One down

Wow! The first week is over. It has really gone by pretty quickly. On Monday I thought it would have been a much harder week than it actually has been. Just getting back into the routine of getting up at 5:00 every day and having to be on the go all day is tough, but I've survived. Last night, I was snoozing in the recliner by 6:30 or so and was in the bed by 8:00 though. :)

I have absolutely no complaints about my classes, other than the sizes of them. I have 29 students first block, 28 third block, and 27 fourth block. Thank goodness for the four teacher assistants that I have! They will do a lot of grading on quizzes for me, and that helps so much. It's the little things, like quizzes, that I get so behind on later in the semester. It's because they are quick to grade, so I put them aside to take care of the bigger things, and then I'm way behind. Misty and I are planning on using Scan-tron forms for our major tests, so the only thing I'll actually have to hand grade on those will be the short answer and essay sections.

My next semester classes are what REALLY concern me size-wise. One of the English 12 classes is a special education inclusion class. In that block, I have 31 on my roster right now, and 8 or 10 of them special needs students. A couple of those are very low functioning, too. Two of the other students dropped their AP English and will be in there. Imagine a class with AP caliber students sitting along side students who can barely read. And this is ALL because of No Child Left Behind. Ummmm---excuse me, but I really think somebody will be left behind in this situation. If you have any suggestions about this situation, feel free to share them!

Please don't get me wrong...I DO NOT MIND having the inclusion class at all, and I DO NOT MIND having students capable of being in an AP class, and I don't even mind having them in the same class, but with 31??? With an inclusion class, there shouldn't be more than about 20 students. (That's just my opinion.) Misty's English 12 classes next semester are packed as well. But I will do the best job that I can. That's all I can do, really. Oh, sure, I could gripe and complain, but if the classes are already packed, what good does that do? None. The only thing it would do would be to give me a headache, and I see no sense in troubling myself if it won't change the situation. I am a very optimistic person.

Well, this is it for today. I'm about to pack up and head home. I need to spend some time with the pups. They're feeling a little neglected lately. Have a great weekend!