Bonafide Teacher Stuff

I have a schedule, hopefully the final version of one, for what I'm teaching very, very soon. I will teach two 9th grade classes, one of which is "inclusion," and one 11th grade World Lit class. Inclusion means there will be some special needs folks in the class and there will be a special needs teacher who does the class with me. I have absolutely no clue how that will work but I'm open to anything that includes another adult in the class for part of the day. My mentor teacher left me alone in the class much of the time when I was student teaching and she took several days off, but still, I'm a touch nervous about total responsibility.

I am using my mini-vacation before school to read up on "world" literature. My new textbooks won't arrive until about 5 weeks after school starts and I'm not familiar with much of the material. The world is awfully big, and I haven't been exposed to near enough of it. My big sister lent me a copy of her Norton World Lit anthology that she used in college which was published in 1985. There is only about two selections in the entire book that I don't consider white and western, and therefore, not really what I want my class to be about.

Why did I think I would have the whole semester planned out, not only reading selections but even lesson plans done for each day, before school started? I clearly had lost my mind.

But, I love this part.

I spoke with my department head the other day and she told me I will have MY VERY OWN CLASSROOM!!! I thought I'd have to camp out in the electricity classroom in the vocational wing first semester and then wander around like a lost soul with a cart second semester, but no, somehow the wonderful people found me a room.

306

Isn't it wonderful? This is clearly a very good sign for the future because 306 is also the number of my condo. The coincidence certainly says "home" does it not?

I spoke to my assistant principal this morning, and she told me more about my room. She said, "Welcome to inner city education." It doesn't have desks for the students or me, and they aren't sure if they'll arrive by the time school starts, but whatever, it's a room. I will make it home.

Comments

[James Farmer]

With my first proper classroom I must've spent about three hours cleaning and tidying and organizing desks and standing in different corners and sitting where the students would sit and stealing stationary from other classrooms and planning out groups and stealing heaters and.....

Oh yeh, and then I did it every other time, and I wonder why peopel thought I was a bit odd ;O)

Hope you get your desks in time!

Cheers, James

[Michelle]

I'm doing inclusion teaching for the first time this year, and was informed by the dept. head that most teachers really don't like to co-teach with the inclusion teachers...nice. I think it's great that you'll have someone else in there helping out, unless they are an ass, which is another story. School is so full of fun and delightful surprises! This will be my first year without a room--I'm sharing an office with two other people and I'll be truckin' all over campus. It feels like more of a case manager job than a teaching job. Btw, the inclusion teacher will probably be in ARD meetings half the time...I really am glad to hear that you have your own space--that is so important!

[Mary]

I got a call saying my classroom will be ready by next Tuesday! My dept head is super sweet. I have good good vibes from my school.

Let me know if you want help decorating or such. World Lit - not my area of expertise either, but crafty teacher-y decor, that's all me.

Though, I would recommend A Question of Power by Bessie Head. It's readable and very good. From South Africa.

[John]

Sounds like you've got conditions for a good start. Just remember that the essence of good teaching lies in how you react when plans go awry.

I found the term "inclusion" interesting. By definition, public schools are inclusive. When a given classroom reflects that fact, it seems redundant to name it. But then I've taught 40 years at community colleges which also define themselves by inclusiveness. I try to operate on the assumption that every student has special needs. Some needs are more obvious than others.

[hipteacher]

James- I know I am totally going to teach my first days lessons to the empty classroom like a total nerd, so I completely sympathize. Being a bit touched in the head works for me!

Michelle- I've gathered that most teachers don't want to team teach inclusion classes too. I wonder why that is? I observed a few "team" situations where the special needs teacher just sat in the back not doing anything, ever. But I think that was mostly because the other teacher wouldn't let them. I hope me and my special needs teacher will be more collaborative.

Mary- I am distinctly un-crafty. All I have for my classroom is an Amalie poster which relates to, that's right, nothing. It just makes me happy. Yeah. I need help.

John- Lots of teachers seem to be kind of control freaks, and I guess I can be also in my own non-organized, impulsive way. I am trying to be as flexible as possible and to plan but not too hard and fast.

Unfortunately, the public schools I've been exposed to have been decidedly uninclusive. Everyone is there, but any difference whatsoever gets you put into some other class. White, black, gifted, challenged, whatever. I completely agree with you that every child should have his/her needs served on an individual basis. Otherwise all kinds of kids fall through the cracks. Even the "gifted" kids which are supposedly being served the best.

[Michelle]

One problem the schools have is that they fail to realize that a child can have special needs and be gifted at the same time. I found that to be true with many of my adjudicated students!

I think that many teachers are threatened by inclusion teachers--they don't want anyone running their show. They also don't like discussions about how they should grade a student's tests, IEP be damned. In general. Some are absolutely fantastic. Personally, I enjoy teaching as a team...hope I find some folks who feel the same way.

[Political Science Dissertation]

Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!