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I'm tired, I'm burned out, I'm tired of being burned out and stressed. I'm tired of not knowing what I'm doing, and tired of the kids not having a clue. Ok, that's not fair, a couple of them are with it.
Do I start the book over for the benefit of a few? I need to see what happens tomorrow, and see what grades add up to. I need to see what I can do for my ELLs. I sort of knew going into this unit that I didn't have a solid plan. Now that I want to include more character analysis into the reading, and not just the writing, I have to change plans. I get so frustrated because the kids remember so little of what they read, even answering simple, fact-recall type comprehension questions is near impossible. Then there's the one kid who just doesn't care, and I know he could do more if he believed in himself. He says reading is boring, and I know some people don't enjoy reading, but when you're 15 reading at a 3rd grade level, I can see how he dislikes it.
My conscience bothers me constantly, I wonder what else I could have done to help my ELLs. Going by what my principal said at the beginning of the year, being in my class is modification enough, and I really am not supposed to do more for them. However, how am I helping them if they can't read the book? At the same time, I can't just cater to the English learners and bore the other kids. I have such a mixed ability group that no single curriculum will work, and I don't know what to do. I am afraid to go to my principal, I will go when I have a few more ideas. He believes so strongly in the corrective curriculum, but it isn't working.
I just have to find some way to make sure my ELLs get a passing grade, that is, if they actually made an effort to do the work and just struggled language-wise. I mean, I want them all to pass, and pass fairly, but I want to make sure I did all that I could do.
I just don't know what to do. I hate the fact that as the teacher, 99% of the time it's my fault.
Do I start the book over for the benefit of a few? I need to see what happens tomorrow, and see what grades add up to. I need to see what I can do for my ELLs. I sort of knew going into this unit that I didn't have a solid plan. Now that I want to include more character analysis into the reading, and not just the writing, I have to change plans. I get so frustrated because the kids remember so little of what they read, even answering simple, fact-recall type comprehension questions is near impossible. Then there's the one kid who just doesn't care, and I know he could do more if he believed in himself. He says reading is boring, and I know some people don't enjoy reading, but when you're 15 reading at a 3rd grade level, I can see how he dislikes it.
My conscience bothers me constantly, I wonder what else I could have done to help my ELLs. Going by what my principal said at the beginning of the year, being in my class is modification enough, and I really am not supposed to do more for them. However, how am I helping them if they can't read the book? At the same time, I can't just cater to the English learners and bore the other kids. I have such a mixed ability group that no single curriculum will work, and I don't know what to do. I am afraid to go to my principal, I will go when I have a few more ideas. He believes so strongly in the corrective curriculum, but it isn't working.
I just have to find some way to make sure my ELLs get a passing grade, that is, if they actually made an effort to do the work and just struggled language-wise. I mean, I want them all to pass, and pass fairly, but I want to make sure I did all that I could do.
I just don't know what to do. I hate the fact that as the teacher, 99% of the time it's my fault.
