I love and adore my class! I have 14 seven year old second graders. One boy is particularly challenging, but he is doing better with limits and clear boundaries. 12 of my 14 students tested "at risk" with the DIBLES, some so low they were at risk on the first grade test, not even able to do the second. They have really liked the poetry we read though, and I bought some books of poems with activities for emergent readers. They like choral and shared reading of funny poems and rhymes. I'm going to milk that for all it's worth, because I don't even have access to enough books at the C-G level where so many of them are right now. However they are eager and excited. I get hugs, drawings, and pipecleaner bracelets every day. They are fidgety, but love praise and are excited to earn a pajama day! (a whole class reward.) They do their best to stretch out words, but most have letter reversals, a mix of lower and upper case and don't use the lines properly. But they like when we write on white boards or with markers In math, we are still working on counting and writing numbers properly, but they love strategy games and number of the day. One boy knew about negative numbers and now many picked up on how to do an equation with integers! What a funny sweet group. Oh, and my girls have been drawing beautiful peacocks on black paper with color pencil. Truly, there are some amazing artists in my class! How is your class this year?
I think this is the nicest class I have ever had. Some younger brothers and sisters of previous students. Good workable balance of kids. Twenty students. 1. one BD but not loud or agressive. Just doesn't want to work. Too many issues in homelife. 2. several dyslexic, no services provided for them 3. two ESOL. Coming along fine. Both adorable. One spoiled. Other having issues at home with parents divorcing. 4. nice mix of black, white, mixed, hispanic 5. some teacher's kids, some wealthy, some poverty level 6. all types of home-life: single-family homes, both parents, step-parents, grandparents raising them, one adopted, no foster kids this year, even a multi-family home, and a "two-mommy" home. 7. a couple of cousins and several "best friends" since kindergarten 8. I can't think of anyone in my homeroom who is on hyperactivity medicine, or who should be. 9. EVERYONE gets along with each other. No girl fights, no boy bullying. No one is extremely spoiled, just one who thinks he is entitled, but parents don't agree with his self-assessment. 10. All healthy. 11. A couple of New Yorkers. I always find it odd to have them in our little southern town, but here they are. There are quite a few New York families here in our county who were recruited down here by housing developers. However, many of the parents are one big pain in the rearend, but supportive now that they trust me. Still, I wish some would be as good as their kids are.
Same as every year for me. They seem to make my classes "one stop shopping" for the local police. If they need to round up multiple students on a weekday, they sure don't have to go to multiple rooms. The main office just sends them to whatever classroom I happen to be that particular block.
This year my classes are fine. I happen to have a few of the same students in two classes, and a couple of the boys can be a little loud-mouthed but all in all a good group this year.
Last year I had a challenging group. There were lots of behavior issues, and they were historically low-performing all through school. They grew on me, and I did really like them. They were, however, a hard group because you couldn't let up off them for a second, so they drained all my energy every day. We were also trying to raise test scores with them, and we had lots of pressure from above to perform. Today I tested that group again, and it was nice to see them again. They look so tall and grown up, plus the boys have these new deep voices. This year my group seems younger, but comes with higher test scores and fewer "issues". I've had them since August 1st, and we are just now getting "settled in" and getting to know each other. Last year I had 18 to 24 kids per class. This year I am at 34 per class, which makes it harder to get to know them as fast as usual.
Last year I had a challenging class, so this year I am very happy with my smaller, less 'needy' one. I have already been able to give them much more independence than last year's class had in January. There aren't any attention issues or health issues (after a boat load last year). The only thing I'm a tad concerned about is that my girl-heavy group (10 to 4) will have their share of friend drama. Trying to do lots of community building now to hopefully prevent some of it...
23 kiddos 4 Title 2 SPED 2 Speech 6 Going through SPED referrals 1 GT Overall, they are VERY low, and there are a lot of behavior problems. I learned that I can't even take it one day at a time-it's more like one hour at a time! Our morning was rough today, mid-afternoon was great, and late afternoon was rough. They are a very challenging group!
I have seven different classes ranging from great to manageable. The largest has 14 students in it and the smallest has six.
My 8th graders give me (and every other teacher) a run for my money. They are all crammed into one class and it makes it tough. My sophomores are fantastic most days. My seniors are the best. I love them! They're really funny but know when to work.
Really interesting group this year. I'm amazed at how open they have been with me and with their peers despite their choice to be physically isolated from one another. They're also very creative and have been sending me samples of their writing and, if I can swing it in terms of bandwidth, their music.
Positive mixed with reality... 2nd year in my class is definetly an interesting mix. 18 Prek/Kindergarten 12 girls 6 boys 11 kinders and 7 prek 1. Talkative busy group. I believe you have to be touched with a bit of ADHD to handle my class. Because rugs are placed all around the room and students are working on math, reading, writing, language and practical life all at once. You have to be able to handle your mind being in 9-10 different places at once! Yes exhuasted at the end of the day! 2. Hard workers after we make the transition... 3. A couple try to slide under the radar of not choosing "challenging work". 4. 3 Boys who I have strategically placed in a triangle around the classroom. 5. Abilities all over the place from kinders reading on a 2nd grade level to kinders who are still working on sounds. 6. My co-teacher and I have been working extremely well together getting them started on choosing work that is "appropriate" for them... challenge mixed with reinforcing the skills they need. 7. Amazing and supportive parents, going to have lots of volunteers this year. 8. On a really good day with them I love them and I stand back and watch how they choose work, work together with one another, kinders take care of the kinders.... and I'm not saying no, stop, dont do that.... on a tough day I'm ready to run out of there and "retire" for the day. But thats the crazy world of kindergarten along with prek in the mix.
19 sweeties Several ESL who are so bright and eager One tough cookie girl who has a good heart, is capable but can't keep out of everyone else's business....making progress with her...she thrives on positive reinforcement One child with ADHD whose mom is not medicating since "he's not getting in trouble"... I love him. He's immature but so bright. Doesn't miss a darn thing even when it looks like he's not paying attention. So far so good...parents have sent me notes saying their kids are so happy to come to school.
21 overall good kids, a bit chatty, but I cannot complain, they are for the most part respectful and a good bunch.
This is my first class, so I have no previous ones to compare it too. I have 17 kiddos, 6 of them very low. I have a few who have some attention issues. I have one who has a major attitude and is very disrespectful. I have one who is an extreme behavior issue ( he is also very low and is getting moved back to 1st) but he throws extreme tantrums when something is "not easy". Throwing things, pushing and hitting and yelling. He has a VIP pass to the office I have a lot of really sweet kids though, they like to chat, but they are good once we get past the major behavior problem (who tends to throw off everyone else's day)
I have the insane class, but I enjoy challenges. They are good kids when there is extreme structure. They didn't have structure last year at all! I run a tight ship. I have 33 kids, so I have no choice. 15 of them are sped and 6 of them receive behavioral health services.
I have over 100 8th grade students divided into four LA classes plus 15 others in an elective class. I'm enjoying this group of kids. We will always have high needs (IEP,504) students, poor behavior students, and snooty kids. The mix this year is a little better than other years, the classes are bigger by up to 8 students per class, more kids are hurting financially, but they are a more relaxed bunch of kids, have tolerated my wacky sense of humor better than some other years. Looking forward to the rest of the year!
I have 9 hormonal munchkins. It's a mix of verbal and non-verbal students with significant disabilities. One student is extremely aggressive and violent. It's like having K and 4th together at the same time. Its a terrible mix. I do have 4 aides which is very nice but I do have to plan for them to have things to do. The kicker this year is the complete lack of respect from my colleagues who think I'm pretty much a babysitter.
This year's students are a lot "busier" than last years students. I have more in my room than any other year -- 30 total! (1st year: 16. 2nd year: 20. 3rd year: 22. 4th year:21) This year has been a lot more difficult because I have two students with severe emotional disturbance (one literally refuses to work. the other has an unhealthy need for adult approval to the point that it becomes a disruption to the learning enviroment). They are also extremely chatty. Sometimes I want to scream "SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!" like Arnold S. did on "Kindergarten Cop" :lol: I think they are a nice bunch -- i have several kids that I love to pieces, but again, there's like a handfull of very challenging ones that do make the day go by much slower than last year. I really really REALLY miss last years class. They were amazing. I almost never yelled. At most, I'd raise my voice once a day.
I am enjoying this years bunch of students much more than last years. Last year I had 9 self-contained students, all boys rangining from K-5 with just about the craziest mix of disabilities. I had about three really severe behavior problems and a P that didn't really support the situation much. It was just REALLY stressful. This year I'm at the middle school teaching 6th grade inclusion and strangely enough I am loving it! The 6th grade as a whole is a really nice bunch although a lot of them are very immature. I have 22 students on my caseload and I have to say it is a breeze compared to last year. No, they aren't perfect. I have a few that can get under my skin from time to time. I have one boy who is extremely ADHD and literally needs someone reminding him what to do every moment of the day. I have another girl who has a bit of an attitude and would rather socialize with her friends than put effort into anything academic. My biggest behavior issue this year is just lack of motivation from a small handful of my students. I've just been stressing to them that this is middle school and they are now young adults. I'm a valuable resource for them to use, but I can only help them if THEY want the help. Giving them this accountability has worked well with most of them. All in all I'd rather deal with a lack of motivation than being threatened to have chairs thrown at me on a daily basis lol.
27, mix of girls and boys. All VERY aggressive. So many social/emotional needs. I'm doing well with like 20 of them....okay with another 4....and there's 3 that are driving me up the wall. I have them on sticker charts for behavior issues. I'm not entirely sure how I am supposed to teach if I've got a kid having rage fits in the corner. If it's not the rage kid it's Ms. Tude trying to chicken head me during my instruction. Sigh. Interventions are hard because they lack self-awareness and responsibility for their actions. I'm so proud of their progress so far though!
It's shaping up to be a delightful year! My 4 geometry classes are large-- 2 of them are 41, with a 35 and a 36. But they've been wonderful, even through last week's fainter. My six SAT prep classes are all smaller, and sprinkled with kids I taught last year, so I'm enjoying them as well.
I have 14 students this year. 10 wild boys and 4 calm girls. I was much warned about how challenging this class is, but they behave well with me. I intentionally plan so that they are engaged and actively learning as to help with behavior. They definitely keep me on my toes, but I do enjoy this class.
