A year....really?

It's been almost a year since my last post! I really want to journal about my year this year because there are big changes happening as usual.

First of all, I had a pretty good school year for 09-10! My class was challenging to say the least but we built a pretty good community once I started holding almost daily class meetings. They began listening to one another and more importantly, I began listening to them. I learned what they were worrying over, what scared them, what they were excited about. It changed how I looked at them. And the fact that I listening, and allowed them to care for one another, it changed how they looked at me and I liked it!

My coursework began Janury '09. I am enrolled at the Univerity of Florid's College of Education, Lastinger Center. I am working towards my Masters in Curriculum and Instruction for School Leadership and Improvement with a specialization in Educational Technology. It's a mouthful for sure. I have enjoyed each of my classes. Because it is a job embedded program, I am able to almost immediately apply concepts to my practice and reflect, share, and get feedback.

Over the summer, I had two classes at the same time, and even not working this summer...it was difficult! But I know how one whole reading unit planned out and one science workshop planned out.

Onto the changes! At the end of the 09-10 school year, I was told that I would be moving up to fifth grade. I was sad and shocked at first! I love my fourth grade teammates. We'd worked really hard over the past two years together! Why would our principal decide to change what seemed to work so well? I never really got a great answer for that but it is what it is. I can't say I'm completely unhappy with it either. The teachers on the fifth grade team seem really nice. I'm even working with one of them on an afterschool environmental sciences club.

This change also comes with departmentalization. I have always been self-contained. Now I will only teach reading and science. I am sad that I wont teach writing explicitly anymore but I'm sure I will find ways. I don't know my teaching partner very well and I'm hoping that we will be a good team. Team work is very important to me.

I will attempt to keep this updated this year!