yowsers

It's 5:30. I'm at school, and I have enough work to keep me here until 10pm at least. But, my mentor suggests that I leave by 6pm no matter what. Eleven hours at work is long enough.

I spent over an hour calling parents, and I reached fewer than half. My brilliant lessons and insights are getting replaced by discipline. I wish my classes were smaller. If my classes were half the size-- say 15 kids-- we could explore so much material and climb up the ladder of critical thinking. But, I'm busy hushing kids. I need to teach in private school.

I feel as if I am carrying out the tennets of classroom management. I assign seats. I have work for them to do-- not busy work, but legitimate work. I'm patrolling and moving around constantly. Yet, swear to God, there's tons of chatter... and some of the boys get up out of their seats and are in a different quadrant than assigned. I design group work because 7th graders are about as social as humans come. But, perhaps, that's a reason not to have them engage in group work.

I know pedagogy is learner-centered not teacher-centered. But, this model requires a degree of motivation from the students side. I hate it for my intelligent, hardworking students. I think I'm going to meet their needs by scheduling enrichment classes after school or during lunch. I'm not sacrificing the smart, motivated kids to placate the half-assed. On the whole, my kids are great, but I cannot manage 31 of them without some help. Hence, the phonecalls to parents. There are going to be some missed ballgames.

Ah, I need to rest this weekend-- and create a killer seating chart.