The first few weeks at school are filled with sitting in classrooms observing, meeting with teachers, administering assessments and creating my schedule. I come in each year knowing a few of the students I will be working with, but the students always start in their classrooms so that the new teachers have a chance to get to know the students and so the students get a feel of being part of their class. As my schedule has slowly been coming together I have been spending more time with students and less time on paperwork and teacher meetings. Finally! I love spending time with my students. This year I will be working with some students with whom I have been working for several years and with some new students as well.
It is always challenging setting up how to best spend my time with my students. We (the teachers and I) spend a lot of time deciding if it is best to work with the students in their classrooms or to pull the students out for small group or one-on-one work time. We try to keep students in their classrooms as much as possible. We try make accommodations and to employ inclusion in our classrooms. However, this is not always the best model for all students. We are lucky in our school to have three Learning Center teachers, so we are able to make individual plans for each of our students and we are able to individualize the type of time spent with each student. Usually, by the fourth week of school we have it all figured out and our schedules are set. This should be happening in the next week or so! Once I know my schedule I am able to plan accordingly for each child. This might mean working with teachers to help them with accommodations and differentiation or to plan my own lessons. The biggest struggle I have is that I wish I could spend all day with some of my students and it is so hard to figure out how to spend my time so I am serving each child as much as they truly need. It is something I am constantly working with my mentor teacher to figure out. I have also found that the needs of students change throughout the year so to my schedule changes as time goes on. I have also found that the needs of students change throughout the year so to my schedule changes as time goes on.
Helping children find success in school is important to me. It can be very discouraging for students who struggle and anything I can do to help them, I will. I support my students both on an academic and personal level. I have found that fostering relationships with my students and showing interest in my students helps in their academic success as well. To a new year!
rebeccaaf 