With my first year under my belt I fell quite accomplished. Although there are many years to go in my career as a teacher, that first year was soooooo hard! I had the whole gamete of normal problems only they all happened at once. I had crazy kids, even crazier parents, learned the true meaning of the statement "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree", kids that were so low they performed 2 grade levels behind in the classroom, 4 ADHD kids in the same room at the same time with no medication, and the list goes on.
Entering my second year I was ecstatic! I knew the things that didn't work, the tricks that would work, and even how to get kids to work when they honestly don't want to. My classroom looks great (organized and everything!), and my kids are amazing!!!!
The year has been awesome so far with only a few concerns here and there. Easy things to deal with and I feel like I've handled the situations and myself well.
Then there was yesterday. Holy Moly! I had a parent conference which is not the first one of the year; however, something about this parent was a little scary. She had sent in some notes on things before that I had corrected and sent back to her very graciously. So the said parent comes in for her conference and my teaching partner came in on the meeting as well. After an hour and a half of her rantings we came to the conclusion that she is crazy and wants her son to have more homework!!!! WHAT!!!!!
We sit down, she seems nice. I see her list of things to talk about. Little did I know that list would be things to rant at me about. As I began to listen to her concerns I started to feel as though she was going to jump across the table at me. I was not challenging her son. I was not sending home homework. Her son is not going to be ready for 6th grade. All of this took her 90 minutes to tell me.
I do challenge my students in the classroom. Who is she to come in and basically tell me that I'm not doing my job while she sits at home all day thinking of things to complain about with her neighborhood friends. Then to tell me that I do not assign homework! Well are you even looking in his binder to see if it is assigned or not!?!? You sign his planner every night can't you see that every day of math has something written in for them to do for homework!!!
As far as being ready for 6th grade....HELLO it's still 5th grade and only October of 5th grade. WE haven't even finished the 1st quarter. I am a big fan of kids being in the grade they are in. If we continually use 4th grade to get ready for 5th grade and 5th grade to get ready for 6th grade then we are using high school to prepare for college instead of letting them be the separate entities that they are. Fifth grade is elementary school. Students will be prepared to enter 6th grade by the end of the year but as for now they are 5th graders, elementary school students. If I send home a paper that involves coloring be thankful that the coloring relates to place value and that the game is sneaky practice for skill they need to master 5th grade.
My crafty partner in crime was luckily able to shape her questions in a way that proved that this mom did not even question her son about school at night. How can she sit there and be upset at me when she's not doing her job as a mother!!!
So I let that run off like a water on a ducks back to come home and find another email from a parent stating that her child was "overwhelmed" by my study guide. So now I have momzilla with a firm belief that her son is not being challenged and a worried mother afraid that a kid (who is not even her child) is sinking in my math class. Mean while this "overwhelmed" boy is one of my top students and her own son couldn't concentrate if he were paid a million dollars.
My questions is where is the balance? I am doing as many other 5th grade teachers are following the general rule of homework 10 minutes per grade level (50 minutes for 5th grade). :: I hate even 50 minutes of homework because they are forced to sit and pay attention for 7 hours already. Let them be kids ::
Where is the balance? I have kids who will finish my homework in 5 minutes and kids who can't even finish homework. Why does momzilla feel entitled to add more homework because her son is not being challenged? Why can't she just buy a workbook for him and do some extra things with him?
Week one is now finished! YAY! How did it go. I wish that I could say. I'm still in that foggy state of blah from surgery. Almost like I lost a little of my brain in the process. I feel like I've done a great job in all of the millions of get to know you activities that we do over and over and over the first weeks of school. But when I sit down at the end of the day to think of how my lessons went and what I would change all I can think is, "What did I do today again." My plan book is turning into more of a journal to help me remember. Kind of scary.
I have an awesome team this year which is a big change from last year. Last year, the first year, I was hired at 10:30pm the second day of new teacher orientation week. FUN! So in 7 short days I had to come to the conclusion that I've landed my dream job, set up a classroom from scratch, and realize that little bodies were going to be walking through my doors in 7 days. Thank God for my mentor teacher because my team had nothing to offer me. This year my team is like a dream! We have the one odd nut, but she's workable and not able to be so bossy this year! HAHAHA!!!
I'm excited about actually digging into lessons next week and getting to know my afternoon class. My homeroom kids are sooooooooo unbelievably good. I know it's the honeymoon stage, however, if past holds true I have the cream of the crop this year as far as attitudes, behavior, and ability. Another HUGE change from last year.
Hoping to be able to remember what I teach next week!!!! I need to be patient with my recovery.
P.S. I think my classroom looks adorable!!!