Pity Party

One thing I want to accomplish by writing more often (blog format) is to reflect and problem-solve about my teaching. I promise, it will not always be negative, and hopefully I will come to some insightful conclusions now and again. In fact, I'll start on a positive note today:

This morning was fabulous. I had kids engaged in what they were doing, putting thought into their work, and I was able to teach multiplication in small groups without being interrupted every 60 seconds. I sat down at one point and just watched all the kids hard at work on writing, thinking, 'Wow. Look at all of the kids I have who are here to learn and want to do the right things. They are learning so much and accomplishing a lot.'

If you feel like reading the negative, keep going.

This year has been particularly hard for me. Several reasons:

1) I was given a "split" class- I am teaching fourth and fifth grade in the same room. I definitely believe in multi-age classrooms. However, with all of the mandates about what to teach and when it has to be taught (tested) these days, it is extremely difficult to plan effective lessons for two grades without leaving something out. In my five years of teaching, this is my third split class. It is not getting any easier.

2) I taught for three years in Utah and all of those years were in 6th grade (the split year it was 5th/6th). By the third year, it was great! I had an outline for the year, I had units prepared to teach, and I wasn't running around like a chicken with my head cut off every day. This year I am teaching a new grade in a different state and I had to start all over. It's frustrating to go from being a great, effective teacher with some free time to staying up all hours of the night lesson planning for the next day.

3) I started the year with 28 kids on the roster. I knew that two of them were going to be a handful. When school opened, all of a sudden there were 33 kids in my class. The number of kids has now dropped to 29, but it is a lot to deal with to get them all the attention they need.

4) I have Jamie. (And Thomas. And Dontay. And Zana. And Johnny. And Kendrick.)
**Names changed to protect the . . . troublemakers. They definitely aren't innocent.
Here are a few quotes from Jamie this year (Yes, they have actually come from the mouth of a fourth grader, and normally they are screamed at me just before or just after he has taken off running down the hallway):
-Did you learn anything when you were becoming a teacher? You need to go back to college.
-You are a evil witch who sucks the souls from children.
-Dear Jesus, Please give the principal a brain. . . What do you mean, I can't say that? I have a right to pray!
-Dear God, Please send my big sister to come and beat up Mrs. Anderson. . . I am not threatening anyone! I am praying! Don't take my religion away from me!
-Dear Jesus, Please teach Mrs. Pawlowski to keep her mouth shut.
-Shut up, librarian, you old fart.
-Two, four, six, eight, who do we depreciate? Mrs. So-and-so...
-You make me not want to be a Christian anymore.
(We start behavior plan #3 with him tomorrow.)

Hmmm. Better go to bed. Whining is not productive.