Back to School

The students have been back in school for a little over two weeks now. My case load is 21 students in special ed, though I don't actually teach all the students on my case load, and I teach students who aren't on my case load. It seems to even out. The take-away from that is that I will have 21 IEP meetings this year--at least.

I teach one section of Pre-Algebra to 9th graders with special needs. It's my biggest class, with 9 students. I have 4 sections of Study Skills that range from 2 students to 5. It's essentially a resource support program for the kids. I keep in touch with their teachers to make sure they're getting the work turned in and guide the students in completing their assignments. I also have a couple of students who take online courses in my room. I don't really have to do anything for those kids except be available if they need help.

Our school has about 85 students. That's up from the 62 they had last year. The graduating class last year had 13 students; we have 22 new freshmen. For some odd reason, we also got a bunch of transfers.

There are 7 full time teachers. The rest of the faculty is shared with the elementary and middle schools. That includes the two Native Arts teachers, the Music teacher, and two Vocational Arts teachers. The full time teachers offer electives such as Drama, Ceramics, Home Ec, and Spanish. I haven't found my "elective" niche yet, since the things I would normally teach are already covered. I'm considering starting an Italian Language and Culture club; if it goes well, I could teach Italian I next year. Or possibly an AP Art History course.

Every teacher in the district and every student in grades 6-12 gets their own Mac laptop, plus a carrying case so it can go home. We have a full-time instructional technology specialist at the high school and another specialist at the elementary/middle school campus. Their primary job is to maintain all those computers. It makes teaching and learning in the school vastly different from any place I've ever been. Most of the differences are good, but all of it is taking some getting used to.

Faculty meetings are truly collaborative. I love that we are able to share concerns about specific kids or situations and work together to solve problems. It's unlike any other place I've ever worked. We really offer a great variety of courses and extra-curricular activities. The atmosphere reminds me of bigger schools, but with a warmer, more personal touch.

I'm very happy here. It's not the kind of teaching I prefer, since it's more re-active than pro-active; I have to respond to what the students bring in each period rather than plan activities for them. On the other hand, I don't do very much lesson planning except for the math class. And the kids are generally sweet and polite. Even the ones who can't help being obnoxious. The universal verdict, from students and colleagues, is that they like me. That feels pretty good, too!