Teaching is hard work
It was 6:00 in the morning, half an hour before my alarm was set to go off, and I was wide awake staring at the ceiling. My mind was racing with thoughts about the kids I'm working with. Emily needs extra help with writing 3-digit numbers and with story problems calculating dates. Abby needs extra help telling time in 5-minute increments. And the sixth grade boys are at the end of their reader. What should I do starting next week? I am starting to see what individual student needs are and I am champing at the bit to address those issues.
I got to school a little bit early this morning and went to talk to another teacher about borrowing some resources from her to use with these kids. I could tell I needed to reteach some concepts. I took a look at today's and tomorrow's plans and shifted a few things around so that I had time to concentrate more on those specific deficits. I found manipulatives to use (a must for slower learners) and kind of made games out of them. By the end of today I felt like Emily had mastered 3-digit numbers and Abby could tell time to the nearest 5 minutes! Yay! Now, I'm not so naive as to think tomorrow they will remember it all, but they did know it today. I'm going to spend a few minutes at the beginning of each class reviewing it so they don't forget.
At the end of the day today, I started to look ahead to the week after next (next week is spring break). I started to write out plans and gather materials. You can't really imagine what a huge job that is until you actually do it! I spent close to 45 minutes and all I managed to get planned and organized was 3 separate sets of math plans for the week (for 3 separate kids). I still have to make two sets of math plans (for 4 kids) and two sets of reading plans (for 5 kids) for the week. It doesn't help that the other LD teacher is so busy that I have trouble tracking her down when I have a question and I have to go digging around for answers.
I really am excited about getting involved in this. I kind of hate the fact that we'll be on spring break next week. I feel like I'm getting geared up and building my momentum. I want the chance to really work with these kids and here I have to take a week off! (I know the other teachers would kill me if they knew I thought that. Ha!)
I got to school a little bit early this morning and went to talk to another teacher about borrowing some resources from her to use with these kids. I could tell I needed to reteach some concepts. I took a look at today's and tomorrow's plans and shifted a few things around so that I had time to concentrate more on those specific deficits. I found manipulatives to use (a must for slower learners) and kind of made games out of them. By the end of today I felt like Emily had mastered 3-digit numbers and Abby could tell time to the nearest 5 minutes! Yay! Now, I'm not so naive as to think tomorrow they will remember it all, but they did know it today. I'm going to spend a few minutes at the beginning of each class reviewing it so they don't forget.
At the end of the day today, I started to look ahead to the week after next (next week is spring break). I started to write out plans and gather materials. You can't really imagine what a huge job that is until you actually do it! I spent close to 45 minutes and all I managed to get planned and organized was 3 separate sets of math plans for the week (for 3 separate kids). I still have to make two sets of math plans (for 4 kids) and two sets of reading plans (for 5 kids) for the week. It doesn't help that the other LD teacher is so busy that I have trouble tracking her down when I have a question and I have to go digging around for answers.
I really am excited about getting involved in this. I kind of hate the fact that we'll be on spring break next week. I feel like I'm getting geared up and building my momentum. I want the chance to really work with these kids and here I have to take a week off! (I know the other teachers would kill me if they knew I thought that. Ha!)
Labels: Teaching
posted by Mama G @ 4:32 PM
4 Comments:
At 6:14 PM,
Lilylou said…
Wow, what a good post, Mama G. Teaching is so much fun when you feel like you've made progress with the kids. I'm not surprised you're pumped about it all.
At 8:32 PM,
mathmom said…
Sounds exciting and gratifying! Those kids are lucky to have you. It is definitely a lot of work, especially with the individual planning you need to do! I hope every day is as rewarding as today, and the experience is just what you need to land the next permanent full-time position that comes up. :)
At 10:22 PM,
kinsi said…
A trick of the trade - When I need extra resources, I use edhelper.com
I use it a lot. So if you get stuck with what to do with a kid, check that site out.
At 8:34 AM,
Mama G said…
Oooh, thanks Kinsi! I'll have to check that website out!
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