A New Year Begins Again
Tomorrow will be our 13th day of school and some routines and patterns of behaving are beginning to appear. My job is somewhat different this year in that I have been given responsibility for a fifth grade math group and other fifth grade support in addition to my job as Gifted Resource Teacher. (Our county provides a full time gifted position in schools with over 300 kids, but our school this year doesn’t quite meet that mark, so additional duties have been assigned.)
Bottom line though, is that I am on the fifth grade team officially–not as a specialist, but as a third fifth grade teacher. And, being a member of that team has been an eye-opener to the time crunch I already knew we had, but hadn’t realized it as quite as bad as it really is. In having discussions about schedules, assessment, how to group for getting to know the kids, shared community building activities, etc., I’m missing having more time to talk about the kids as human beings–their likes, dislikes, friends, learning needs/styles/interests, etc. Part of that, I know, is letting the teachers new to these kids get to know them. We’ve begun it, as the school year settles into a routine, but I’m impatient, as those of you who know me are well aware.
It’s funny how each school year brings new hope for new beginnings and a belief that this year will be different,