The First Week
Too many kids. Really, contractually, too many kids. Some of them will go to different bases with their families soon, but it's quite jarring to compare this year's opening number (25) to last year's (18). The carpet area is packed, the line to go anywhere stretches out to the horizon. I know that 25 isn't that many, comparatively, but it's also not that few.
I have some hepped-up boys this year. One of them is extremely bright and I know that the review sections are absolute soul death to him, but I'll be able to fix that once we get into the heart of the reading program. Two special ed boys, but they're both really fun kids who try hard.
We've got a new math curriculum, Scott-Foresman Addison-Wesley Smith-Wesson Black-Decker. The chapters are thick compared to the old program (Harcourt-Brace), so we're going to have to PLC hard on how we do our assessing.
The thing that has me most annoyed about the math books is that the pages are too big to fit in our math folders. That's minor, yeah, but the OCD in me just can't handle the pages sticking out of the top of the folder. We might not do math folders this year.
A parent emailed and asked if I'd like some hermit crabs. I said sure. Class pets are cool, even if they're not that cuddly.
The stack of "things" next to the computer is teetering at 11.75 inches tall. I'll get to it during some prep, some day. Some day.
Red Bull really does give me wings. With a Red Bull and a bagel I can make it too lunch time feeling energized and alive.
The formative assessments so far are feeling good. Only a handful of the kids are missing any letter sounds, which is an incredible basis to start from. I did an impromptu test of the first 20 high frequency words on Friday, and it was really, really encouraging. Last year I was able to get 70% of my kids over the DRA goal, and I think I have a good shot at passing that this year.
Babies change everything, and I change babies. I also now know that you should take off your tie before you change the baby.
It used to be that working until 7:00 wasn't an issue. Mrs. Rain understood, having taught herself. That's just not doable with the (s)Thinker being a part of my life now. I don't want to be here that late working on the math curriculum, or planning for PLCs. I wanna go home.
I have some hepped-up boys this year. One of them is extremely bright and I know that the review sections are absolute soul death to him, but I'll be able to fix that once we get into the heart of the reading program. Two special ed boys, but they're both really fun kids who try hard.
We've got a new math curriculum, Scott-Foresman Addison-Wesley Smith-Wesson Black-Decker. The chapters are thick compared to the old program (Harcourt-Brace), so we're going to have to PLC hard on how we do our assessing.
The thing that has me most annoyed about the math books is that the pages are too big to fit in our math folders. That's minor, yeah, but the OCD in me just can't handle the pages sticking out of the top of the folder. We might not do math folders this year.
A parent emailed and asked if I'd like some hermit crabs. I said sure. Class pets are cool, even if they're not that cuddly.
The stack of "things" next to the computer is teetering at 11.75 inches tall. I'll get to it during some prep, some day. Some day.
Red Bull really does give me wings. With a Red Bull and a bagel I can make it too lunch time feeling energized and alive.
The formative assessments so far are feeling good. Only a handful of the kids are missing any letter sounds, which is an incredible basis to start from. I did an impromptu test of the first 20 high frequency words on Friday, and it was really, really encouraging. Last year I was able to get 70% of my kids over the DRA goal, and I think I have a good shot at passing that this year.
Babies change everything, and I change babies. I also now know that you should take off your tie before you change the baby.
It used to be that working until 7:00 wasn't an issue. Mrs. Rain understood, having taught herself. That's just not doable with the (s)Thinker being a part of my life now. I don't want to be here that late working on the math curriculum, or planning for PLCs. I wanna go home.
posted by Ryan at 4:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home