I survived my first week of school and it wasn't nearly as tough as I thought it would be. There were many times I was frustrated with feeling like a first year teacher because I have none of my resources with me and so every time I need something I need to make it again. The teachers I work with have been offering me things too so it isn't as bad I may make it sound.
My class is very nice and consists of 21 children (although I've only met 20). They range in age from 5 - 8 and their academic levels range even more. That's not a big deal to me though because as in Canada I need to take them from where they are to as far along as I can in the time that I have with them. I do have to follow specific curriculum - VELS is like B.C.'s PLOs. There are also progression points that help guide where I should be going. I'm teaching a grade 1/2 class but it's all part of level 2 with the VELS. I have progression points for each learning objective and the children fit along a continuum. The problem I'm having is that the progression points are not particularly sequential so I feel like things are being taught jumping from place to place. I'm going to have a closer look at the math expectations so I can make a plan of attack. This week I found everything just too piece meal for me and while I did have some good maths (yes, they call it maths vs our math) lessons I think I can use the time more effectively by teaching in a way that's more comfortable for me.
One of the things that I eluded to a post or two ago was data collection is HUGE in the first month of school. This first week I was given a couple hours of release time to work on that data collection. It was good and I got a lot done. I've also had the new Reading Recovery teacher help me out a bit so I can't complain. At the end of the week we had a meeting with the prep (aka Kindergarten) and 1/2 teachers and I realized that I actually had more done than some. So while I've been stressing all week about getting my assessments done, I was actually getting more done than others. All this means is that this second week of work with children should be a lot better.
I haven't set my timetable yet (although I'm getting close) but here's what a typical week may look like for me. Monday to Friday my first two sessions (8:45 - 9:45, 9:45 - 10:45) are dedicated to reading and writing. I MUST have a reading and writing session every day. It's uninterrupted time (although a bell goes at the end of each session) so once I get going with programs it should work out nicely. There is recess from 10:45 - 11:15 and on Tuesdays and Fridays I have yard duty from 10:45 - 11:00 - which leaves me a 15 minute break after the yard duty. On Friday I walked into (after I came in from yard duty) an informal weekly staff meeting that's held from 11:00 - 11:15 every Friday while the kids are outside for recess. After recess (Session 3 11:15 - 12:15) on Monday, Tues, and Wednesday I have maths (again I must do a one hour session of maths a day). On Thursday at that time I have Art (it's taught by a specialist and I have APT - planning time) and on Friday I have Library (it's taught by a specialist which means more planning time for me).
On Monday the rest of the sessions are for me to fill . Session 4 is from 12:15 - 1:15. Lunch is from 1:15 - 2:15. I am expected to watch my class eat from 1:15 - 1:30 before I can go to the staff room and have my own lunch. The final session of the day is from 2:15 - 3:15.
On Tuesday I have to fill session four, but session five is filled with PE and more time for my class to be with a specialist (and more planning time for me). Tuesday after school depending on the week I either have a staff meeting from 3:30 - 4:30 or I have a curriculum team meeting for the same time period. This is EVERY week. In Canada I have one staff meeting a month!!
Wednesday are a lot like Monday with no specialist working with my class so five hours for me to plan for them.
Thursdays I have maths session four and the entire school has buddies session five. We haven't started buddies yet so I'm not sure what it will look like. What I do know is that it's different than how I do buddies back home. Thursdays after school we have team meetings which means I meet with the Prep, 1/2, and specialist teachers that work with our children. We discuss what's been going on and what's coming up.
On Fridays after library (session 3) I have maths (session 4). I have thirty minutes of yard duty at LUNCH on Fridays. Someone else has to watch my class eat their lunch because I'm entitled to a 30 min of kid free lunch. (If you'll notice I do 60 minutes of yard duty (aka supervision) a week - at home I do 15 min a week). After lunch on Friday's it's expected that each grade does some school clean up and each class is assigned a section. Everyone does the cleaning at the same time. From there it's back to the room for a bit (more time for me to get things done). At 2:55 every Friday we have a school wide assembly. Recognition awards are given out. Each class is responsible for running an assembly. My class has to do the assembly at the very beginning of May.
The biggest change I've noticed is the structure of the day. The teaching is different but the tools I have as a teacher can easily transfer.
Now onto the children. The children in my class are quite sweet. Obviously I miss my Canadian class - they were the best - but this class isn't too bad either. On the first day of school I had a couple try to test me, but to no ones surprise I WON! I had to speak to one students when he was punching his mother because he didn't like her. Not so good I'd say but since I talked with him things seem better and he's been working really hard for me. The children in my class are from Australia, Indonesia, Paupa New Guinea, Vietnam, and Nepal. I know there are other cultures I just can't remember right now. It's a wide mix and many have Australian accents (the new immigrants have accents from their home countries). They all call me Karen (although some are calling me Ms. Karen) and it's so cute to hear them in their little accents. Some of the children Sharon had last year have come to say hello to and they are calling me Ms. Lirenman (obviously I've told them they can call me Karen).
The parents have also been very accepting of me telling me that they are happy their child is in my class or that their child is excited to be in my classroom. That's been nice to hear. I've also enjoyed meeting and speaking with them too. I hope to be able to get them more involved with my classroom like I'd do in Canada but I need to make sure it's okay with the team first. We do things together so many of my decisions need to be approved by all. (I'm hoping I can convince them to give community reading a try).
The children wear uniforms but there seems to be such a variety in the uniform that it took me a bit to figure out that they were in fact wearing a uniform. They even have special hats for outside (which must be worn this term, and the fourth term ). In general the children are very nice. I haven't had too much too deal with on yard duty (which requires me to fill in a form for being out there - lots more paper work here too). The school population is a couple hundred kids smaller than my Canadian school too so when I'm out on yard duty I feel like there are no kids around.
Okay, that's enough for now. Sorry there are no pictures. I have some photos of my students but I don't think it's right to publish other people's children on my blog. I'll speak to the appropriate people and I'll see if it's okay for me to do. I'll also try to take some photos of my classroom (once it's officially set up - it's a work in progress STILL).
Thanks for reading this far. This is a long (some what dry) one! I've also stayed politically neutral since I am here for an entire school year and we've only just finished term 1 week 2.
1 comment:
Wow....the organization sounds very different to here!! Nice to be in a smaller school! I know you will have things in shape and moving along smoothly in no time at all.
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