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Almost Wednesday already?
Feb. 28th, 2006 08:04 pmI went to Starbucks for the first time in a month today. I loved my latte a lot :)
I just realized that tomorrow is Wednesday. The week has been flying by! I thikn I'll do something fun with 6th grade tomorrow, let them draw a little bit. I haven't developed a lot of creative activities yet, and so I think I'm chating my students a little bit. Alas, I'm learning.
It's sad that kids in 8th grade still can't spell Wednesday. I can see how they pick up the habit, as I was watching a 4th grader this afternoon make 3 attempts at spelling it.
I decided to forgo the work I brought home tonight. I went to dinner instead. Since I got home at 7, forget starting anything. I think I'm also in denial. I don't want to try and plan any lessons because I'm 99% sure they will bomb. I have six 7th graders, and nine 8th graders. The entire group is some level of English learner. Three of the 8th graders are in the ELL class in the morning, and just come to me in the afternoon because they would do nothing in the regular language arts class. Those three I don't have to grade, but I give them the same work as the others. Of the remaining 12 students, I'd say 1 actually gives a crap, one has her moments, and the rest are either clueless, don't care, or both. So, I've spent 3/4 of the year trying to figure out ways to get through to these kids, trying to help them progress at all in reading and writing. I have not gotten nearly as far as I had hoped. For the longest time, and to some extent I still feel this way, I blamed myself for their failures. What if I had prepared more or explained better or modeled a concept more? Am I not doing enough because of inexperience? Some things I know I could have done better, but after listening to 2 other teachers today, I am truly realizing it really is the kids. They've either been spoon-fed, carried along, sat ignored in the back, or just goofed off during their school careers. When I expect them to answer a question that requires them to look back at some text or think JUST a little bit, nothing. I found out it's not just my students who do things like this, and my students don't just do this in my class. This makes me feel a little bit better, but at the same time, it's really hard to keep trying. Why am I spending so much time and they give so little back? I won't feel bad giving them the grades they've earned. Yes, earned. No matter what their background, they have earned their grades, good or bad.
I'll still end up feeling guilty and stressed, but hopefully not for as long.
I just realized that tomorrow is Wednesday. The week has been flying by! I thikn I'll do something fun with 6th grade tomorrow, let them draw a little bit. I haven't developed a lot of creative activities yet, and so I think I'm chating my students a little bit. Alas, I'm learning.
It's sad that kids in 8th grade still can't spell Wednesday. I can see how they pick up the habit, as I was watching a 4th grader this afternoon make 3 attempts at spelling it.
I decided to forgo the work I brought home tonight. I went to dinner instead. Since I got home at 7, forget starting anything. I think I'm also in denial. I don't want to try and plan any lessons because I'm 99% sure they will bomb. I have six 7th graders, and nine 8th graders. The entire group is some level of English learner. Three of the 8th graders are in the ELL class in the morning, and just come to me in the afternoon because they would do nothing in the regular language arts class. Those three I don't have to grade, but I give them the same work as the others. Of the remaining 12 students, I'd say 1 actually gives a crap, one has her moments, and the rest are either clueless, don't care, or both. So, I've spent 3/4 of the year trying to figure out ways to get through to these kids, trying to help them progress at all in reading and writing. I have not gotten nearly as far as I had hoped. For the longest time, and to some extent I still feel this way, I blamed myself for their failures. What if I had prepared more or explained better or modeled a concept more? Am I not doing enough because of inexperience? Some things I know I could have done better, but after listening to 2 other teachers today, I am truly realizing it really is the kids. They've either been spoon-fed, carried along, sat ignored in the back, or just goofed off during their school careers. When I expect them to answer a question that requires them to look back at some text or think JUST a little bit, nothing. I found out it's not just my students who do things like this, and my students don't just do this in my class. This makes me feel a little bit better, but at the same time, it's really hard to keep trying. Why am I spending so much time and they give so little back? I won't feel bad giving them the grades they've earned. Yes, earned. No matter what their background, they have earned their grades, good or bad.
I'll still end up feeling guilty and stressed, but hopefully not for as long.
