It’s been a week. It’s been a very long week. But I am so glad to be back at school again. No matter how much I enjoy my two months off during the summer (yes, two – not three!), it always is such a pleasure to get back to teaching. It really is where my heart lies at this time in my life. I am eager, if not a little anxious, to meet the challenges that face me each year. This year is no different. I was, however, anticipating the challenges that this year would bring. I had heard too often these words: Good luck next year!
Yeah, that’s great! Thanks. Anything else you’d like to share?
I really try to avoid telling next year’s teachers too much about the class that I have currently. There are times, though, that we all get exasperated and need to vent to our colleagues. However, I will never do it to the extent that it was done to us last year. I try to influence next year’s teachers as little as possible.
I will admit to venting more to my grade level team than to anyone else because they can relate. For example, last year the students, as a whole, were very slow moving. They were smart enough, but everything was done in low gear – slow as molasses, I tell ya! Little turtles come to mind.
There are so many tricks out there to deal with unruly students, and I am looking at each and every one. I’ve already changed seats twice. I’ll be changing them again. It’s a very intricate process, finding the best seat for all of the students. It could turn perfectly beautiful blonde hairs gray! (That would *never* happen to me!) I’ve gone from four rows of six (well, one is seven now that I have a new student) to groups. I love groups, but I fear that this group might not be the ideal “group” group. We shall see. I always like to give them a chance.
I’ve also decided to do Fred Jones’ P.A.T. (Preferred Activity Time) each day. Although I am giving the kids some various activity or another at the end of the day, I will hopefully gain back that much time (and more) throughout the day. I give them ten minutes at the beginning of each day. They earn points by doing things in a timely manner (i.e., they are given 60 seconds to put one book away and take something else out) and if they go over the allotted time, that amount of time is taken off of the ten minutes. P.A.T. activities might include a class game -- word/math bingo, around the world – an outdoor game, free time, or even homework time (which has been amazingly popular in past years – imagine having time to do homework before you even leave school *with* the teacher’s help!). Hopefully it will be effective!
I am also having groups compete against each other. The first group to be completely prepared gets a point. Groups who are noisy and talking lose a point. They can also earn points for being on task and other things. The group with the most points at the end of the week will earn themselves free homework passes, which they think is very cool. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will work!
I also have a little girl who is severely ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and has been taken off of her medication by her mother. Therefore, one of my challenges is keeping this girl from flying out of her chair, getting her to do some work for me, and making sure that she enjoys her learning experience. Heh. Good luck to me. Fortunately, she’s a likeable little girl and fairly bright. She loves to read and is going through my “Bailey School Kids” collection like there’s no tomorrow. Unfortunately, she’s usually reading them as I’m teaching a lesson. We’ve worked out a reward system for her. I talked to her regarding what the reward should be, and she wanted warhead candies. I discussed it with her mother, and we have agreed to try it out for a while. She’s not allowed to eat all the candy that she earns at school, so I won’t have to deal with an adhd student on a sugar high! Again, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will work. Hopefully she’ll get to the point where she won’t need that reward anymore.
It’s not going to be an easy year, but I really do think it’s going to be an enjoyable one. With the new math curriculum and the challenging students, life promises to be very interesting.
previous |
current | next
|
