We are all back in school now, so let's talk about how things are going.
What has been the best thing to happen so far? (the good)
What has been the 'worst' thing to happen so far? (the bad)
What is the thing that you are most hoping to change for the better? (the ugly)
For the most part my first two weeks of school were good. I am blessed to be in a new school and I was given some time to view my new home before seeing my new students. I am pretty much taking all things in stride except one thing...I have an IEP meeting on Monday and the student just added my class late Friday afternoon. I will be attending the meeting with no information other than he is SPED. In addition at the first faculty meeting we teachers were told that we would not have to seek and request information about our SPED students. They lied. I am also waiting for ELL information as well. I am frustrated as how can I modifiy instruction to students who need it when information is not readily given or accessable.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone! The first two weeks of school went well. There were a lot of things going on at the same time because our school is going through an accreditation process this year. It's a lot of stress for us teachers, but I'm so thankful that my students are understanding. The kids are so helpful! They surprise me, and they are showing me that they really want to learn. I'm only having trouble with keeping up with paperwork. I know it's such a menial task, but given the admin, the accreditation task force, and my students, I have a lot to sort out. It also does not help that I have to being these around between two classrooms. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about it. That's all for now.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is the third time I've lost what I wrote. But we won't give up:-) (Teachers never do).
ReplyDeleteThank you for your reflections/responses on this topic, Evelyn and Gemma. I know it will be a very busy year for all of us - each one having slightly different situations to address. So much of what we do as educators is about being flexible - to infinity and beyond.
Changing classrooms through the day is never fun. However, it's great that you have a postive attitide of acceptance about it, Gemma. Hopefully, the students will continue to be helpful throughout the year. It sounds like a lot going on with accreditation as well. It's a shame that while the accreditation process is meant to lead to looking at what has been accomplished and where things need to go from there, it becomes a fog that overtakes so much else (ie: time, energy...) which can detract from the focus of our students and learning. Kind of like cleaning up the puddles on a floor so the house will look nice when the guy comes to fix the leak.
New classrooms, new school - Evelyn and Julie are in classrooms that look great - for now. Of course, it takes time for everything to be put into place in terms of the final touches. Things like enough outlets for enough computers for all the students in Evelyn's classes or getting those schedules finalized - with progress reports already due? Gracious! But those positive attitides will save your sanity.
I'm also wondering about how your schools or you as teachers are addressing the recent stabbing incidents which infiltrated (or seems to have) into the the schools - or at least seems to have infiltrated into the setting at JFK. Some schools may stick their heads into the sand (ignore) while others do take certain steps in addressing the overall social/community climate. Let's see if I can get this to make a new posting topic within this blog site....