Okay...I don't know how everyone else seems to be holding it together so well, but I am feeling completely overwhelmed and exhausted! With the first month of school out of the way, my not-so-little middle school friends are beginning to show their comfort level and some of those old behaviors from the year before that we teachers were hoping (more like wishful thinking) they had grown out of over the summer. My classes are working away on expanding and strengthening our math skills; as once again more curriculum has been added to a shorter timeline and cut scores for the state testing have been raised. I'm trying to find the time to stay current on my case study work (we only have 2 weeks left!!). And at this very moment, I am focusing on not thinking about the cold that is trying to take me over! [insert heavy sigh here]
AND so now that I've gotten that out of my system...I was glad to have been assigned with the reading this week from the Clay because it has given me an itsy bit of clarity on the observation survey assignment that I would like to get done and out of the way. I feel like there are just so many little parts to get done here and there all the time. It reminds me how lucky I am to be a MATH teacher! Math is absolute...sure there are different ways to solve a problem, but for the most part we remain linear, going from point A to point B. Although I have been able to make several connections between the tools and strategies for literacy and how I can apply them in/with my math curriculum, I still feel grateful that I don't have to do all of the DRA/QRI-5, running records, surveys, etc. I know that informal and formal assessments, when used and understood correctly, can make a world of a difference in guiding BEST teacher practice; but I just can't get over what a time and energy commitment it must be for classroom teachers without any EA, building or parent volunteer support.
I guess my question is...How often are we seeing classroom teachers effectively using these strategies and assessments in their core literacy blocks on a regular basis, AND are they able to still find the time to cover all necessary curriculum? Any thoughts or opinions?
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