A normal school year is something that I have yet to experience. The first year I taught I did two long term sub positions and although I taught most of the year the classrooms were not my own. This year I am only working part time and am in a position that I am using as a stepping stone to hopefully a full time classroom teacher next year. I will use my experiences from the past two years to create what I hope will be my year for the 2010-11 school year.
Created by jjziegler92 on Jan 8, 2010
Last updated: 01/08/10 at 04:48 PM
Tags: School Year
Here we go again...enjoy the ride.
Summer is the perfect time to relax and reflect on the school year. The best teachers look at their teaching and decide what they can change and how they can make their lesson better the next time. I have been told that teaching is like lemonade. The school year is the concentrate it can be bitter, sweet, and strong. Summer is like the water that completes the lemonade to make it a perfect drink. It doesn't matter what happen during the school year during the summer you look back and remember the ride.
We made it! It's the last day of school. The students want to let the party begin but I have some mixed emotions. I am happy that we are done for the school year but I know that I will miss them. It is hard to let go, you work together to build a relationship and then you have to start over the next year. You invest your heart and soul into each one of them and it is hard to see them walk out the door. The good thing is that the process will start all over again in August.
It's May, and I will have almost lost all control. Testing is done and we are ready to become 5th graders. We will start to remember where we were at the beginning of the year...did we reach all of our goals? Are we ready to move on?
Once the sun comes out and the calendar switches to March there is a new feeling in the air. The students can feel that spring will be here soon and that spring break is not that far away. I will continue to look at look students and ask myself, how are they doing, am I meeting their needs, what can I do to make the most of the time I have left with them?
January and February are hard. It is time to put the nose to the grindstone and really do some work. That real world learning is interrupted by testing (writing assessments, reading assessments, gifted testing, OTELA testing) and getting ready for the dreaded OAT (OAA). It will be difficult to motivate students that have the winter blues and are hoping for a snow day. I will do my best to make my teaching exciting and hands on so I can keep my students motivated.
Once the calendar turns to December the students (and teachers) begin to get that Christmas itch. They are less motivate and ready for a break. I vow to use that 2 weeks to recharge my battery so I am ready for the new year.
November means parent teacher conferences. I will be nervous to meet my students parents but excited to show them how their child is doing. I am sure there will be some conversations that will be more difficult than others. At the end of conference week is Thanksgiving break which means food, family, and relaxation.
By October I would have completed the first units in all content areas, done my reading assessments, formed reading groups, and know my students as writers. I would hope by now we were a community of learners and that I knew each students strengths and weaknesses.
I would like to say that I will enjoy my first day off and relax but I am sure that I will use this day to regroup and reflect on what is working and what isn't. I am not one to stay with something that I know isn't working. I will consider my class a work in progress.
During the first week we will talk about classroom procedures and expectations. We will learn about each other by writing about ourselves and our family and talking about our favorite books. My goal will be to begin to build the respect and trust with my students to build a strong foundation for the school year.
Let the games begin!! When that bell rings on the first day of school there is no looking back.
I will spend time in August setting up my classroom, preparing lesson plans, and getting ready for the first day of school
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