Glimmers of Hope

First glimmer of hope: I received a text message from a former cooperating teacher yesterday. He is now in administration, and it sounds like there may be openings in his school for next year. I am going to need help updating my documents for this round of job searching. Please send positive thoughts my way.

Second glimmer of hope: My administrators moved some of the support staff around in order to use them more effectively. I now have an extra adult, in addition to my para, in my room during my last rotation. This is not only my worst class in terms of behavior, but they are also very low academically. I put a ton of effort into keeping my students engaged, but whole group instruction is difficult with this group because they do not focus well. I rearranged my classroom today and tried the 'centers' approach with them. I was so pleased!

Here's what I did:

10-15-minute introduction/focus lesson

25-minute rotations (X3: sustained silent reading, language arts work, and reading indicator practice)

5-minute recap/exit slips

I realize this is not a new approach, but it is the first time I have used centers in my own classroom. If things continue to go well, I may change the structure of my first rotation, too.

A New Year, Hopefully a New Classroom

This is my third year of teaching sixth grade reading and language arts in a middle school setting. I have been thinking about starting a blog since before I had my own classroom, and I can finally check that off of my list.

The title of my blog, "Married to Middle School," seems fitting for two reasons. First of all, I spend a lot of time working after school. I am really bad about this. I often work until seven in the evening (sometimes later). This has a negative impact on my already nonexistent social life. I know this part will not change much once I have an elementary job, but I suspect that it will not bother me as much as it does currently. Secondly, I applied for a few (literally - only three or four) elementary positions. I did not get so much as an interview. I am not sure if this is the case in other states, but in Kansas, the job search is very competitive because there are so many applicants and so few jobs available. I had a bit of a meltdown at the start of the school year when the reality that I would be teaching another year at the middle school level hit me. I am not myself this year. It seems as though my smiles come less frequently, and with more effort on my part to produce them. My heart is definitely more attracted to teaching in an elementary classroom.

I need a divorce from middle school. I want to be “ecstatic in elementary,” or something equally great. Don't get me wrong; there are things that I appreciate about teaching at the middle school level. For instance, I like the daily schedule. Our school has the sixth grade split into two teams, and since each teacher teaches two subjects, we have three rotations of students for around 90 minutes each. I appreciate that I only have to plan for two subjects each day. It melts my heart when a student who has been a non-reader can't wait to tell me about his/her latest great read. Although it seems that there is always at least one whose only interest in school is making my day miserable, MOST of my students are great. I really enjoy the sweet students I keep after school for tutoring because they put forth the most effort, even though they are the students who struggle the most.

The problem is that I CRAVE an elementary classroom of my own. I mean, the kind of craving a person gets for anything and everything that is chocolaty, minty, caffeinated, or spicy when her doctor has just forbidden all of these things for two entire months in order to try to heal her esophagus. (Yes, it happened to me. I promptly "disposed of" (read: ate) my entire box of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies that afternoon so that they would no longer be a temptation and promised myself to start the very next day with strict dedication to the new diet restrictions. It's perfectly logical reasoning!)

Because of these reasons, I have decided to take my job search more seriously and make it a bigger priority this year.

Here are my resolutions for 2012:

1.              Have a closer relationship with God.

2.              Become an elementary teacher.

3.              Pay off credit cards and car loan. (Credit card debt eliminated 4/2012!)

4.              Live a more active/healthy lifestyle.

5.              Stay caught up on grading.

6.              Be more positive and confident.

7.              Be more social/be a better friend.

8.              Read more often.

9.              Be a good leader for my student teacher (goes along with #6).

10.           Be able to discontinue my acid reflux medication. (3/2012)

11.           Sort clothing that I want to keep by season and donate or discard the rest.

12.           Organize my classroom.

What are some of your resolutions?