It's been a while since I posted last. Over a year and a half actually. Let me go over some details of what has happened in my teaching career as of late. Firstly, I'm still teaching 4th grade at Ellis. Last year I had a really great class. They ended up having the best test scores in the city which was pretty awesome. My video club won some competitions again, but I really didn't like the kids in the club. I felt like I was babysitting more than I was teaching. Last year ended up just being a really great year. I started feeling very comfortable with teaching and what I had to do to get students to succeed.
This year things have changed. The other fourth grade teacher that taught with me left to teach 5th grade. That meant a new teacher came in to replace her. I've never been the veteran teacher and I've had a hard time adjusting to that role. Also, I must be a really horrible person because I've made this new teacher cry several times. I don't know how to handle people that are so emotionally fragile.
I have an intern this year which has been great. Normally I would've hated having someone in my class all year, but our district has implemented a new reading and writing program. I'm probably its most outspoken critic, which has left a bitter taste in the eyes of the district and my principal. I still don't understand how administrators, who don't teach, can argue that materials, that they've never used before, are going to improve our scores. Anyway, I've given the intern all of the reading and writing stuff (ReadyGen) to teach this year. It's prevented me from having complete mental breakdowns and quit, so there's that.
We had about 34 kids in my class this year and they are a weird bunch. Definitely some trouble makers, but they are coming along slowly now. It makes me really miss last year's class. The following is a list of stuff I've accomplished for memory sake:
- Made several films for the school district
- Won several video contests from ProjectEd.com and NextVista.org
- Won the Voya Unsung Hero grant/award for $2,000 to start a film festival
- Got some money to start a Lego Robotics league (never competed in the league....oops)
- Started making videos for several companies.
- Taught a 4-H club how to edit videos (it did not go as well as I expected)
Anyway, right now I'm walking on the aforementioned moving sidewalk. Last year I was running on it and life was great. I'm trying to motivate myself to run on it again, but then I get tired and I just rest on it, which sends me further back than where I started last year. The main reason for my lack of motivation is that our new Superintendent has blacklisted me from ever getting a better job in this district and my principal hates me because I make teachers cry. It's amazing how different you can feel from one year to the next. I must be in one of the valleys they saw on the last blog post. I'm just trying to figure out what mountain I want to try and climb next.
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