Teacher Talk Tuesday

Hello and happy Tuesday!

Well, yesterday’s snow day was just what I needed to (finally) get a few things crossed off my list. I was able to order the last few gifts, wrap gifts, and work on some things for school.

Now, at the end of this four day week, we’ll be on winter break!

Since the first semester is wrapping up, I thought it would be fun to take a look back on the semester.

I always feel like first semester flies by, and this one was no different. Overall, it was a really great semester too!

New classroom:

I started the year by moving classrooms. I’d been in my previous room for about six years, and it was in an entirely different part of the school building. It was a bit of an adjustment moving rooms, but I have a really spacious room that I’ve made my own.

Classes:

Last year, I only had three classes of English 1, and then I had a couple of intervention hours. This year, I’m back full time, and I’m teaching English 1 and English 2.

I had such a great co-teach situation last year that I requested co-teach English 1 again this year. I have a different co-teacher this year, and she’s been wonderful to work with as well. Co-teach classes mean many students in the class have an IEP (individualized education plan), so they receive additional support from myself and my co-teacher. Half of one of my classes has IEPs while the other co-teach class only has a few. So, even those two classes tend to work at different paces; it’s ok though…I just make adjustments: reteach/add enrichment when needed.

I also have two Advanced English 1 classes, and I really enjoy those students as well. I have a few of my kids’ friends in those classes, and I think it’s always more odd for me than for them. haha!

My other two classes are English 2, sophomores (and a few freshmen who took English 1 in 8th grade). I hadn’t taught English 2 in a few years, and we have a new curriculum, so it has been a bit of an adjustment for me as I plan lessons. That being said, I enjoyed teaching both units this semester, and the kids have been great.

I don’t want to jinx it, but when I tell you I really love my schedule and my students, it’s just a great feeling to have a good year…and no classes that take all my energy. I honestly think I’ve only written one referral this entire semester…and it was for a student who didn’t return from our class restroom break.

I don’t know if I’ve gotten lucky with a good year, if it’s experience that makes things easier, or if we’re seeing kids who weren’t as affected by the Covid years. This year’s freshmen had a full fifth grade year in the classroom, so they wrapped up their elementary school experience rather routinely.

Block Scheduling:

One of the biggest changes this year is that we moved from a traditional six class day to block scheduling with four classes a day. So, we have an “A” day and a “B” day with ninety minute classes. I really love block scheduling, and wish we’d moved to it sooner.

I thought with block scheduling there might be one day that I prefer over the other, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

It’s so nice to have a big chunk of time with students, and I haven’t had any issues with planning lessons for a larger amount of time. I thought I’d have to be more intentional when planning my lessons, but we’ve gotten through the curriculum, and every class period has had a variety of learning opportunities with whole group and independent instruction.

I’ve always heard (there’s actually math and numbers to it) that with block scheduling even though you see students for a longer amount of time, you see them for less minutes in a semester. Around fall break, I felt that. I felt like we should have been further in the curriculum, but by the end of the semester, everything evened out.

Tech/phones:

In my October Teacher Talk post, I shared about the new house bill that banned phones during instructional time. I honestly didn’t even have to be too strict about it. I guess as a school we were probably more cohesive with our expectations, so that helped. I’ve been surprised that I really have had zero issues with students being on their phones when they shouldn’t be. Again, I hope I’m not jinxing it, but I do appreciate that we had a great first semester without issues in regards to technology.

Looking back, this semester really was all about change…and it’s been good changes. New classroom, new schedule, new rules, and new students/courses. I hope second semester is just as good as the first one.

Even with it being a great first semester, I’m ready for a break! Four more days!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…