forming a habit

It is late (not really, but it's 10:00 PM which is basically my new bed time). I was going to skip posting for the day, but I want to form a habit. Week two is too soon to stop posting. My night has been spent mostly by procrastinating and a little bit on making a PowerPoint for the start of class tomorrow. Basically a lazy night but that is OK by me. It really is an adjustment to get used to being in front of a class all day. I never truly believed that being a teacher could be as tiring as it is.

It's exhausting and there is so much more that goes into it than just teaching. Which is sad, but true. It is even more pronounced right now with the change in the grading system. Things are so much more intricate and require so much more planning. This is what drives new teachers out of the profession.

Today was a tiring day. I had made progress in fifth hour yesterday and today wasn't terrible until after lunch. Then they got to me. We meet with our team a few days a week and will talk about students we are having issues with, ways to deal with them, etc. Let's just say that our counselor gave us a list of 3 students that we had mentioned and listed everything she knew about them, effective methods of dealing with them, learning levels, etc. All three of them are in 5th hour. Plus at least 2 that we did not mention that cause problems (one of whom is in ISS already). So while other teachers get these students spread out in their classes, we are lucky enough to have them all together.

I think there are at least 5 IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) in this one class. That means they have some kind of special ed needs, ranging from a slight reading disability (so they might just need a little extra time) to a student who reads at a 2nd grade level. IEPs in the class also encompass students with behavior disorders (read:they are loud, disruptive, do not work well with others, social disorders, or sometimes become violent).

So that is my challenge. It is tiring but the good days are really rewarding and make me feel like I have accomplished something (even if I haven't). Like today, despite their utterly pissing me off after lunch I could tell that the actual intelligence level of a lot of the kids in the class is at least average if not high. They bring great opinions, ideas, and conversation to the discussion but they don't know when to be quiet. In writing this sounds petty, but trust me if you were to experience it you would be as frustrated as I am!

I'm channeling Scarlett O'Hara tonight and think that I will just worry about it tomorrow.