5 months later...

Sorry to anyone who actually reads this to keep up on my life! (Mom... ;->)  The past 5 months at school have been a whirlwind.  They've gone by so fast, yet so slow.  They have been filled with victories and failures, joy and frustration.  I have certainly learned A LOT.  Such as:
1. Students do not want to take tests the day before a week-long holiday, and therefore WILL NOT do it with their best work.
2. Changes in weather really DO make a huge difference in behavior.
3. Indoor recess is NOT the same as outdoor recess.
4. Math is really abstract when it gets into multiplication, division, fractions and measurement.
5. Language Arts is more fun when students get to put all they things they've learned into a writing of some sort-- like a letter or a poem.
6. Seating charts, at least for my class, need to change every couple weeks to keep physical aggression to a minimum.
7.  There's always a better way to do what you've always been doing.
8. Observing your peers has tremendous benefits.
9. The third round of Parent Conferences is a little more challenging than the first two.
10. Parents can still be mean. For no good reason many times.


Now, I'm doing a lot to change what I've been doing all year.  Reading Centers are different now.... well, I don't remember if I even had them before Christmas.  Students do one center a day, Monday through Thursday and take the assessment on Friday.  Reading scores have improved since I've started centers.  Each week, students do a listening center, where they listen to a narrator read the story we're working on, and do a follow-up vocabulary page.  They do a center using their spelling words, a center writing something, and working with me.  Lately, I've been researching other ways to do centers.  So next year, or if I can figure it out logistically before then, I hope to have 6 or 8 centers instead of 4 so there are fewer students at each center.  One challenge I have, minus wrapping my mind around the logistics, is space.  My classroom is an open-concept room, and not very big.  We only have 1 computer for the teacher and students, and my cd player is now broken.  We only have 3 walls, one with a whiteboard, one with the door, and the other with a window.

Another challenge of my year has been the academic levels of my students.  I have a group that is below average, and another group that is well above average... and no average. So, whole-class lessons are difficult, and finding time to differentiate instruction has been a challenge as well.

So, now I'm researching ways to overcome these challenges on google.... and hoping to find some professional development on these things over the summer.

And for anyone wondering out there, I have only taken 3 sick days this year.  1 for vomiting, and 2 more for a fever exceeding 102 degrees.

It's been a pretty exciting year so far.  I look forward to finishing this one, and building upon what I've learned next year. And I'm hoping to blog a little more. As I'm searching for things about how to schedule centers and a whole day using more centers,  I find myself wishing more people blogged about it or made websites about it.  So, realizing my blog really isn't helpful for anyone, except maybe those deciding if they really want to teach, I'll still update it in hopes that maybe some day I'll be an extraordinarily brilliant teacher. Maybe someday I'll have a really good idea or insight... maybe.



But one last note, I finally saw the movie Waiting for Superman.  I HIGHLY recommend it!  It changed the way I view my profession as an educator in a charter school, and reminded me of the responsibility I carry. Now I'm learning how to steward the responsibility and privilege well. Wish me luck! :-)