First Month of Teaching

I am coming up on the end of my first month at the Community Day Charter Public School in Lawrence, MA and it has been amazing. I am a generalist teacher in the lower school, which basically means I teach across grade levels and subjects where most needed. Basically, reinforcements called in to help the kids that are struggling the most, so that I can do a lot of one-on-one and small group work. My job description changed a lot right off the bat, though, because the new fourth-grade math teacher quit on our second day of orientation. There are two teachers per classroom, one who specializes in English and the other in math. So, I ended up taking up a lot more responsibility in the classroom that was missing a math teacher, at least until a new teacher could be found. It took a while to hire someone after the start of the school year, but last week a new guy was found, so I will now return to being a generalist once he gets settled in.

The opportunity to work solely in one classroom was actually a great way to begin the year, because I was able to get to know the 24 students in room 4B very well. I will now have to learn many many more names of students, but I have learned a lot about teaching already from my first month, and I think I will be better equipped to handle my responsibilities. Once the hectic start of the year dies down I will start working on a nutrition project to prevent childhood obesity, and it has been very helpful to first get to know kids and the challenges facing their health. Many of the kids do not get fed well at home, their parents can't afford healthy food, and many are not even allowed outside when they get home because it is too dangerous. There will be a lot to work around to encourage healthy lifestyles, especially if parents aren't on board, and I think it is important to continue to learn as much as possible before claiming to have answers.

The school is simply incredible. It is in the lowest-income school district in Massachusetts and a huge percentage of students are designated "English Language Learners," which means they struggle with English yet are still expected to learn in an English-speaking classroom. Despite the obstacles, last years' MCAS standardized testing results just came back and the results are extraordinary. 4th grade English was 59 out of 944 schools in the state. Even more impressive, 5th grade math was 3rd in the state and 6th grade math was 1st. Pretty amazing place.

I am loving teaching. I came in 3rd place in 4B's rocks paper scissors tournament last week, hoping to get a championship under my belt in the coming weeks. Also started coaching flag football at the upper school, which is great. I have a lot to say about it but get the feeling this blog is rambling, so more next time.