At one point when I first began this whole crazy teaching thing, I wondered how on earth I was going to fill six one-hour periods a day, five days a week, ten months a year with valuble information. I had nightmares about facing my classes with nothing to say, no useful strategies, no guidance, no new techniques or concepts... not even any "helpful hints" or "fun facts".
Having reached the halfway point in the year, I actually feel as if I am starting to catch my stride.
Lately I have a much better picture, not only of what will be happening on a day-to-day basis, but of what I need to accomplish week-to-week and even month-to-month. It is a satisfying feeling to have even a rudimentary plan. I have a goal in mind for each of my nine classes and I have a good sense of the rhythm of the week and what I need to do in order to help them "get there".
This is the training that was sadly lacking in our Education Program- we made detailed lesson plans "up the ying-yang", as they say, but we never had a chance to map out a year's worth of learning. It's not an easy task! Juggling provincial curriculums and school expectations along with my own personal experience and of course, the interests of the students, I have had to create a program that compromises all of these elements equally. In music, the task is especially daunting, since the curriculum was written when music was allocated at least three times as many hours, and it specifically tells you how many classes to spend on each outcome.
Which brings us to today *sigh*.
I am unbelievably relieved and happy to be home celebrating the second "snow day" of the week. I got up early and started reading. Just reading for fun (imagine... something I have had very little time for lately!). Then I decided to check my e-mail and write on my blog. Oh, yes, I do have report cards to finish and more lesson plans to play with, but there is a tiny, imperceptible lessoning of pressure about it all.
So it came as a surprise to me that when I heard the cancellation announcement this morning, I was just a little bit upset. I know, I know... I've had a wonderful morning, and believe me, I plan on having a great day. It's just that I have so much I wanted to do with the kids. Not only that, but there are some things I actually need to do.
Now that I have developed this planning ahead skill, I can't get over the fact that time is just going to fly by. We have not only had two snow days this week, but over the last month we have been periodically interrupted by provincial evaluations, school planning days and celebrations of one kind and another. I realized this morning that I will not see my grade nine music class once again next week, since the provincial exams that were supposed to happen today will get pushed ahead. This means they can't present their projects until after March break. This is disastrous in at least two ways- firstly the poor students will have that hanging over their heads during break (which I vowed not to let happen) and secondly, I won't be able to mark it for their report cards, since the marks are due the Monday we're back.
I'm sure I'll figure something out, and don't worry, the next time there are rumours of a storm, I'll be the first to wear my pyjamas inside-out and sleep with a spoon under my pillow (or whatever it is that is supposed to bring on the storm), but I just had to comment on the change in attitude and direction I have noticed. I hope that means that I'm "getting the hang"!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Roller Coaster Ride Continues...
Has it _really_ been over a month since I wrote anything? My how time flies when you have no idea what you're doing and you spend most of your time spinning around in circles!
The semesters have changed and I am now teaching a grade ten music class instead of drama. They don't know me; they don't trust me and I feel like I am starting all over again. I guess that's what happens every year... just when you get a group working well together, they move on and you start at ground zero with a new bunch.
On a brighter note, I have been really pleased with the rest of my classes (the grade six, seven and eights in particular... the grade nines are still a difficult bunch). I decided I would make February "reading and writing" month. I have been working on basic theory concepts and trying to make it fun. My big piano has come in handy, as has the fact that the music I ordered arrived. We started out reading some basic tunes in the "Standards of Excellence" books, but we were quickly able to translate our reading skills to the actual music for our concert in June.
I talked a little bit about key signatures and I have created a fabulous table to help me (and the kids!) when we're using instruments that are not in the same key. I'm really quite proud of it- I've never seen one before, but I think all band teachers should have a copy. Basically I have written out the notes of the chromatic scale in solfège, then I translate them into the letters of the alphabet, since that is the system I am used to and the system most kids who take music lessons are taught. After that, I have grouped the commonly used band instruments by the key their music is in and translated (transposed) all the notes into solfège and the alphabetical note names.
Wow- I just re-read that last paragraph and realized how incredibly technical it sounds if you're not into music theory... my apologies! I have included a copy of it below, which might help understand it a little better (feel free to scoop it if you think it would help you!).
In any case, it has been great for me... I have used it at least five or six times a day since I created it. I have a big copy on my music stand and if a student asks me if they are playing their part right we can check it with the piano easily.
Here it is in very small print, which was the only way I could fit it in the post:
This tool has gained me some respect from the kids who know a little theory, and many of them have asked for copies, which is cool.
I feel more and more like the students are understanding the simple theory I am teaching and that they are seeing why it's important to have a written musical language. The fact that they had to compose something and keep notes in order to remember what they did week to week was a great prequel, and the fact that they have to start working on their parts for the June concert was another great reason to acquire theory concepts.
I could go on and on... I should probably write more often. I am really pleased with the progression I see... my students no longer fear theory, and I think they are starting to understand the basics and more importantly, they are starting to use their knowledge to help them create music.
The semesters have changed and I am now teaching a grade ten music class instead of drama. They don't know me; they don't trust me and I feel like I am starting all over again. I guess that's what happens every year... just when you get a group working well together, they move on and you start at ground zero with a new bunch.
On a brighter note, I have been really pleased with the rest of my classes (the grade six, seven and eights in particular... the grade nines are still a difficult bunch). I decided I would make February "reading and writing" month. I have been working on basic theory concepts and trying to make it fun. My big piano has come in handy, as has the fact that the music I ordered arrived. We started out reading some basic tunes in the "Standards of Excellence" books, but we were quickly able to translate our reading skills to the actual music for our concert in June.
I talked a little bit about key signatures and I have created a fabulous table to help me (and the kids!) when we're using instruments that are not in the same key. I'm really quite proud of it- I've never seen one before, but I think all band teachers should have a copy. Basically I have written out the notes of the chromatic scale in solfège, then I translate them into the letters of the alphabet, since that is the system I am used to and the system most kids who take music lessons are taught. After that, I have grouped the commonly used band instruments by the key their music is in and translated (transposed) all the notes into solfège and the alphabetical note names.
Wow- I just re-read that last paragraph and realized how incredibly technical it sounds if you're not into music theory... my apologies! I have included a copy of it below, which might help understand it a little better (feel free to scoop it if you think it would help you!).
In any case, it has been great for me... I have used it at least five or six times a day since I created it. I have a big copy on my music stand and if a student asks me if they are playing their part right we can check it with the piano easily.
Here it is in very small print, which was the only way I could fit it in the post:
Instruments | Noms des notes | |||||||||||
Piano, Flute, Trombone, Guitare et tous instruments A440 solfège | Do | Do# Ré♭ | Ré | Ré# Mi♭ | Mi | Fa | Fa# Sol♭ | Sol | Sol# La♭ | La | La# Si♭ | Si |
Piano, Flute, Trombone, Guitare et tous instruments A440 ABC | C | C# D♭ | D | D# E♭ | E | F | F# G♭ | G | G# A♭ | A | A# B♭ | B |
Clarinette, Trompette, Sax Ténor, (Si bémol) + un ton solfège | Ré | Ré# Mi♭ | Mi | Fa | Fa# Sol♭ | Sol | Sol# La♭ | La | La# Si♭ | Si | Do | Do# Ré♭ |
Clarinette, Trompette, Sax Ténor, (Si bémol) + un ton ABC | D | D# E♭ | E | F | F# G♭ | G | G# A♭ | A | A# B♭ | B | C | C# D♭ |
Sax Alto (Mi bémol) + 9 demi-tons solfège | La | La# Si♭ | Si | Do | Do# Ré♭ | Ré | Ré# Mi♭ | Mi | Fa | Fa# Sol♭ | Sol | Sol# La♭ |
Sax Alto (Mi bémol) + 9 demi-tons ABC | A | A# B♭ | B | C | C# D♭ | D | D# E♭ | E | F | F# G♭ | G | G# A♭ |
This tool has gained me some respect from the kids who know a little theory, and many of them have asked for copies, which is cool.
I feel more and more like the students are understanding the simple theory I am teaching and that they are seeing why it's important to have a written musical language. The fact that they had to compose something and keep notes in order to remember what they did week to week was a great prequel, and the fact that they have to start working on their parts for the June concert was another great reason to acquire theory concepts.
I could go on and on... I should probably write more often. I am really pleased with the progression I see... my students no longer fear theory, and I think they are starting to understand the basics and more importantly, they are starting to use their knowledge to help them create music.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Aegean Stables...
Why does it feel like I am constantly putting out fires?
After basking in the success of our play all weekend, I came to school Monday in a complete slump. I couldn't believe that life was going on. There were music classes to prepare, an English class that needed guidance and of course the ever present terror of looming report cards.
This is one intense roller-coaster ride.
The rest of my classes are going fairly well. The big piano has been a great success, not only because the kids enjoy it, but because it is helping them to understand music theory. I am enjoying the fact that January is "Improvisation and Composition month"- most of the classes seem to be on task and I had my first presentations today, which were really quite good. I have also been more or less pleased with my English class, who are writing their own short stories right now. They seem to be on task and excited. Again, I have offered them the option of doing a film version of their story for the next project, so they have a real goal in mind, which helps.
But January is drawing to a close and I have to figure out where I am taking everyone next.
On the music side of things I am torn. I know that the kids need to work on the pieces they will play in the Spring concert, but I am loathe to bring out the instruments and embark on that just yet. It is an important goal, but there is so much more to music than simply reading parts and putting them together. I am still combatting the idea that music theory is punishment, so I don't feel like I can name February "Music Theory Month", although I am going to try and focus on that as much as I can.
As for my English class, they will be passing in their short stories on Friday and I am really hoping to get them edited and back to them by Wednesday (we'll see how that goes... I always "bite off more than I can chew" with regards to marking). The issue with them is that I need to give them really clear guidelines about the next project before they can start... the fun never ends!
It's really hard to come up with creative and engaging lessons that fulfil the curriculum requirements and are easily evaluated when I have so many different classes working on so many different subjects at so many different levels!
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a challenge. I just wish I could get a little breathing space!
After basking in the success of our play all weekend, I came to school Monday in a complete slump. I couldn't believe that life was going on. There were music classes to prepare, an English class that needed guidance and of course the ever present terror of looming report cards.
This is one intense roller-coaster ride.
The rest of my classes are going fairly well. The big piano has been a great success, not only because the kids enjoy it, but because it is helping them to understand music theory. I am enjoying the fact that January is "Improvisation and Composition month"- most of the classes seem to be on task and I had my first presentations today, which were really quite good. I have also been more or less pleased with my English class, who are writing their own short stories right now. They seem to be on task and excited. Again, I have offered them the option of doing a film version of their story for the next project, so they have a real goal in mind, which helps.
But January is drawing to a close and I have to figure out where I am taking everyone next.
On the music side of things I am torn. I know that the kids need to work on the pieces they will play in the Spring concert, but I am loathe to bring out the instruments and embark on that just yet. It is an important goal, but there is so much more to music than simply reading parts and putting them together. I am still combatting the idea that music theory is punishment, so I don't feel like I can name February "Music Theory Month", although I am going to try and focus on that as much as I can.
As for my English class, they will be passing in their short stories on Friday and I am really hoping to get them edited and back to them by Wednesday (we'll see how that goes... I always "bite off more than I can chew" with regards to marking). The issue with them is that I need to give them really clear guidelines about the next project before they can start... the fun never ends!
It's really hard to come up with creative and engaging lessons that fulfil the curriculum requirements and are easily evaluated when I have so many different classes working on so many different subjects at so many different levels!
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a challenge. I just wish I could get a little breathing space!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
"The play's the thing..."
I'm not sure how to even start to write about my drama class's play. I couldn't have wished for a better experience... Everything came together at the last minute in the way that it often seems to do in theatre and we presented a fabulous show to the school and the public, but that's not what was amazing about it. The wonderful part, for me, was watching the kids learning the process and slowly understanding how to work collaboratively.
I have been trying to formulate this post in my mind ever since.
Part of the reason this production was so amazing was that the kids were central to the process. It was my mandate from the beginning, but it's like everything else, it is so easy to step in and do things yourself instead of insisting that they work on it themselves. I remember getting my girls to "help" me in the kitchen when they were small... it was about four times the amount of work when we started, but slowly, as they learned what to do, they began to do things on their own. It was similar with the drama class... Throughout the process I had a vision of what should happen, but I tried to interfere as little as possible, while maintaining a schedule in my head and guiding the creativity.
As I mentioned earlier, Radio Canada did a short piece about the play (they interviewed some of the kids and taped a little bit of our rehearsal). It helped to generate an audience for our evening performance, but it also helped the kids understand the process of publicity. I also had a group of students who were not in my drama class, who, together with some excellent adult volunteers worked on the technical aspects of the show up to and including a wonderful video of it, which I will try and post at some point. For those who are curious, the Radio Canada piece is online here: Radio Canada
I will really miss my drama class. This was their final project and when the semester ends I will have a music class instead. I can only hope that I will be able to create some meaningful experiences in music for them too.
I have been trying to formulate this post in my mind ever since.
Part of the reason this production was so amazing was that the kids were central to the process. It was my mandate from the beginning, but it's like everything else, it is so easy to step in and do things yourself instead of insisting that they work on it themselves. I remember getting my girls to "help" me in the kitchen when they were small... it was about four times the amount of work when we started, but slowly, as they learned what to do, they began to do things on their own. It was similar with the drama class... Throughout the process I had a vision of what should happen, but I tried to interfere as little as possible, while maintaining a schedule in my head and guiding the creativity.
As I mentioned earlier, Radio Canada did a short piece about the play (they interviewed some of the kids and taped a little bit of our rehearsal). It helped to generate an audience for our evening performance, but it also helped the kids understand the process of publicity. I also had a group of students who were not in my drama class, who, together with some excellent adult volunteers worked on the technical aspects of the show up to and including a wonderful video of it, which I will try and post at some point. For those who are curious, the Radio Canada piece is online here: Radio Canada
I will really miss my drama class. This was their final project and when the semester ends I will have a music class instead. I can only hope that I will be able to create some meaningful experiences in music for them too.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tiny miracles in a busy day
I am only going to write a short post tonight because the play is tomorrow and I was at school until almost six-thirty working on lighting cues with our new board etc. (more about all of that later), but I just had to write about a little miracle that happened today...
Ever since Christmas and in particular over the last week, I have been madly running around sorting out props, costumes, lighting cues, sound equipment and directing actors etc., so I have very little time to prepare for my music classes (part of the reason I chose to focus on improvisation and composition this month). It is ridiculous to expect that a person can focus on so many things all at once! It seems like there is always one subject where I am letting things slip a little... this month, it has been my music classes.
I have been trying to get in a few mini theory lessons as part of the composition process, but I am realizing that these kids really need to have a lot more information about the structure of music, and I wanted to try and make it fun, so... today at lunch I finally took the time to create a giant piano out of masking tape on my floor. It was something I had in mind for a while, but today I decided to take the time and do it. Part of my strategy was that I wanted to distract the kids from playing with the costumes my drama kids had placed in the room ready for our dress rehearsal, but I thought it might bring some life into my theory lesson.
What fun!
Finally the kids enjoyed learning about the names of the notes, how to make chords and what sharps and flats are. I had them playing games and creating music with my "giant piano" almost the whole class. I didn't have much of a plan for how I would use it- it was a spontaneous decision, but it was really fun improvising the lesson as we went along. I'm really excited to see how it works with my other music classes tomorrow.
I need to go write out sound and light cues for the play now, but I will try and "keep you posted" on what happens with my giant piano. I hope my other classes enjoy it as much!
Ever since Christmas and in particular over the last week, I have been madly running around sorting out props, costumes, lighting cues, sound equipment and directing actors etc., so I have very little time to prepare for my music classes (part of the reason I chose to focus on improvisation and composition this month). It is ridiculous to expect that a person can focus on so many things all at once! It seems like there is always one subject where I am letting things slip a little... this month, it has been my music classes.
I have been trying to get in a few mini theory lessons as part of the composition process, but I am realizing that these kids really need to have a lot more information about the structure of music, and I wanted to try and make it fun, so... today at lunch I finally took the time to create a giant piano out of masking tape on my floor. It was something I had in mind for a while, but today I decided to take the time and do it. Part of my strategy was that I wanted to distract the kids from playing with the costumes my drama kids had placed in the room ready for our dress rehearsal, but I thought it might bring some life into my theory lesson.
What fun!
Finally the kids enjoyed learning about the names of the notes, how to make chords and what sharps and flats are. I had them playing games and creating music with my "giant piano" almost the whole class. I didn't have much of a plan for how I would use it- it was a spontaneous decision, but it was really fun improvising the lesson as we went along. I'm really excited to see how it works with my other music classes tomorrow.
I need to go write out sound and light cues for the play now, but I will try and "keep you posted" on what happens with my giant piano. I hope my other classes enjoy it as much!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Small Victories
OK, so the task is impossible. But _something_ needs to happen in my classes, so where do I find the middle ground between "the impossible" and productive class time? I am going to start by documenting the small miracles I see every day, just like in Friedman's book (thanks, Mom!). I have always been a firm believer in the idea that if you look for good things, you will find them and that if you focus on the bad, that's all you'll see. It's so easy to focus on how difficult it is to teach in our current system!
Truthfully, although I am daunted by the task ahead of me, I see wonderful things going on all around me. Take my crazy English class, for instance (no, seriously... take them! ;*)). They are an energetic group of grade nine students who have been together for years. Their hormones are raging, their attention spans are shrinking and yet I am supposed to inspire them with the elegance of the English language *sigh*. It has been a long, slow battle, but one by one I see them engaging despite themselves. We spent most of December reading some of my favourite short stories and talking about the genre of the short story in general. Throughout the short story unit I showed a few film versions of classic short stories like Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day" and Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron". Now we're working on writing our own short stories and the "carrot at the end of the stick" is that when they are finished writing, they will be able to interpret their stories in another media, like film, drama, poetry, song, etc. They really seem to be enjoying the process. Everyone is on task and some of them are downright excited about their stories.
I guess I see this as a huge achievement with this particular group.
I have also been enjoying my music classes a lot more since the Christmas break. I decided over Christmas that we should spend a little time exploring, composing and improvising instead of starting right away on a piece for the Spring concert, so when we returned I let my grade sixes explore different instruments. The students who played flute, for instance, brought their flutes out and with the help of a little disinfectant spray, were able to lend them to anyone who wanted to try flute. This helped my flautists realize just how much they _have_ learned since the beginning of the year, and helped the rest of the class understand a little bit more about the flute. I also let students try guitars, pianos, percussion instruments etc.. They were particularly interested in trying my accordion (hopefully I'll find a young budding accordionist in the bunch!). It was a great way to solidify some of the things they have learned about their own instruments and it gave them a chance to try some things musically that they might not have tried before.
Following along in the creative theme, I gave each of my other classes the assignment of writing their own piece of music in groups of three to six. We reviewed the basic elements of music and they have been charged with keeping detailed notes, which helps them remember what they are working on from week to week, but also offers me the opportunity of teaching a little practical theory. As I go from group to group I am able to help the students understand why theory was invented. They see in a very concrete way why it's important to know what key to play in or what time signature. They also understand some of the complexities of communicating your musical ideas to another person. It has been a great exercise so far.
Lastly (but not "leastly"!) my drama class is drawing to a close and will be presenting a play they wrote as a final exam for the class. This is probably my biggest "small victory"... I started the year with a group of individuals who hardly knew one another, some of whom were grudgingly taking drama in order to fulfil an arts credit, a couple of whom were taking drama for the second time since they enjoyed it so much, and the rest of whom fell somewhere in between those two extremes. We're finishing this semester with a team who are confident, hard-working and justifiably proud of what they've accomplished. They managed to coordinate their efforts and produce a wonderfully quirky murder-mystery that takes place during a "mi-carême" party. This cleverly offers them the opportunity to show off the masks we made during our unit on characters as well as tie in some good old fashioned acadian traditions. We will be presenting the play twice at school and once in the evening for parents and invited guests. We did an interview today with Radio Canada that's going to be aired tomorrow morning, so I hope that will drum up a little bit of an audience, but regardless, we'll be video-taping it for posterity.
See, there are lots of things to be happy about. I just wish I didn't feel quite so much like I was only just barely treading water... when I look at all the things I've accomplished, it looks great, but I'm still falling far short what I think I should be doing.
Woah, that being said, I'd better get back to work- I have to get ready for three classes of music tomorrow as well as our final dress rehearsal.
No rest for the wicked...
Truthfully, although I am daunted by the task ahead of me, I see wonderful things going on all around me. Take my crazy English class, for instance (no, seriously... take them! ;*)). They are an energetic group of grade nine students who have been together for years. Their hormones are raging, their attention spans are shrinking and yet I am supposed to inspire them with the elegance of the English language *sigh*. It has been a long, slow battle, but one by one I see them engaging despite themselves. We spent most of December reading some of my favourite short stories and talking about the genre of the short story in general. Throughout the short story unit I showed a few film versions of classic short stories like Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day" and Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron". Now we're working on writing our own short stories and the "carrot at the end of the stick" is that when they are finished writing, they will be able to interpret their stories in another media, like film, drama, poetry, song, etc. They really seem to be enjoying the process. Everyone is on task and some of them are downright excited about their stories.
I guess I see this as a huge achievement with this particular group.
I have also been enjoying my music classes a lot more since the Christmas break. I decided over Christmas that we should spend a little time exploring, composing and improvising instead of starting right away on a piece for the Spring concert, so when we returned I let my grade sixes explore different instruments. The students who played flute, for instance, brought their flutes out and with the help of a little disinfectant spray, were able to lend them to anyone who wanted to try flute. This helped my flautists realize just how much they _have_ learned since the beginning of the year, and helped the rest of the class understand a little bit more about the flute. I also let students try guitars, pianos, percussion instruments etc.. They were particularly interested in trying my accordion (hopefully I'll find a young budding accordionist in the bunch!). It was a great way to solidify some of the things they have learned about their own instruments and it gave them a chance to try some things musically that they might not have tried before.
Following along in the creative theme, I gave each of my other classes the assignment of writing their own piece of music in groups of three to six. We reviewed the basic elements of music and they have been charged with keeping detailed notes, which helps them remember what they are working on from week to week, but also offers me the opportunity of teaching a little practical theory. As I go from group to group I am able to help the students understand why theory was invented. They see in a very concrete way why it's important to know what key to play in or what time signature. They also understand some of the complexities of communicating your musical ideas to another person. It has been a great exercise so far.
Lastly (but not "leastly"!) my drama class is drawing to a close and will be presenting a play they wrote as a final exam for the class. This is probably my biggest "small victory"... I started the year with a group of individuals who hardly knew one another, some of whom were grudgingly taking drama in order to fulfil an arts credit, a couple of whom were taking drama for the second time since they enjoyed it so much, and the rest of whom fell somewhere in between those two extremes. We're finishing this semester with a team who are confident, hard-working and justifiably proud of what they've accomplished. They managed to coordinate their efforts and produce a wonderfully quirky murder-mystery that takes place during a "mi-carême" party. This cleverly offers them the opportunity to show off the masks we made during our unit on characters as well as tie in some good old fashioned acadian traditions. We will be presenting the play twice at school and once in the evening for parents and invited guests. We did an interview today with Radio Canada that's going to be aired tomorrow morning, so I hope that will drum up a little bit of an audience, but regardless, we'll be video-taping it for posterity.
See, there are lots of things to be happy about. I just wish I didn't feel quite so much like I was only just barely treading water... when I look at all the things I've accomplished, it looks great, but I'm still falling far short what I think I should be doing.
Woah, that being said, I'd better get back to work- I have to get ready for three classes of music tomorrow as well as our final dress rehearsal.
No rest for the wicked...
Monday, January 16, 2012
My Job Description
I am responsible for introducing sixty grade six students and seventy-five grade seven students to orchestral music and the understanding/appreciation for music in all its many amazing forms. I need to teach them how to play, maintain and care for the flute, trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, bass, percussion, trombone, barytone, piano or any other instrument that might be included in a regular school band. On top of that I need to help them understand basic music theory, I need to introduce them to various music styles, develop an appreciation for various musical genres and I need to prepare them for two concerts throughout the school year. I am also responsible for one class of grade eight band, another class of grade nine band and one semestre of grade ten-twelve music. On top of that, I teach grade 10/11 drama and a full year course of grade nine english.
Is it any wonder I suffer from nightmares?
Let's look at this from a practical standpoint: My week is divided up into five days of five classes each. I have two grade six groups, three grade seven groups, a group of grade eights and a group of grade nines. I see each of these groups once a week, then I see my drama class six times a week and my grade nine english class four times a week.
Confused yet? I sure was!
I have slowly made sense of this schedule over the last four months, but it doesn't make it any less ridiculous.
Essentially I have nine different groups of students (a total of almost two hundred individuals) and I need to plan lessons for each of these groups, keeping in mind the characteristics of each student, the dynamics of each class group and the curriculum that has been written for me to follow.
Can you say, "AAAAAAAAGH!"?
Is it any wonder I suffer from nightmares?
Let's look at this from a practical standpoint: My week is divided up into five days of five classes each. I have two grade six groups, three grade seven groups, a group of grade eights and a group of grade nines. I see each of these groups once a week, then I see my drama class six times a week and my grade nine english class four times a week.
Confused yet? I sure was!
I have slowly made sense of this schedule over the last four months, but it doesn't make it any less ridiculous.
Essentially I have nine different groups of students (a total of almost two hundred individuals) and I need to plan lessons for each of these groups, keeping in mind the characteristics of each student, the dynamics of each class group and the curriculum that has been written for me to follow.
Can you say, "AAAAAAAAGH!"?
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