I have been a summer school teacher for 5 days. Three of which I was lead teaching our SpEd. Reading class, which has 9 students on the roster.
Myself and the other reading teachers have an 110 minute block to teach one reading and one vocabulary objective. This one objective may be something that would take one or two weeks during the school year (for example, my upcoming lesson on simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, AND hyperbole).
One of the challenges of this schedule is simply the amount of time itself. Before my class even starts at 9:30, the students have been in this room for 50 minutes with either an intensive reading or math lesson. Which means, they've already put forth some effort. Add on top of that another 110 minutes, and you've got a recipe for disengagement.
Which means the ball is in our (the teachers') court to engage with high energy. And it it's been working, somewhat, and sometimes.
The next time I lead teach is Tuesday. Which means I haven't felt the rush this weekend that I did last weekend, when 4 documents were due Sunday night. Instead, tonight I just have 2 documents due. And neither will take too long. But it would be so nice to get ahead.
The students themselves are pretty fun. A good group of kids that I enjoy teaching. But it's a challenge. A very serious challenge.
-Mike
Post a Comment