miércoles, febrero 23, 2005
teacher talk
you know it's bad when you're making dinner plans and someone says, "Is six too late?". or when birthday dinners set for 8 o'clock leave you starving since you really do prefer eating before six. or when it's understood that, regardless of the conversation's importance, you absolutely must be off the phone by ten.
but i take offense that some of you call me at 9 and think it's too late. I CAN STAY UP UNTIL ELEVEN SOMETIMES!
my sweet-on-the-outside, rotten-on-the-inside kiddos graffitied (sp?) the girls' bathroom last week. the asst. principal called all the girls into the office and kept them for 45 minutes and not a peep. i don't understand how they keep getting away with all this stuff. i'm not BLIND. what gives?
after school i did my reading group with my lowest readers who are all in danger of being retained this year... of course, out of my twenty students, ten of them were invited to join my reading group. scary numbers. today i decided to give those students' progress reports to their parents in person when they were picked up. i stressed the importance of meeting to decide what steps we need to take next and to demonstrate what support services their children are receiving. the mothers started talking amongst themselves and showed some serious frustration. i guess the fact that i'm working with so many kids makes it obvious that a lot of the class isn't where they should be, but at least they didn't seem too pissy with me personally. it's a sad situation and i am NOT looking forward to parent conferences. how can i put these parents at ease? some of these kids are getting all the support services i can manage, some have multiple tutors/mentors a week, but even that may not get them to the level they need to reach in order to be placed. first grade is rough: it's the year when kids truly learn to read. their DRA level goes from a 3 (supposedly, in my case most kids came in at a 0 which is just basic letter recognition but no ability to put words together) to a 16. that's the biggest leap kids make in reading EVER. you get behind a couple months, which is what happened with their previous teacher leaving and several subs in and out, and you're hard-pressed to get caught up. i know my buddies tell me that i shouldn't put so much pressure on myself, but i don't want half of my class to stay behind if they don't have to. this is where i truly do feel an obligation to do absolutely everything i can manage. even if i have to risk a little of my sanity.
but i take offense that some of you call me at 9 and think it's too late. I CAN STAY UP UNTIL ELEVEN SOMETIMES!
my sweet-on-the-outside, rotten-on-the-inside kiddos graffitied (sp?) the girls' bathroom last week. the asst. principal called all the girls into the office and kept them for 45 minutes and not a peep. i don't understand how they keep getting away with all this stuff. i'm not BLIND. what gives?
after school i did my reading group with my lowest readers who are all in danger of being retained this year... of course, out of my twenty students, ten of them were invited to join my reading group. scary numbers. today i decided to give those students' progress reports to their parents in person when they were picked up. i stressed the importance of meeting to decide what steps we need to take next and to demonstrate what support services their children are receiving. the mothers started talking amongst themselves and showed some serious frustration. i guess the fact that i'm working with so many kids makes it obvious that a lot of the class isn't where they should be, but at least they didn't seem too pissy with me personally. it's a sad situation and i am NOT looking forward to parent conferences. how can i put these parents at ease? some of these kids are getting all the support services i can manage, some have multiple tutors/mentors a week, but even that may not get them to the level they need to reach in order to be placed. first grade is rough: it's the year when kids truly learn to read. their DRA level goes from a 3 (supposedly, in my case most kids came in at a 0 which is just basic letter recognition but no ability to put words together) to a 16. that's the biggest leap kids make in reading EVER. you get behind a couple months, which is what happened with their previous teacher leaving and several subs in and out, and you're hard-pressed to get caught up. i know my buddies tell me that i shouldn't put so much pressure on myself, but i don't want half of my class to stay behind if they don't have to. this is where i truly do feel an obligation to do absolutely everything i can manage. even if i have to risk a little of my sanity.
