The challenge was to vent and use blending. Boy did I! LOL!
Journaling: This is my view for 8 hours a day/5 days a week. I know it looks like a nice-sized office...but the thing is, it isnt an office. It is supposed to be a classroom. A classroom for kids who have trouble focusing in a regular classroom. Kids who come to get individualized instruction & special attention for their needs. I have two tables, one student desk, thirteen chairs (counting my desk). I have so many students to put in this room. At one point in the day I have 11 students and two classroom aides in this room along with me. In that group I teach Reading on levels that range from Kindergarten to 4th grade. They all need my help. They all need my attention. They all need space and attention and a quiet room to learn in and extra time to take tests and someone to listen to them read and someone who knows how to fix all of their problems. I want to do all of those things for each and every one of them. Day after day I sit here on my 45 minute plan period and think about how this classroom compares to the classroom I pictured Id have. I want to make a difference in their lives, and I know that I do. As far as making them better readers...there isnt enough time for me to give them as much individual attention as they need. There isnt time to fix all of their problems. I want to do it, but at the same time I feel myself shutting down because it feels hopeless. I feel like Im failing them because of the fact that I cant figure out how to do it well in the space provided. Everyone I work with feels really bad for me and says how small my room is and that I should have a bigger room. All I can do is say, It could be worse. But you know, it could be a lot better. I need to breathe.
Credits:
Forces of Nature: Fire Paper Pack by Blythe Evans
2Fer Alpha by Blythe Evans
Crumpled Notes by Danielle Young
Doodled Date Tapes '08 by Kate Hadfield
Fonts: Pea Kim and Journaling Hand
