Slice of Life is sponsored on Tuesdays by Two Writing Teachers. For the
month of March we are posting a slice each day on our blog. Join in!
The major testing for our grades 3-8 is over, and we still
have one more round with select grade levels for writing and science to go in
April.
We also have ten weeks to go in our school year. While the
pressure has lifted some, there is still work to be done. However, I find that
right now, we seem to think that with testing over, we can all turn our focus
to next year, rather than concentrating on what is still right in front of us.
Once the writing test is over for me, this becomes the best
part of my year with my Pre-AP students. We still have The Miracle Worker, Chasing
Lincoln’s Killer, and The Five People
You Meet in Heaven to read together. We still need to write about our
personal heroes and reflect on our middle school years by choosing our theme songs.
We need to travel to Gettysburg to walk the battlefield with the 8th
graders. The end of testing doesn't mean the end of the year, it just means
that we can all take a deep breath and get back to teaching.
I know that we have to make plans for next year, and we are
making a lot of changes in my building, so people are becoming anxious. We are
going to a semi-block schedule and extending the time for ELA and math
instruction into double what it has always been. We are adding in an academic
support period for tutoring and forming grade-level teams. There will be
staffing changes, and room re-assignments. All of this takes planning and
meetings and packing and more meetings.
As a literacy coach, a department head, and a union
president, I have to constantly be planning for next year, reflecting on what I've
done, planning what I want to do, budgeting what I will need. There are MOAs to
write for the changes that we need to make to contract language to accommodate the
new adventures in scheduling and staffing. There is professional development to
plan, and consultants to book. There is still data to collect to drive
placements for next year.
It’s like this every year, but this year just feels
different than others. Maybe it’s because the winter has been so long, maybe it
is because we are getting out later this year after a late start in September, maybe
it’s because next year is a year of huge changes, or maybe it is because we
focused so much attention on making sure we were ready for the state testing
that now we aren't sure what to do next.
Whatever the case may be, I’d like just a little more time
before we throw away this year and move onto next in our minds. I want to enjoy
my 8th graders before sending them away to high school. I’d like to reflect
on what I've accomplished and finish up all the books I haven’t had a chance to
read yet and need to share with my students. I’d like some time to go back and
really look at what we've accomplished so we can make the right decisions about
where we need to go next year.
Unfortunately, I don’t have that luxury. This coming week is
filled with meetings about all of the changes for next year. I have people
asking me to help them plan for next year, and I have to get the final budget
numbers in for the purchase of next year’s novels. I am hoping that, with all
the looking ahead I have to do, I don’t miss what is right in front of me in
the here and now.
I applaud that you want to enjoy your students until the end...I'm sure they feel the same about you. The new things are exciting, however, I love the idea of the instructional team and the integration that can occur when teaming begins. Have fun!
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