Two Weeks Down

The first week of school was really exhausting. I compare it to getting into shape when you haven't exercised in a long time. You have to get back into shape for teaching and the first few weeks can be quite taxing. With an ELL classroom, you never really know what kind of students you are going to get. The student composition of the class can vary widely from year to year. Not only in regards to the countries the students have come from, but also their academic ability and English proficiency. This year I have gotten a pretty high level group for my ELL I class, in fact, I have gotten numerous 9th graders from the middle school who need to be placed in my more advanced class and who right now are a bit squirrely and immature as I am trying to have them work independently to keep up with my ELL II group. The countries I have students from are: Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, Korea, China, Vietnam, and Bulgaria. I feel like after this next week, I will have established my routines and the students will be placed correctly and I will really be able to move full steam ahead. I have chosen for my Teacher Identified Objective to create a website for the school. My goal will be to really get that into place this year. Another goal I have is to work with the Counselors and History Teachers to help my students with their history classes and also figure out the most appropriate schedule for the Junior/Senior recent immigrants who need extra English classes/History Classes. I have started to use Read 180 and so far it is going pretty smoothly, a lot more so than I expected. I think after this week when I get all of the other students tested and used to the routine of the class, they will really be able to make marked gains in their reading ability. The way the program is structured makes me realize that using learning centers and groups might be a good way to structure my ELL classes, but I would need to get about 5 computers in my classroom. I might try to write a grant for that. My big goal for next week is to get all students to really understand the procedures and expectations of the class.