A Teacher's Ruminations

This year, the ESL team has decided that we need to provide more push-in rather than pull-out support for our ESL students. In my case, this means that I will be pushing-in to grades 6 and 8 during their language arts, math and social studies times, and pulling-out some grade six beginner students for an extra hour of language arts, four times a week. Last year we gave our beginner students an average of two hours of pull-out support every day; they never attended their regular language arts class. Yesterday was our first day under this new regime and I loved it! I can't say we'll be team teaching for sure because that requires close planning time, which we've had some of, but we're definitely moving to a co-teaching situation where I'm not an observer but rather another teacher in the class. For some students, who don't know me, this is not what they signed up for but I think it will be a win-win for all involved. My biggest dilemma will be how to work with...

I am currently enrolled in a course through the  ATN-LEAP Learning Employment Aptitudes Program  called Leadership and Communication. This week we were asked to reflect on a series of questions about what it means to be a leader. I have posted these here in the hopes of getting a conversation going. I would love to hear what you have to say on these issues. • What does leadership mean to you? Leadership is a quality I try to cultivate in myself and others. As an educator, I can think of no one else who is better positioned than the classroom teacher to be a leader. I associate leadership with professional autonomy. I also think of leadership as a complimentary attribute of ethical and moral behavior. Leadership, to me, is about doing the right thing because it will benefit the greater good.   • What is a leader? A leader is someone who can identify a problem and has the courage to act, in some capacity, on that problem.  A leader may not necessarily be the...

Day #8 No students, yet. As an ESL teacher I spend the first two weeks of school testing and testing some more, meeting and meeting again, setting up lists, and organizing schedules, until finally I can start servicing students. This is my second year as an ESL teacher though I have been in this position a couple of times previously in my career. Last year was tough as I was new to my school and I didn't know what to do for the first couple of weeks. Everything was new and confusing. This year feels a little more familiar and I haven't stopped to take a break since I started. Still, I miss the first few days of school from when I had a class list on Day #1. I miss the smell of new supplies. I miss the eager faces of students. I miss building a community of learners. I greet familiar faces. I welcome new students. I can't wait to get started teaching for real. Soon. Soon. Soon.