I really resent the fact that Open House was scheduled way too early this year. I'm REALLY upset. I'm not the only one who feels this way. I just had mid-year parent conferences and report cards 2 weeks ago. It was not a wise time to schedule Open House way too close to parent conferences. We also had back-to-back quarter assessments in math, language arts and science. I feel beaten up as a teacher trying to keep up with the daunting workload. Not to mention, I still have a pile of English Language Development portfolios to re-compile. Who the heck planned this anyway? When I spoke to a representative in our local school leadership (a primary teacher), the reasoning for an earlier Open House was because 5th grade teachers were complaining that if it were scheduled late, it would cut too close to all 5th grade culminating activities. Really? I was not complaining. The later Open House is, the better. I don't think the teacher representatives cared enough to really ask for our opinions. I hope this never happens again. If I had more time, I'd join the local school leadership just so that the upper grade teachers would have more say in how the school ought to be run. I'm pulled in so many directions as it is dealing with a higher classroom ratio of students and wider gaps in learning. (I have kids who read at benchmark and kids who only read 77 words per minute! Far below grade level.) The reality is that there's no time for excellent teachers to be involved in the grander scale of things at my school to make it a better place. Reading and math must come first! Wow, I'm ranting because I'm one of those teachers who have a strong work ethic. I don't do projects half-done. If I do something, I do it with quality. So this Open House is going to be a crappy one. I'll still put in the hard effort, but I am physically, mentally and emotionally unable to produce the kind of Open House that really showcases how much every child in my classroom has achieved. I'm so bummed! I'm at the point now that decorating my bulletin boards for Open House doesn't matter. What matters is how thorough I teach those kids, and how high I can pull them up in reading, writing and math skills. Cute bulletin boards seem so petty and frivolous compared to the grander scheme of things.
By the way, my ranting is not to compare primary elementary teachers vs. upper grade elementary teachers. My mentor teacher is a first grade teacher, and she is awesome at any grade level. I'm so lucky to look to her for help. She mentored me all the way through my NBC candidacy. I have taught first grade and kinder a long time ago, and it is physically exhausting. All I did was take naps after work from teaching 1st graders. I have been teaching 1st grade reading intervention after school this year. Yes, I take on the lovely challenge of teaching 1st grade students who are barely reading words and lack sight word knowledge. I'm not saying that upper grade teachers have it harder. I'm saying that teachers are totally teaching in different planets, between teaching primary and teaching upper grade students. There's a huge gap between what is expected. I think the primary students are taught things at a more reasonable developmental level because it's more concrete. Even if it is abstract, it's still made in a kid-friendly way. It's fun and the students, even if they fall behind, are not as behind. However, in upper grades a lot of things are more abstract and not every child has reach that developmental stage yet. I'm coming across students who are very immature at 10, 11, 12 years old (cognitively, socially and even emotionally). What is going on? It concerns me. Especially if the parenting at home is poor, the child lacks good life experiences to grasp things quickly. So that makes me think about putting in for a lower grade level this upcoming school year. I know that I don't have enough seniority to fill a lower grade position. But I think it's good to at least let my principal know that I'm ready for a change. I've been teaching 5th grade since 2001. It's time for a newer challenge. I always look for challenges. That is my problem too, which will take another blog.
Hoa and I spent Friday evening in my classroom preparing for Open House. I helped Hoa afterschool with her Cougar Art Gallery Exhibit in the school auditorium. We're still not quite finished, but we pretty much mounted and framed all the artwork submitted by the teachers. I have to say that looking at children's art is precious. Some of those art pieces turned out fabulous! I especially love how the kids reflected on their artwork. Reading their thoughts made the artwork even more meaningful. The art gallery is a lot of work, and Hoa has done a great job putting it all together.
But that's not the end of it. I still have to clean up and post student work in my classroom. I pretty much stayed until 9pm on Friday night re-decorating bulletin boards and posting up student work. Open House is on Tuesday, but I don't want to stay late on Monday night trying to finish everything up. I've taken a lot of pictures of the students and even video recorded a lot of our class discussion and lessons. This weekend I plan to take bits and pieces of those videos and pictures to present to parents on Tuesday night. I hope that I will have a full house of parents. I really want to let their parents know how hard their kids worked. I cracked the whips and got them on check! Shoot! I have acne on my face and started seeing a chiropractor this year just to prove the battle scars from my classroom. Do I even have hair left on my scalp? I'm wounded! But the kids in my class, I'm so proud of them. That's why I'm so upset about Open House. I wanted more time to show how much the kids improved. I hope the parents will see how much effort they need to put into supporting their child's education.
I've never worked my tail this hard in all my years of teaching. This was the most challenging class I had to work with. Their behavior was great, but their academics was another thing. However, I did manage refer 2 students to GATE education. They were gifted all along, but sadly undermotivated. So they were always stuck in the low achieving classes. Their past teachers "gave up" on them. One teacher's rubbish is another teacher's treasure. I didn't give up. I was persistent. Boy, I did some crazy things in my classroom this year with math and science, and I noticed how quickly those 2 kids absorbed it from the beginning of the year. I looked at both boys' student files and their math scores for the CAT6 test in mathematics were straight 600/600 for 3 straight years. What the heck!!!!!??? So I put in the paperwork and I also gave them to another teacher for more advanced load of math work. Geez! How could other teachers have them fall through the cracks like that? I was so proud of them for really turning it around. One of the boys came with his father for parent conferences. I shared good news. The boy gave me a hug. I thought that was endearing. I won't forget him.
There were a handful of students who redesignated out of English Language Development. I started out with 17/25 kids who were identified ELD and had all the portfolios to carry around. Those portfolios are a pain in the neck to lug around from home to work. It's so hard to teach and think of multiple ways to scaffold a challenging writing or reading assignment in a way where non-native English student can produce a decent product. The ELD Coordinator worked consistently with them for an hour each morning before language arts time. She went over English basics. It made a huge difference. Now I only have 7 students who still qualify for ELD services. The 10 others are meeting the criteria for regular language arts instruction. I think they are ready to have a regular English teacher in middle school. No remedial English necessary. My goal for the last trimester is to crack the whip on those 7 kids and give them a good foundation in English reading and writing. It is very challenging. Hopefully by their 7th grade year, they will also be able to be in a regular English class. I think I have a big heart for these 2nd language learners because my own parents are 2nd language learners. Language might be an obstacle, but should never be a barrier to one's success.
Anyway, that's enough teacher talk for the weekend. I gotta get my Mt. Everest of laundry washed, dried and folded.
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