My first week was excellent. The students are awesome and sweet. That is because they are just new sixth graders and I am sure this will ALL change by Christmas, if not sooner. I am at Castle Middle School (pseudonym) and I am in one Social Studies class and one Language Arts class. Both of my CT’s have been so kind and have made me feel welcome.
My Language Arts teacher I will name Ms. Cleary. This week the students have been working on the writing assessment so there has not been much for me to do. And there are only seven girls. That’s right no boys. Actually, tomorrow there is will only be six. One has moved away already. I have been told that they will see as many students come into Castle as they see exit in one year. The turnover is very great.
But Ms. Cleary has offered me resource after resource. Anything and everything I want to borrow, look at, thumb through is mine for the asking. She has asked me to help her incorporate more of their literature curriculum into her daily lesson plans. Castle Middle School uses America’s Choice as their base language arts curriculum and it is only skeletal and must be supplemented a lot. I have told her about my idea for the poetry unit I wish to teach and she really liked it. And again, offered me many things to look at to get more ideas. Walking out of the school today I felt like I was carrying an elephant, my arms were that full. I only hope that I can meet her expectations and help her in some way.
My social studies CT I will name Mr. Bodfish, in honor of the only social studies teacher I ever liked in high school. Mr. Bodfish used to be an elementary teacher and so has unique and interesting ways of incorporating other content areas into social studies. I can learn a lot for him. Science and Social Studies at Castle are only 45 minute classes, where Core classes are a full block. So, he is challenged with fitting a complete lesson into a shorten class period. He greets the students everyday with a loud “Good Morning beautiful students of Castle Middle School” and the respond back with a “Good Morning Mr. Bodfish.” A little hidden curriculum, throwing some manners in there for the students. In addition to me there is also a paraprofessional in the class as well. Since it is a fairly large class, the more adults in the room, the better!
My goals for this semester are quite simple.
· To plan and teach an outstanding unit for each of my content area classes.
· Feel comfortable taking control when my CT needs me to.
· To continue to expand my knowledge of Young Adult Literature
· To learn more ways to differentiate my instruction so that I can teach more effectively
· Learn some ELL strategies for my English Language Learners
I am certain that this list will grow and change as my year progresses. I am so thankful to be in a school that has a diverse student body and teachers and administration that seem to really love what they are doing. It is going to be an awesome year!
