My Days at the UN

My mind is full today with mulling over my classes this year. I have 2. My morning class is the GT group. They aren't all GT, but they are all supposed to be sufficiently functional to move at an accelerated rate and test well so that i can have fun and offer lots of enrichment opportunities. They mostly fill that bill. I have 2 or 3 who I wonder how they got in this class. At least there isn't just one lone slow wit in the crew. I'm sure having friends makes it easier to exist in a world that seems to pass you by. I know it helps me. This class is ethnically diverse in so many ways. Let's see.. of 22 students I have 3 Indian, 1 Pakistani, 2 black, 1 Chinese, and 1 Korean. My favorite names are Juhui, Armin, Arman, Prerit, and Riya. They are sweet and kind and are starting to show their personalities. I hope they continue to be that way. I would hate for the UN to not function in unison.

My afternoon crew is quite different. There are 3 special ed kids (2 on the autism spectrum), 2 for writing and 1 for behavior. I have 1 child who has petit mal seizures with frightening regularity. I have 5 black children, 3 Indian, and 2 latino in addition to 12 anglos. (Just for some base understanding, my school demographic is 60% white, 5 % asian, 20% hispanic, and 15% black, roughly speaking) I also have a student who will start in this class later this coming week. He is being moved from another class because he brought a gun to school and showed it on the bus. He was turned in by a fellow classmate. While home on suspension, he got appendicitis and had to have surgery. I wonder how he will affect the class. He has a reputation. It is warranted. sigh.

 I have recently started beginning of the year testing and have 11 of 22 who will be marked for additional small group reading instruction based on low fluency. And that's without checking reading comprehension levels.  For the last 2 weeks I've spent my afternoons juggling some very large personalities and trying to establish routine with frequent interruptions. The hardest part for them seems to be sitting and waiting for me to get there. Every one of the 22 seems to have to walk up to me to ask a question. It makes for a very mobile classroom. And makes me one grumpy teacher. I do have the help of an instructional aid for the last hour and a half of class. For that I am thankful. Without her help, I think I would have lost it by now. It's been a long time since I had a group that was this low with this many learning issues. By May I feel as if I will have earned every moment of Summer 2011.

That's what I am mulling over at the moment. I am thankful for a 3 day weekend. I hope to utilize it fully. So far, I am. In fact, I'm off to do.. not much.. maybe some laundry.. maybe some cooking. All things that relax me. I wish cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming relaxed me.