Thursday, October 20, 2011

Break me

I feel I am at a breaking point. I am only teaching one subject, but I have 3 groups that are at 3 different levels/spots. 2 are my advanced classes, 1 is my mostly 6th and 7th English learners, and the other are my 8th graders who are a day behind the 2 advanced classes, but are at a different point.

Within these classes, admin wants me teaching something different, so technically it is like teaching 2-3 different preps. Just tonight I have had to modify and change my lesson for different classes. The 2 slower classes need a more intensive reading based class, so I am having to delve into the language arts textbook and basically make my class a language arts class. I am having to write 2 different sets of plans and create 2 different sets of activities. The fact that the students are at 3 different levels my mind is spinning. I

guess it'll just have to be...

3 comments:

fan of casey said...

Mike: Adapt to the circumstances and let your flexibility and problem solving skills shine thru. It makes for a great story at your next promotion opportunity.

Anonymous said...

I can understand your frustration. I taught high school German for many years, and the administration often insisted on combining German I and II, or German II and III. Spanish and French the same thing. We called them splits. The administrators said the splits were one prep, since they were the same hour. Ha! I still had to prepare different lessons and divide my time between them. Plus teach other hours. I often ended up with 4 preps (I had Social Studies classes, too). Pain in the you know what. Unfortunately you often have to accept your plight for what it is, and look forward to weekends and holidays! Best of luck.

dan said...

Hang in there MIke!!!! you can do it.
is your class an elective or an actual sheltered instruction ENglish credit? I'd be interested to know.
also. are you able to create the required lesson plans and yet do what you want in your class? are you able to go with learning moments regardless of plans? just wondering.
are you using a mainstream language arts book or ESL book? is there a part of the lesson plans in the teacher guide which can help you with different levels.
good luck. :)
dan