New School Year...New Woes

I have never had a hard time with classroom management ever, so this year as I am struggling to find my teaching style in a middle school pod has been difficult to say the least.  I've spent the last 3 years as in intermediate special education teacher, and now this year to be a gifted teacher in middle school has been a transition for me.  I often feel like quite the outsider among the other teachers in my grade level.  They have been doing things together for a really long time, and I know that they don't intentionally not share things with me, but it's still hard for me.  I've gone from being the co-teacher, to having a co-teacher in my room 2 periods a day.  I am finding that routines are even more important in a middle school classroom than they were in my special ed resource room.

Collaborate Chicago!

Yesterday I attended a PD called Collaborate Chicago! A Conference about Common Core. Collaborate Chicago was co-sponsored by Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union Quest Center. There were over 1,000 teachers there all excited to learn about the Common Core State Standards. For me the highlight of the day came during the welcome. CPS CEO Brizard walked about to a polite (and short) round of applause. CTU President Lewis was met with a lengthy standing ovation. Brizard standing and watching the standing ovation only made it that much better! For me personally that was the peak of the day, and everything else did not meet my expectations. I attended 4 different sessions hoping to get great new practical ideas for CCSS implementation, but that wasn’t the case. The presenters would start by briefly talking about CCSS, and then continue on to “best practices.” I signed up for the two special education sessions in hopes of help writing IEPs aligned to CCSS and ideas for supporting students with special needs in CCSS rigorous activities and texts. Unfortunately I didn’t get any new ideas or guidance in how to proceed with CCSS. The best presentation I went to was on the modified Danielson Framework and was co-presented by CTU and CPS. But even then I really wasn’t able to see the connection to CCSS.

I am frustrated because CCSS does not have to be fully implemented for a couple years, but we are being pushed to jump in quickly and become experts, when there really aren’t that many experts yet. (Well maybe there are CCSS experts, but I have yet to attend a presentation by someone I would consider a CCSS expert!)

Searching for my Magic Wand

During my first year of teaching, I found myself sharing my classroom with another teacher. She is a veteran teacher, but was new to the school like myself. We quickly bonded over navigating the dynamics and politics of the school. I was the 3rd grade resource and co-teacher, while my classroom-mate was the co-teacher for all of the grades where the teachers couldn’t cover the minutes. We were constantly bombarded by other teachers that needed a quick “fix” to their student’s problems. As my caseload grew from a manageable 14 students to a staggering 23 students, I was being seen as the solution for many tricky kids. Teachers and parents alike were always wondering why their child wasn’t reading, and when I would have them reading. Talking with my classroom-mate she decided that I needed a magic wand and all of my students would be “fixed.” So now the running joke is that I just need to wave my magic wand over my student’s heads, and that will make my life easier. Even though my classroom-mate and I haven’t shared a classroom these last couple of years, she will occasionally leave me a magic wand on my desk. It’s always a great reminder to laugh. While there isn’t usually a “quick fix” for my students, the magic wand is a visual reminder that the skills and strategies I’m teaching my students are the magic wand for them.

Bittersweet

So today is bittersweet, my last blog entry as a CEC Reality 101 Blogger was posted today. http://www.cecreality101.org/2012/07/theresa-so-long-farewell.html I can't believe that a year has gone by so fast! I am really looking forward to starting to post here. Keep a look out for a new post explaining the name of my blog.

My New Blog Home

I can't believe that my year is almost up as one of CEC's Reality 101 Bloggers. I have really enjoyed my year blogging for them. I didn't realize how much I would enjoy blogging! Just two more entries for Reality 101, and this will be my new home! I am looking forward to start posting here regularly starting at the end of July.