First of all, would you believe that yesterday after school it was about 50 degrees, and today it was 20? (Factor in wind chill and it was... lower than I want to contemplate.)
Today I met almost all the students. The only ones I haven't met are the second class of 8th graders, plus one 6th grader who was absent today. All around, a great bunch of kids, but some of them have a lot of struggles. Imagine an 11-year-old who can't figure out 15 - 7 without a lot of coaching. A lot of that has to do with language issues. (See prior rant.)
Speaking of language issues, I definitely saw that for a lot of these kids, the only thing really holding them back is their reading ability -- cognitively, they get the mathematical concepts just fine, but understanding what that tangle of English words is trying to say is another issue.
Tomorrow, the coop. teacher and I will decide which class I'll take over next week, and I'll probably continue to pitch in and give some 1-on-1 help to the kids in the low-level classes (who are so drastically different in their abilities that they have to work independently on different assignments).
Signing ability is holding up okay so far, but explaining to a kid who just has no idea what anything means is really difficult to do in a second language.
No classes Friday -- what a weird week! No students yesterday because of IEP writing, then no students Friday because of a professional development day. Some of the workshops look interesting, so that should also be good.
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what fun reading all your comments. . . I wish all the first years were doing this (but then I'd have an awful lot to read, wouldn't I?!?!, plus then I'd have to do it eventually too, and I am not a writer at all but. . . your blog looked so lonely with few responses so here is one to let you know that it is being read!!!)
ReplyDeleteAgree with you in principle regarding the rant . . . reality creates some interesting practical conflicts however. I'd say more, but it's way past my bed time and I'm afraid my English isn't that coherant right now. Maybe another time.
hope you have an excellent short week! When you get the chance, I want to hear about what you're doing for the elluded* to summer research!!! *grins*
*ps, they need a spell checker as part of this form. . . should it be "illuded" to? oh well; you know what I mean, right?!?! ds
Posted by JAM
Hey, JAM! I totally agree with you on the "principle vs. reality" issue. The rant was a frustrated "why can't the world just do what makes sense to me" moment. :)
ReplyDeleteNo time right now, but I'll explain more about the eluded -to research this afternoon. ;)
(If I were a smarter web designer, I'd be happy to throw in a spell-checker... maybe someday...)
Posted by Rachel (mathpro411)
Wait! It's too early in the morning! It's "alluded" I think. "Eluded" is like "the fugitive eluded the police"...
ReplyDelete(note to self: don't try to write right after getting up)
Posted by Rachel (mathpro411)
Yes, you are correct on your second spelling: Alluded. Funny, I think this debate was happening about the same time Cari and I were trying to figure out if one of the teams for Student Body Elections should have been Team Affect instead of Team Effect. (Of course one of their slogans was "Feel the Effect!")
ReplyDeleteIncidently, Team Focus swept the popular vote at UVSC by a margin of about 600 votes, averaging about 2,060 votes per each of the 4 candidates. Second most favored team was Team One with an average of 1,450 votes per candidate, and finally the aforementioned Team Effect had an average of 800 votes per candidate. Voter turnout hit an all-time school record of 17% of the total student body, numbering close to 4,500 students. Some attribute this to the recent controversies over celeb speakers Michael Moore and Sean Hannity and how student fees are spent.
Posted by Big Bro
I guess this is the REAL way to get ALL OF THE DETAILS of your life, mhm Rachy, mhm? =) When I want to know what is going on, this is the place I will check. I agree with second spelling as well: Alluded. (Just thought you would be interested in my opinion, too!)
ReplyDeleteMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
(YOU BETTER KNOW WHO I AM!!!!!) HE! HE!
Posted by YOU KNOW WHO I AM