Busy

That one word describes my life since school started. I am up too early to most people and I run all day until I get the dinner dishes in the dishwasher. It's good though, because I like to be productive.

My school year has been a challenge so far. I have about 10 kids that are not strong readers yet, so I have a lot of work ahead of me to get them to where they need to be for 3rd grade. I am seeing progress in their academics, but behavior is a whole other issue. Why is it that so many parents do not teach their children about respect? These kids that flooded our school this year have little to no respect for adults, each other, or property. It is so sad and frustrating all at the same time. Sometimes I wonder what is going to happen to these kids when they grow up.

I am trying to stay focused on what I need to do to get these kids ready for the next grade, but seriously sometimes I just want to scream. I wish the politicians would get their noses out of the classroom and just let us teach. We have to give over thirty language arts tests to these kids and these are not little tests. We are talking 30 to 60 questions for each test. It's not fun to try to get little people to focus long enough to perform well on a test. I am not the teacher I want to be anymore. I hate all this testing and I don't feel like I am really teaching these kids what they need to know for life.

Sometimes I wonder why in the world I chose teaching. I love seeing the kids get excited, but I almost feel like we have to be sneaky to be able to do activities with our classes. I want to be the teacher that opens doors for these kids, but feel so bound be requirements that we don't have time to do all the memorable lessons. I am struggling to find a balance with what is expected of me and what I know is best for the kids. It is a fine line in education these days.

Until next time,