Showing posts with label february. Show all posts
Showing posts with label february. Show all posts
2.28.2011
February, dark and dreary.
The rain, the cold, the dark, the day in day out. Ugg. I have the blahs. Dark mornings I trudge into school, dark evenings I trudge out. Students are fine... but also not fine. Lessons are good... but not great. My cute professional outfits give way to jeans and cozy sweaters (or sweatshirts). We need change. We need energy. We started a new unit... but even that feels old. New seats for the students... but already they seem stale. Grading piles up- mocking me from the turn in basket. But who has the energy to attack it?
We need a shake up. Sunny days, outside lessons, inspiration and connections for the learning.
And... I could use smaller classes. The 37 kids are wearing me down. It feels awful even complaining about that, my students are so awesome this year. But, no matter how awesome, 37 wears a person out. I start to worry about next year. More kids, same small classroom.
With two weeks left in trimester two, I'm just hanging on. Trimester three brings big changes. Class schedules shift and we start the final push to get kids ready for high school. As important as it is to finish this trimester strong (and believe me, we are working hard!) I'm already anticipating what comes next. The start of trimester three. Fresh start. New lessons. Sunshine (fingers crossed).
2.23.2010
The shortest month...

...seems the longest. February.
Will spring ever be here? Will the days ever be longer? Will we ever all be cheerful again? I just get exhausted by this month, and it surprises me every time. Well... so we're on to March. Lions and Lambs. Spring break. Renewal. The final third of the year.
Right now I'm waiting on some huge transitions. I have students ready to run with Algebra- quadratics, multi-step equations, systems, and such. I have other students still unsure how to graph a linear function or what a variable is. In the last third of the year we will split classes and group students according to the skills they still need to be ready for their high school classes.
Up until now, my school does not track students. We do not split up math classes according to ability. The idea is that all students have access to all the math, but we provide scaffolding for students that need it. As mentioned in my last post, I love this system. Students that might struggle with adding fractions still have a chance to learn the Pythagorean theorem.
But in 8th grade, we have to split students eventually. Not all students go to the same high school class. So, each student has a different set of needs. And I'm feeling it. I'm looking forward to taking my group that seems so lost right now and working with them, creatively and carefully to find the key to their math learning success. I'm looking forward to racing through the big scary Algebra book with the other group.
Yup, it's February and things are getting stale. Time to start new with a new term and the joy of spring. I'm ready.
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