Day 5
Friday was similar to the rest of the week. We used manipulatives in math more than we did earlier in the week. One child had something to share (or show-and-tell, as we called it when I was in school). The class had two 'specials', Music and Gym. Nothing out of the ordinary happened other than it was Popcorn Day. Every student either paid $0.25 for a bag of popcorn, or received it free for having perfect attendance. I'm normally against food for
I'm beginning to get a feel for how the classroom dynamic changes when some of the children leave and go to the resource room for remediation. With a group of about 12 students left in the room, the instruction becomes more individualized. Students seem to enjoy the smaller class size and more personal interaction with the teacher. I can only hope that the students pulled out to the other classroom (staffed with one teacher and two paraprofessionals), are having as good of an experience.
The tension in the building is starting to build. You can almost feel the grip of THE test starting to squeeze. So much rides on the test scores. The students don't understand why it is important, but they know that the grown-ups really think it is important.
It's amazing what you learn when you eat lunch with the students every day. I can see the anxiety building in many of their eyes. They are genuinely worried and they aren't sure why.
Does it have to be this way?
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1 comment:
Thanks for sharing these Thoughts and Reflections with us. Interesting that a veteran teacher such as myself can need to read these. It's the yes, nod, oh yeah kind of reading. Your process is making you better at your job because you are TAKING the time to reflect and not simply being caught up in the busy-ness of your real life. Long before "Day 1" you have had an energy in your writing that tells me you are up for the real challenges a teacher faces.
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