Skip to main content

One Week Left

Next week will be the final week of summer school... I thought I was looking more forward to it than I did I the end of the school year, but then I looked at my class lists for the upcoming year. I'm afraid... really, really afraid. Where is my optimism? Where is my excitement?

It fled at the sight of one class list. Does this mean I'm heading for a burn out? What does the third year bring? Besides stress, I mean. Help calm my fears...

FWIW - still loving the writing module; still bored with the reading module. I think forcing students to do the reading module day after day borders on cruel and unusual punishment.

Question - If your parents pay for you to go to summer school, at a price that is not "pin-money" in this local economy... and you choose not to complete assignments, not listen to instructions and act like a big idiot, why is it my fault you're grounded?

Comments

Lady Strathconn said…
I believe that goes hand in hand with something I read at Edwonks yesterday:

Accountability-based learning: &-"kaun-t&-'bi-l&-tE 'bAsd 'l&rni[ng] [n] when teachers are blamed for poor student performance, but involved parents are lauded for outstanding student performance.
6:45 AM
The Science Goddess said…
Third year? That's when you know enough to be wary of class lists. :)

I would hope that even if there are kids on those lists who make you want to run away, that perhaps the new class configurations (and an additional year of whatever resembles maturity) might help change the dynamics. If not, then ride 'em hard the first couple of weeks so that they're begging for schedule changes.

Congrats on getting to the end of summer school. I am also very happy to see this week arrive!
7:12 AM
Euclid said…
I was working in a small school teaching courses where I had kids multiple years in a row. There was one boy that I used to have nightmares before the start of school. They were always about having him acting out in class and having to deal with it. I think he was in four different courses in the same number of years. Now he is about 30. Last I heard he was in prison.

I think it wasn't until year 5 or 6 that the "before school dread" stopped.

Look at this coming year as a chance to learn as much about teaching as you learned your first year. That was the case during my third year.

BTW: At my current school, we don't get our class lists until the day before the students begin. Supposedly that way they'll be more accurate. Not much time for agonizing that way:-)
3:14 PM
Mr. McNamar said…
Class list? Already? I am very jealous. We haven't even had our students complete registration yet--only enough to let us know what classes we'll be teaching.
12:08 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“They Don’t Get It”

I hear that a lot these days. It used to be mostly from various teens trying to negotiate the drama unfolding in their lives as they wandered into that no-man’s land between adult and child. These days it’s from adults trying to navigate the education scene these days. So many people talking and no one listening. The other day I was reading a post by a blogger I’ve been following for several years. Before there was such a thing as “blogging.” We all know spring is IEP review season. This blogger wrote about his daughter’s. Among the various elements, there was the discussion about the state assessment tests. She did not pass. There was discussion about what this means… and why said student needed to pass this test. Would she be taking a modified test? While reading, all I could think about was what would happen to that child as she entered middle school and high school. A history of not passing the assessment test vs. teachers who will now be evaluated on how many students pass t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Cruelest Month

I know T.S. Eliot favored April as the most cruel, but we teachers know that May is… even more so these days. Most importantly, it is the final testing month. National ‘assessments, state ‘assessments’, district ‘assessments’, school ‘assessments’… on and on. It’s impossible to actually get anything done. Toss in graduation activities, planning for the upcoming year and the 2011 bonus, lay-offs and transfers, and you have to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to save money by simply shutting down school entirely except for a few test proctors. Meanwhile, there seems an air of hopelessness permeating the education world. Plans to lay-off thousands are coming to fruition. Schools are being closed, despite protests. Charters are increasing where they can whether they should not. Unions have lost a lot ground and teachers are trying to decide if it’s even worth it any more to continue talking about education . ( not that I blame anyone for that, we all have lives to live ) For myself, I...
Post a Comment
Read more

Campaign Promises

While purusing the Sunday paper, I came across an article describing some local candidate forum held over the weekend. Apprently they either weren't able to say a lot or what they said was pretty boring because the article was skimpy on specifics. What caught my eye was a position of Randy Dutton. He wants "higher standards for teachers." My interest was piqued... what kind of standards? In looking at his website, apparently those standards will be raised by carrying a gun to school, finally; "full days of school"-whatever that means - personally I'd love to put in business hours. No more 5 am wake ups; increasing the number of k-8 schools - because those kindergartners don't swear enough; sending disruptive students to placed like Habit for Humanity - babysitting is what people volunteer for; and teaching more American History- too bad that with all the testing, no one ever gets past the Civil War... I'm not sure how any of these apply to teachers, ...
Post a Comment
Read more