This is Different

This IS different! Different town, different school, different grade, different age, different school culture.

I have met a total of 111 new students this past week, spread across 4 blocks of Math 7 and 1 block of accelerated Math 7. The entire week was spent on review for the upcoming state test on Tuesday and Wednesday. I did have a chance to teach 2 mini-lessons to the accelerated class on Tuesday and Thursday. They were very short, about 10 mintutes each, but allowed me to get my feet wet. Most of the remaining time was helping out as much as possible in the classroom while Andy reviewed material for the test.

I was able to get a firm understanding of Andy's system for standards based assessments, grading, homework assignments, and so forth. In addition, a big part of the culture at WMS is the concept of a team of teachers spending time together to plan and discuss students. WMS is divided into 3 "houses" of about 330 students each, with about 110 in each grade 6,7, and 8. The math, science, english, and social studies teachers, plus a consulting teacher, constitute the Red 7 team. We meet every day for at least 30 minutes, and also eat lunch together. It's a very collegial atmosphere.

The students are very respectful and well behaved. I don't believe there will be any issues of classroom management when I take over teaching on March 19. I'm already planning and I hope to have the complete plan reviewed by Andy and ready to go for the five full weeks I'll teach.

One key observation about 7th graders - keep the energy level up, and they will respond. However, even during extended periods of somewhat tedious review, Andy acknowledged that fact and thanked the students for sticking with it.

Finally, this past week has me questioning where I would really like to teach. I left SWW thinking "I could teach here", feeling that having my own class right from the beginning of the year would result in less classroom management issues, less personal conversations during class (which was the biggest issue), and more motivation. It was frustrating at SWW in that many of the students didn't seem to care much about the content, and they let you know it, but I think with more time I could get increased student engagement and achievement.

I'm sure the younger age at WMS is a factor, but nearly all the students seem to be very motivated and want to succeed - they are an eager and less skeptical audience than at SWW, and it seems like a more pleasant atmosphere. I'm sure the contrast is so stark since I went from one world to another from a Friday to a Monday, but if I had to choose now, I don't know what I would prefer.

More to come on the differences in school and personal culture as the weeks pass.