This year I'm teaching 5th grade math and science, and I'm noticing that the job description is much more reasonable than the fourth grade expectations of teaching all subjects.
Last year, I was stretched far beyond what was possible as I tried to manage the preparation, feedback, and teaching of a hefty menu of reading, writing, math, social studies, science, and more. I wanted to teach all subjects well, but frankly, there simply wasn't the time in the year to teach every standard with depth and care and I was working long, long, long days--too long!
This year I can work deeply and carefully devoting myself to the math standards knowing that I'll teach two lessons a day of math to a total of 50 children. I also teach science to both groups, and read aloud and social competency to my homeroom. This is a much more reasonable schedule, one that allows me the depth and breadth that I want for all subjects.
Also, a relative recently wrote on Facebook that her child in fourth grade was frustrated by the amount of work, and that the third to fourth grade hike was a big climb, perhaps too big.
Now, I'm not ready to change the fourth grade standards as I know it's a critical time to hold on to students and challenge their mindsets, abilities, and skills, and I know that all our hard work at fourth grade last year really did make a positive difference as students this year in fifth grade are skilled, confident, and ready to learn more. We had a very positive year last year, a year where we carefully choreographed the curriculum to meet standards and provide an enjoyable learning experience as well.
I'm wondering though if it's time to share the teaching at most grades with one teacher teaching a fraction of the subjects and one or more educators teaching the rest--it's certainly a more reasonable workload, and that makes my family happier too.
Note:
Context matters here. Also, I continue to think that we need to look at school structure in multiple ways and make changes as we move towards better teaching and learning. I still like many aspects of the model that I wrote about three years ago.
