Pre-Planning

I’ve completed 5 of the 6 pre-planning days for this year – yes 6 is a weird number but school starts on Tuesday. The lessons I’ve learned so far:

1. Pre-planning should be about relevant information necessary for a successful year, with plenty of time to prepare my room (and lessons) for a successful start. This is how it is done in the district. I apologize to any teachers that I have had to force to sit through the same trainings every year because the charter world felt it important to give you 36 of the 40 hours of preplanning as prescriptive materials.
2. I don’t have a lot of things for my room. I find this to be humorous because back in the day, I left 12 boxes of books when I left the classroom originally in 2008, and again when I first was promoted to administration in 2012. I guess I better start collecting a library for my kiddos.
3. I’m nervous and excited at the same time – and am not sure how to focus this energy. My room isn’t ready – I still have a huge portion of my room (about 6 feet by 4 feet section full of boxes that don’t belong to me, but belong to the school) that I can’t use right now. *Fingers crossed that they’ll get that cleared out tomorrow*
4. I’m intimidating to other teachers – and I don’t mean to be. My 10th grade ELA lead teaches Honors students – and I used her syllabus as a template for mine, but I took out all of the “punitive” language and I’m structuring my classes differently. Example: my students cannot read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for homework. I also don’t think “Tuesday” is the only time – and the required time – to assign homework (which will be the reading of the novel on their own.) Let’s be real – my kids aren’t reading on grade level, how are they going to independently read a book for 12th graders? Of course, I questioned how we will expose our students to 70% non-fiction, 30% fiction (like the makeup of their assessment) if all we do is novels? Nonetheless, I will do as I’m told as far as following the Curriculum Map and using the majority of the resources we are to include (don’t get me started with my questioning regarding why a chapter from Alice in Wonderland was included in our Non-Fiction unit….), but I was hired to do things differently, so we can improve our students’ skills and knowledge – so that’s what I’m going to do. (She even questioned me on my grading areas and weights – which also mirror the standards and their weights on the assessment. She seemed surprised when I told her the Principal approved and liked, but yes, I will listen to her concerns.) Maybe I’m difficult, and I know I’m passionate about my students and giving them what they need to be successful.
5. I’m insecure – I’ve taught pull out groups, at the most, for the last 8 years. Before that, I was teaching small groups and one on one only. It’s been over 10 years since I had a full classroom that was completely mine – all 30+ of them at a time. I know I was born to teach. I know I’m going to be ok, but at the same time I hope I’m able to live up to the expectations of when I was hired for. Tomorrow I will see my students’ data for the first time. I bet that the 47% of students who passed were not my students – but all the students in the honors classes. Now I’ve got to figure out how to reach all 155 of them where they are and bring them multiple years along. I have tricks up my sleeve and Social Emotional Learning will be a big focus to get them hooked and engaged. I just hope I have the time to really get them to where they need to be before Spring Assessments.

Tomorrow is the last day of Pre-Planning and it’s all day in the classroom for most teachers. I have a “new teacher Q&A session” in the morning (and have a running list of questions) followed by data analysis, a bus tour for new teachers to the school to see where our kids come from, followed by a crash course on how to use Canvas, followed by more time in my room, should I need it (and I need it!)

Next weekend I’ll recap my first week – I’m sure I’m going to get lost, tell a student how to get lost, and probably end up going to lunch at the wrong time, but that’s the humor that comes with teaching. I also know I get to meet my students – and each and every one will be amazing in his or her own unique way.