First Week Finished!

I have officially survived the first week of school, though it's been rough. I really miss my students from last year, and this batch needs a LOT of help- in in-class behavior, focusing, writing, spelling, math- pretty much everything but virtue. Does that make sense? They are all pretty good kids, but they don't know how to keep their hands out of their desk, pay attention to a lesson/story/speaker, raise their hand, stay quiet during independent work, etc.

I have thirty students, as of right now, but it may flop upwards of 35 by September! It's this new ELD structure the state of Arizona has applied this year- I am only allowed to take in ELD students, and the rest of the third grade teachers are teaching non-ELD, which means any new enrollments who are ELD get automatically placed in my class! YIKES!

Summer time, and the living's easy!

Wow... this is the time that I really love being a teacher. Though finances are tight, and I still had to teach summer school and get another part-time job to make these distant ends meet, I am loving the lazy days of summer. I can read whatever I want, [technically] get up whenever I want (Karma actually makes sure I get up earlier for our morning walk, but then I just take a nap afterwards, so does it really count?), and basically just lounge around the house, thinking, watching mindless television, etc. Right now I'm in the classroom, just making sure that when I return in the end of July I won't have a million loose ends. My goals for today are: 1) organize all of my overhead paraphenelia (I can't believe how the overhead has changed since I was in school... such a simple piece of technology that can be manipulated in a trillion ways) and 2) file all the papers I decided did not need to be filed right away during the school year.

In educational news, a state mandate was passed that says that all ELD students need to have four hours of reading instruction, divided in specific segments depending on their ranking (Pre-emergent, Emergent, Basic, Intermediate). I don't have the numbers in front of me, but it makes lesson planning a little more difficult, with specific minutes for conversation, writing, reading, verbal, and grammar. Plus, all ELD students are supposed to be in the same class, so I will have only ELD students in my class (which isn't a far cry from my class last year).

Karma after hair-cut: