Exhausted...
... I was energized throughout most of the day, but I'm sooooo tired now. Here's why:
-got another new student (class total: 28 + 2 who come in during the afternoons for science/social studies)
-class was loud & obnoxious today; I raised my voice a LOT
-tried to start class newspaper project with my kids- they were sooooo loud
-end of the day was crazy hectic
And it's not over yet!! Still to do this afternoon/evening:
-call the Grand Canyon to work out some kinks with the trip
-make the program for Friday's spelling bee
-make sub plans for Thursday & Friday
-attend PTO meeting tonight at 6pm
-pick up ribbons, awards, and trophies for Friday's spelling bee
-make several phone calls to parents
-pay my (overdue) rent before the office closes
-get my AIMS (stupid standardized test stuff) prep stuff ready for next week
-fill out forms for students w/ IEPs
-crash out (& die????)
Thank GOD tomorrow is my last day teaching this week, or I think I'd flip out. Oh, also, I just took a survey b/c my 4th graders will be assessed next month by the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) people. It's a big thing, it sounds like, and I had to fill out a questionnaire about my teaching style, content, and student demographics. It was depressing; it asked stuff like, "How often do you group your students?" or, "How often do you differentiate your instruction for different learners?" I don't!! I suck. I just despise hearing about all the awesome stuff I *could* be doing, but a.) don't know HOW to, and b.) don't feel like I have the time and resources necessary to do so.
Bleh. Time to go run errands so I can be back here by 6. Le sigh.
posted by Marybeth @ 3:52 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Take a deep breath! You're going in a million wonderful, exciting, different directions at once! From reading your daily blog, you DO differentiate for different learning styles. Every time you try something different (games by which to learn math, jeopardy games to learn states, etc.), you are differentiating. You had your students working with a partner sometimes -- that's working in a group. Groups can be 2 or more. You are being too hard on yourself and not giving yourself enough credit for all you do. Working with your students on a newspaper and having different students complete different tasks is differentiating as is all the different ways you've taught spelling. Instinctively (and through OSU and NAU), you've learned more than even you realize you have. Trust your instincts. They are very, very good (and so are you). Enjoy your field trip! How I wish I could go with you.
Momita :)
Your momz0r is right on the money. No need to be dramatic. =)
I just remembered an AWESOME newspaper English assignment. My teacher took some well written NYT articles (complex sentences and all), typed them up, broke all the sentences into clauses then gave us the pieces. We had to rewrite the clauses as complex sentences that fit that part of the article (usually a paragraph or two). We were allowed to read the rest of the article though. Fun stuff... might be a bit beyond 10 year olds, but maybe you can think of an easier way to do it.
Joe
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