Saturday, September 19, 2015

Current Struggles

There are a few things that I am struggling with this new school year and I am hoping someone, anyone can help!

  • Freshman attitudes
    • After dealing with middle school students, I thought that high school attitudes would be nothing.  Well, the mix of high schoolers I have seem to all play off the worst of each other.  In one of my classes, I have the following
      • highly distracted x2
      • clueless x 2
      • joksters x 3
      • the 'all I want is teacher attention' x 1
      • middle of the ground but not a leader x6
      • too cool for school x 2
      • and of course the blenders (the rest)
    • So what do I do? This is their current seating arrangement: 
      • They are in pods of 3
      • Each pod has a leader, a student who has strong math skills
      • Each pod has an outgoing student who isn't afraid to ask questions
      • There is mixed ability at each pod
      • The distractors are all seated so they are facing 'out' and not towards the general group.
    • I have incorporated movement, humor, engaging problems but they seem to still be pushing back. 
    • I hold high expectations and I am not about to give in on things this early.  I have a group of girls that continue to fight on 'rules' such as being in your seat when the bell rings, being ready for class when the bell rings.  Out of the 28 students in the class, it is these 3 that just ruin it!  What can I do? They ruin my day. 
  • Working checkpoints into a demanding curriculum/pacing guide
    • We have a pacing guide that is pretty set in stone.  We have a curriculum map that should be followed.  I want to work in check points but I feel there is NO time!  I was thinking about using exit slips and entrance slips.  I want to but the hesitation I have is the time.  Since there is such a wide array in the classroom, what take one student 10 minutes may only take another 1 minute.  How I do balance this?  How do I work around this?  I have done it in the past but for some reason, I am running on empty and have nothing. 
  • Co-teaching
    • This has been a frequent topic of my blog lately.  Things just aren't working.  
      • From my end, I feel my co-teacher wants to be involved but doesn't give the effort, dedicate the time and knows that I will take care of it.  
      • I am struggling being a good teacher in these classes because I am not comfortable
So I have just aired my flaws and problems.  Please help!!!!!

Do you have suggestions for classroom management techniques that work amazingly? 
What about managing the demands of a pacing guide and the need for ongoing assessment? 
Co-teaching relationship building?

I feel that I am a 1st year teacher out of college again that has absolutely NO tricks up their sleeve anymore.  I am deflated and need some inspiration. 



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