School, Week 2, Monday

I really will try to keep the school whining down to a minimum, but after all, this is one of those "it's my party" sort of things. Things have changed so much in 25 years of teaching - we used to have a lot of freedom and room for creativity. Everything is now so regimented; I'm locked in to a schedule I really have no control over - the good part is that the specialists have common times to work with kids who need the help. So, everyone who teaches fifth grade math does it at the same time, as with reading, etc. It leaves precious little flexibility. Since I am coordinating with a co-teacher in our bilingual program, we have that layer on top of the rest. It is exciting to see how much language these kids have learned in the last 3-4 years, I will say that. They are learning how to relate culturally in a deeper way, too. That's the good part.