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.