Lesson Plans

As I sit to make my lessons for the upcoming week, it is finally starting to sink in that I am a teacher. It seems such a long time ago that I decided to become a teacher but in reality, its only been a little over two years. I love my job. Its been a long time since I was able to say that. I look forward to the nex week. The school I work at is awesome. I cannot complain since I am literally on the beach. In the next few days, I will post a picture of my view. Today, Santa will be stopping by to see the kids. He will be coming in his helicopter and will land on the blacktop.

Anyway, my ultimate goal with these kids is to have them learn to read this year. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be in the third grade and cannot read. This has got to be frustrating. I know these kids have what it takes. I just have to find a way to make them know they have what it takes. They won't be reading fluently by the end of the year, but my personal goal is to get them working on the Accelerated Reading program and earning points. THEY CAN DO IT!!

First Week Down

I made it through the first week of teaching. Looking back on this week, I am happy to say that I made it through the week and I did get that AHA moment I am always looking for. One of my boys cannot read as a third grader. Everytime I try to help him read, he ends up crying and hides under his desk. This went on for about an hour where he would completely ignore what I as saying to do. Finally, after recess, I called him over to me. I told him he needs to use his words to explain why he was so upset. He said he could not read. I told him that I knew he could not read but I promised him that by the end of the school year, he would read.

Later that day, I worked with him and he read a second grade level book from I Love Reading. He almost could not stop giggling when he realized he was able to read it. I saw that AHA moment in his eyes and I just wanted to hug him. That look in his eyes is exactly why I wanted to be a teacher. The fact that something I showed him made him excited to learn.

My phyilosophy is "I want my students to leave my classroom knowing they have what it takes to succeed no matter what their disabilities are". I tell the kids everyday they have what it takes. I believe it, the trick is getting them to believe it. Any of you reading this that are teachers, please feel free to leave suggestions to motivate the students who do not want to succeed.