Teaching and the Many Hats I Wear

I have now taught my students almost ninety days this school year. Some of you have asked "What do you teach all day?" Being in a school of about 200 students K-12 I definitely wear many hats. Originally when I arrived at my school I was hired to reorganize the Title I reading and math program, which is a federally funded program to support students struggling in reading and/or math. The program has staff pull students for tutoring or move into classrooms to provide learning opportunities. We also coordinate a summer school program. I now have another teacher and three paraeducators as part of this program.

Once the program was in place, I asked to add classroom teaching to my "duties as assigned"! I really missed working with students of my own in the classroom. Now about a third of my day is working in Title I and Learning Assistance Program K-12 and two-thirds is spent teaching sixth grade writing, and seventh grade and eight grade language arts. That pretty much fills up my day. Of course there are times that I charge iPods, wipe tears, listen to stories students need to tell, and do playground duty. We are busy and the days go fast. One advantage in our school is small class size. None of my classes have more than seventeen students. I also loop the same students all through middle school so I know them pretty well by the time the finish 8th grade.

I love this time of year at the end of the first semester. I can sit back and reflect on student learning and celebrate the growth my students have made. I look forward to the next ninety days. I also look forward to the day there aren't ice chunks outside my classroom door and kids don't need assistance walking from the basketball court to the door over the ice!This is the ice that has not melted yet outside my classroom door.