Running an after school club… Running out of steam…

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Let me just say that running an after school program is one of the most exhausting undertakings I have taken on in my years of teaching thus far! Maybe it’s the fact that I’m designing a curriculum for students that are VERY different from the students I teach during the day. Maybe it’s the fact that the students at my after school club don’t really want to be there on the “literacy day” and only show up so they can play soccer on Thursdays. Maybe I’m just exhausted because it’s SOL crunch time and this is just ANOTHER THING on my plate… you get the idea?

However, I am learning A LOT from this experience. I’ve learned how to say “Necesitas un libro los martes!” which means “You need a book on Tuesdays!” But more importantly, I’m learning that the research I did for my SIP was spot on! Kids need help with vocabulary. There was an activity I planned for my after school kids that I envisioned would be a five minute warm-up but it was actually a 20 minute activity because of the gaps in vocabulary knowledge. This was VERY helpful information for me in going forward with my planning.

So I guess my title wasn’t the best. I’m still trucking along. I’m just very daunted by the amount of extra work we have taken on by being a part of this cohort. I’m sure I’m not along there.

Running an after school program… Running out of steam!

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Let me just say that running an after school program is one of the most exhausting undertakings I have taken on in my years of teaching thus far! Maybe it’s the fact that I’m designing a curriculum for students that are VERY different from the students I teach during the day. Maybe it’s the fact that the students at my after school club don’t really want to be there on the “literacy day” and only show up so they can play soccer on Thursdays. Maybe I’m just exhausted because it’s SOL crunch time and this is just ANOTHER THING on my plate… you get the idea?

However, I am learning A LOT from this experience. I’ve learned how to say “Necesitas un libro los martes!” which means “You need a book on Tuesdays!” But more importantly, I’m learning that the research I did for my SIP was spot on! Kids need help with vocabulary. There was an activity I planned for my after school kids that I envisioned would be a five minute warm-up but it was actually a 20 minute activity because of the gaps in vocabulary knowledge. This was VERY helpful information for me in going forward with my planning.

So I guess my title wasn’t the best. I’m still trucking along. I’m just very daunted by the amount of extra work we have taken on by being a part of this cohort. I’m sure I’m not along there.

Lots of Preliminary Meetings!

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So far I haven’t really gotten much “accomplished” yet with my SIP but I sincerely underestimated the amount of meetings I would have to have before even working with the kids during my SIP.

Having to have so many meetings just to get a plan started really makes me frustrated because I can see clearly where I want to go but I need to follow the steps. I tend to be a BIG PICTURE thinker and I want to skip over the little details but as a leader I will need to make sure everyone has what they need to get to where I already jumped to in my head. I’m not typically a “get all my ducks in a row” person when I get really excited I just want to jump right in! So, I guess what I’m learning as I get started is that the plan I laid out in my paper for Dr. B did not have NEARLY as many preliminary meetings as what it is actually taking to get this project off the ground. First, I needed to meet with the Minority Achievement Coordinator and explain my mission and vision. Then we needed to contact an outside organization to come in and play soccer with the kids. Then we needed to talk to the ELA/Reading Department and make sure we aren’t inviting the same kids to our after school program who are already being targeted for an Act 2 class. Also, we needed to get our principal to agree to sending home a letter to parents about our after school program.

Finally, Snowzilla happened and we’ve had to reschedule some of these meetings so… Yikes! I thought we’d be starting this after school program this week but I’m not even sure letters have gone home. In the future, I will have the students picked for this program and targeted by the end of the FIRST QUARTER not the end of the second quarter.

Testing Post

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Trying to see how this works…

I don’t have much to say yet accept that I’m excited to be back into the groove after the holiday. I’ve already started the ball rolling on the SIP with the wonderful Monica Lozano at my school. She is our fabulous Minority Achievement Coordinator and she is undoubtedly the most important part of my team!

I’ve also been to visit with a lovely 5th grade teacher, Ms. Mufson. I’m learning a lot from her about teachers collaborating across the curriculum and I’m bringing the information back to my Collaborative Learning Team (CLT) at my school site. I’ve also been to observe her teaching in order to bring information back to my CLT about what is being covered at the 5th grade level before the students come to us in 6th grade!

Collective Record Blog Site

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Welcome to the template for your Collective Record.

The menu bar provides you with access to various pages that provide  instructions on requirements for the Collective Record. You will also find links to various forms and suggestions for recrnd keeping.

Generally, your use of this site will involve posting blog entries with attachments – which you may do from the Dashboard, or by clicking the “+” tab on the menu bar at the top of the page.

When you submit a blog entry, be ure to tagit with the appropriate category so your internship supervisors can sort your submissions.

Throughout your internship, you will submit blog entries with artifacts as attachments to record your ongoing progress. Every other month, using the schedule your university supervisor provides, you will submit a blog with your inernship log for the two-month period so that your supervisor can provide feedback on your progress.

At the end of your internship, you will submit a separate set of blog entries that reresent your portfolio. Use the blog entries your have been posting all along as evidence to recall everything you’ve done, and what you learned as a leader.

It’s a good idea to peruse this site now so that you are familiar with its structure and instructions — and remember, you can and should refer to the Internship Manual and e-mail your instructor if you have any questions.