in denial. Some expect WAYYY too much for their child. Some expect me to "fix" their child. Some just do nothing. and Some are down my throat every second. My student Christina's parents are interesting. I never know what they want and today was one of those days where I got nutty emails all day. Luckily my director of special education can occasionally be a god send and save my butt and deal with the most difficult parents. Christina has the worst hygiene in the world. Like bad enough to almost call child protective services. We are trying to solve the problems and the parents were pretty much MIA when I tried to talk with them about it. So, the "team" including people from other schools, my director of special education, people from the county all met and talked about possible solutions. We let the parents know what was decided that wanted their opinion. Of course they came back defensive and angry. Finally they relaxed and expressed how they want to meet and figure this out, and offered to send me changes of clothes tomorrow. Its such a sticky situation and I wish I could give more details. I'm just glad things are getting figured out.
>>Although there are a TON of things that are hard to deal with in my job, the hardest one is parents. My students parents are such a wide range. (just like students). Some are in denial. Some expect WAYYY too much for their child. Some expect me to "fix" their child. Some just do nothing. and Some are down my throat every second. My student Christina's parents are interesting. I never know what they want and today was one of those days where I got nutty emails all day. Luckily my director of special education can occasionally be a god send and save my butt and deal with the most difficult parents. Christina has the worst hygiene in the world. Like bad enough to almost call child protective services. We are trying to solve the problems and the parents were pretty much MIA when I tried to talk with them about it. So, the "team" including people from other schools, my director of special education, people from the county all met and talked about possible solutions. We let the parents know what was decided that wanted their opinion. Of course they came back defensive and angry. Finally they relaxed and expressed how they want to meet and figure this out, and offered to send me changes of clothes tomorrow. Its such a sticky situation and I wish I could give more details. I'm just glad things are getting figured out.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Substitute.
>>Being a sub is a hard job. I honestly never was interested in being one. YOu have to teach something new everyday. You don't know the students. How the class is ran, etc. You are not prepared. I hate that. I like to be prepared. I got signed up to be on a committee at school. The BEST committee which stands for building effective schools together. I was added to this because it is teaching the school strategies that special education teachers use already. This weekend we went to Tahoe for Levi's birthday so i went to school this morning to plan for the sub I would have. Honestly with my three instruction assistants, I prob. do not need a sub. They could easily run the classroom by themselves. THey know how to talk with the students. They know how to deal when issues start to arise. Sub's do not. They push my students in ways they shouldnt be. They push issues that need to be ignored. They yell. They freak out. They do not always handle situations right. I hate leaving my students. I like to handle issues myself. I like to know what happens when it happens and I like to be there to assess that things are handled correctly. (not to mention one of my aides was out and we had a sub for her as well) I came back from my training early (at 2.. school gets out at 230) and I was bombarded. I was bombarded about how horrible my students were. How there was issues each period. How i didnt leave enough work for them to do. and How i need to change the way I do things. I did not need to hear that. After the sub left, I talked with my aides and they explained the actual issues. Really. They were things that happen EVERY day. Chris gets upset and overreacts. JP back talks and refuses to work. Steve gets upset at authority so we have ways to deal with each of these issues so they do not carry over throughout the whole day. It was upsetting to get reemed by this sub that told me she never gets any work. Well I wonder why! (sorry that was sassy). I feel fine leaving because they were typical problems but I hate that the sub had to lecture me about them when i got back. Then she had to ask if I always wanted to be an RSP (resource) teacher. I felt like shaking her and saying.. "UHm.. No. This is SDC. Special Day Class.. we are in a WHOLE different league than RSP. RSP kids ar completely typical except for they are lower than grade level in math or reading but they go to EVERY SINGLE other class" I didnt say that. i feel like she really thought my kids were higher than they were. So, I want to give her a break. I want to shake off the day and say, "I do something everyday that a lot of people cannot handle". I am. I am moving on. I am trying not to think about quitting the committee just because I can't handle not being there when my students have a bad day.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Funny Quotes
A few funny quotes from the today:
Paul: (very beginning of the day) Uh oh! Miss Thompson my meds havent kicked in!
Sam: Phillip Is like a thief! He's a grave robber!!!
Me: a what?! a grave robber? Phillip are you a grave robber?
Phillip: NO! its Grace!
Me: (Marcus hands me his cell phone and asks me to hold onto it) Wow Tucker this is a fancy phone. Did you get it for christmas?
marcus: Noo.. I didnt.
Me: just for a present?
Marcus: Noo.. I got it for cutting my afro off.
--
>>Jaime in foster care had a meeting with family members yesterday to decide where he will be placed. He came to school a mess today expressing how the entire time was spent fighting and arguing. I saved time at the end of the day to talk with him about how things went, and what he thought. He's in a tough stop. He has uncles and estranged sisters, and a drug addict mom all telling him to choose a different place. He told me that it's hard because many of the places that are good for him would cause him to have to go to another school and he doesn't want that. I attempted to explain how we are in his life for a long time, and if the place he goes he is safe and happy then thats the best place and we will still be around to make sure he's well taking care of. He told me he wishes I could pick for him, and he's having a difficult time not getting stressed and having a hard time controlling his emotions. Again, I had to express to him that he needs to use his relaxation techniques that he used in therapy to calm down and that I am always just a phone call away. He can always call if he needs to talk or vent or even just relax. This kid pulls on my heart strings daily. I know he gets more attention then others do and I feel guilty but how can i just let him think that he doesnt have the support he needs. I do like to think that if it was any of my students I would be acting exactly the same, and I'm sure I would. It's still hard. I worry about him everyday.
Paul: (very beginning of the day) Uh oh! Miss Thompson my meds havent kicked in!
Sam: Phillip Is like a thief! He's a grave robber!!!
Me: a what?! a grave robber? Phillip are you a grave robber?
Phillip: NO! its Grace!
Me: (Marcus hands me his cell phone and asks me to hold onto it) Wow Tucker this is a fancy phone. Did you get it for christmas?
marcus: Noo.. I didnt.
Me: just for a present?
Marcus: Noo.. I got it for cutting my afro off.
--
>>Jaime in foster care had a meeting with family members yesterday to decide where he will be placed. He came to school a mess today expressing how the entire time was spent fighting and arguing. I saved time at the end of the day to talk with him about how things went, and what he thought. He's in a tough stop. He has uncles and estranged sisters, and a drug addict mom all telling him to choose a different place. He told me that it's hard because many of the places that are good for him would cause him to have to go to another school and he doesn't want that. I attempted to explain how we are in his life for a long time, and if the place he goes he is safe and happy then thats the best place and we will still be around to make sure he's well taking care of. He told me he wishes I could pick for him, and he's having a difficult time not getting stressed and having a hard time controlling his emotions. Again, I had to express to him that he needs to use his relaxation techniques that he used in therapy to calm down and that I am always just a phone call away. He can always call if he needs to talk or vent or even just relax. This kid pulls on my heart strings daily. I know he gets more attention then others do and I feel guilty but how can i just let him think that he doesnt have the support he needs. I do like to think that if it was any of my students I would be acting exactly the same, and I'm sure I would. It's still hard. I worry about him everyday.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
addiction
>>I am quickly becoming addicted to blogging and sharing my stories. Everyday i am mentally thinking about what new things I want to share and talk about. I love it.
>>Today we came back to school after 2 1/2 weeks off. I was pleasantly surprised. My students were excited to be back and they were well behaved (something I did not expect). They quickly got back into the routine. They were still excited to earn tickets. They knew to be in their seats when the bell rang. They were excited to share their stories but also ready to work. But, the best best best part was their retention. Special Ed is a difficult thing to teach because I feel like we do the same thing everyday. My kids will work on subtraction with borrowing for 3 years, and still barely get it. So, everyday is sometimes a struggle for them to remember just what we did yesterday. But, coming back after 2 1/2 weeks students remembered!! They were showing me things I didnt even know they could do. They were counting by 10's and 5's and counting money, and sounding out words! It amazed me. I was so impressed and happy that I literally was speechless numerous times today. My students amaze me. They make me love my job. Being back at works makes me happy and thats how i know I love my job.
>>I have two girls in my class. 14 boys, and 2 girls (with a new boy starting tomorrow). My girls are amazing because they are unlike every other student in my class. (all my students are so unique but the girls are the most) I want to be able to talk about my students but for confidentiality reasons I have changed their names. My two girls Christina and Grace. They are so orignal. Christina is my highest student. She is a 7th grader and basically could do any type of 7th grade work she is asked to do. But, she wears diapers and wets herself. We are unsure about why. She lies, steals and is a manipulator. Grace is the lowest student in my class. She doesnt read. Has difficulties remember even letters and number names. She can do basic addition with prompting and speaks in one or two word sentences.
Today - Grace was reading words with me. She will not remember them tomorrow, but she gets excited to read words off of cards and them repeat them to the other adults in the room. We were doing this, and she sort of tripped but caught herself on the desk (she has low motor skills as well) She pointed to her wrist and said Ow. So i asked her if she'd like to get ice. She said yes and went to the nurse. I called down to the nurse ( who didnt pick up the phone) so i walked down to the nurse because I knew that Grace would not be able to tell the nurse what she needed especially if she was busy. Little did I know that when I went down there the nurse was absent but Grace had gone to the secretary and told her "Ice" while pointing to her wrist and had gotten her ice. I was speechless. This girl who cry's when she's late to school. doesnt say more than one word to us who she has known for 6 months went up to a stranger and told her an uncommon word for her.
>>This is why I am a teacher.. :)
>>Today we came back to school after 2 1/2 weeks off. I was pleasantly surprised. My students were excited to be back and they were well behaved (something I did not expect). They quickly got back into the routine. They were still excited to earn tickets. They knew to be in their seats when the bell rang. They were excited to share their stories but also ready to work. But, the best best best part was their retention. Special Ed is a difficult thing to teach because I feel like we do the same thing everyday. My kids will work on subtraction with borrowing for 3 years, and still barely get it. So, everyday is sometimes a struggle for them to remember just what we did yesterday. But, coming back after 2 1/2 weeks students remembered!! They were showing me things I didnt even know they could do. They were counting by 10's and 5's and counting money, and sounding out words! It amazed me. I was so impressed and happy that I literally was speechless numerous times today. My students amaze me. They make me love my job. Being back at works makes me happy and thats how i know I love my job.
>>I have two girls in my class. 14 boys, and 2 girls (with a new boy starting tomorrow). My girls are amazing because they are unlike every other student in my class. (all my students are so unique but the girls are the most) I want to be able to talk about my students but for confidentiality reasons I have changed their names. My two girls Christina and Grace. They are so orignal. Christina is my highest student. She is a 7th grader and basically could do any type of 7th grade work she is asked to do. But, she wears diapers and wets herself. We are unsure about why. She lies, steals and is a manipulator. Grace is the lowest student in my class. She doesnt read. Has difficulties remember even letters and number names. She can do basic addition with prompting and speaks in one or two word sentences.
Today - Grace was reading words with me. She will not remember them tomorrow, but she gets excited to read words off of cards and them repeat them to the other adults in the room. We were doing this, and she sort of tripped but caught herself on the desk (she has low motor skills as well) She pointed to her wrist and said Ow. So i asked her if she'd like to get ice. She said yes and went to the nurse. I called down to the nurse ( who didnt pick up the phone) so i walked down to the nurse because I knew that Grace would not be able to tell the nurse what she needed especially if she was busy. Little did I know that when I went down there the nurse was absent but Grace had gone to the secretary and told her "Ice" while pointing to her wrist and had gotten her ice. I was speechless. This girl who cry's when she's late to school. doesnt say more than one word to us who she has known for 6 months went up to a stranger and told her an uncommon word for her.
>>This is why I am a teacher.. :)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Back to school
>>Random thought: My blogger is not spell checking. I am not the greatest speller but, it drives me crazy when things are not spelled correctly.. That's why there is a spell check.. damn you spell checker?
>>I went back to work today after 2 weeks off. We didn't have students, just a teacher inservice in which we had to go to workshops about "teaching struggling students". They were interesting, but it is hard because really my whole job is "teaching struggling students". Special education is a lonely job. I am the only SDC teacher at my middle school. Although it is not lonely during regular school hours because I have my three instructional assistants when we have these inservices it is lonely. I have 2 resource teachers as well at my school, but they deal with different things. Anyways, it's lonely. As a teacher you work a lot with your grade level teams. Elementary schools in our district meet weekly as grade levels. The first grade teachers develop lesson plans together. They develop essential outcomes together. At the middle school, the teachers work with their grade level/subject. 7th grade L.A. teachers meet together, 8th grade history teachers meet, etc. etc. As an SDC teacher, I don't really have people to meet with. It's hard being a new teacher and not really having people to collaborate with. I would love to sit into these meetings and see what 7th grade teachers are teaching during L.A. because I could possibly incorporate some of that into my lesson plans. In any case, inservice days, staff meetings, "team building" things, are lonely. I try to branch out. I try to talk with people, but occasionally I think teachers are afraid to befriend me because that means I will try and put my students into their classes. (which may actually be the case :) )
>>But, teaching as made me more independent. I have done things on my own that I never thought were possible. I have dealt with issues where I really had NO idea what I was doing, but I did them, and I survived. I know I can make it.
>> I am happy to be going to back to work. I miss my students and I worry about them when I am not constantly seeing them. I have some good new ideas that I want to try, and I feel refreshed and ready.
>>I went back to work today after 2 weeks off. We didn't have students, just a teacher inservice in which we had to go to workshops about "teaching struggling students". They were interesting, but it is hard because really my whole job is "teaching struggling students". Special education is a lonely job. I am the only SDC teacher at my middle school. Although it is not lonely during regular school hours because I have my three instructional assistants when we have these inservices it is lonely. I have 2 resource teachers as well at my school, but they deal with different things. Anyways, it's lonely. As a teacher you work a lot with your grade level teams. Elementary schools in our district meet weekly as grade levels. The first grade teachers develop lesson plans together. They develop essential outcomes together. At the middle school, the teachers work with their grade level/subject. 7th grade L.A. teachers meet together, 8th grade history teachers meet, etc. etc. As an SDC teacher, I don't really have people to meet with. It's hard being a new teacher and not really having people to collaborate with. I would love to sit into these meetings and see what 7th grade teachers are teaching during L.A. because I could possibly incorporate some of that into my lesson plans. In any case, inservice days, staff meetings, "team building" things, are lonely. I try to branch out. I try to talk with people, but occasionally I think teachers are afraid to befriend me because that means I will try and put my students into their classes. (which may actually be the case :) )
>>But, teaching as made me more independent. I have done things on my own that I never thought were possible. I have dealt with issues where I really had NO idea what I was doing, but I did them, and I survived. I know I can make it.
>> I am happy to be going to back to work. I miss my students and I worry about them when I am not constantly seeing them. I have some good new ideas that I want to try, and I feel refreshed and ready.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Grades
>> Completing grades for me is a constant challenge. I do not give my students homework. I do not really even give them tests. My main goal for my students is for them to learn how to read and do basic math skills. Which a lot of them do not even know yet. I grade my students based on their participation, and completion of what is asked of them at each station. The hard part about this is each period of the day there are anywhere from 2 - 5 stations that they rotate through. I have a paper set up for my aides to complete each period. It asks them what they did with their group, and if any students got partial participation, no partipation or they were absent. So, on any given day there are 7x2-5 different activites that my students complete and that need be to entered into the grade book. Another difficult aspect is that each of my students completes completely different work. One group is reading a 7th grade book while another is reading a 3rd grade book. One group is doing basic addition while another student may be completing adding and subtracting fractions. So, in my grade book, my assignments are vauge to say the least. second period math may just have a group that did "worksheets".
>>another thing that is difficult is that my students consistantly work out of packets, so they always have things to continue working on each day. This saves my aides and I time by not having to scramble to get new work for the students every day. But, it mades grades difficult to put in the gradebook because the packets are not filed until they are completed therefore I do not know how the student did on let's say dec. 2nd in their math packet. So, a lot of times I just wing it based on what my aides or I wrote on our worksheets for the day.
>>Needless to say putting grades into the grade book is difficult and time consuming, and everyday I am looking for a new easier way to do it. I have not found one yet. It would be easy if my students were typical and completed the same thing. It would be easy if the grade book was based on student rather than period, because each of my students does something different and their schedules are crazy. I will perfect grades eventually i am sure, but for now they bother me, and I dread having to do them..
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