You can fill a 5-gallon jug with 10 gallons. That's how this school year feels. The time, materials, classroom, students equal 5-gallons, yet the expectations are equal to 10 gallons. Something has to give. Today's field trip frustration pointed that out clearly.
Last year I had an amazing assistant teacher. I was spoiled. This year it's me and 25 students--that's a lot of students for one teacher, and that also means there's no time to do the little extras that I could do last year. For example last Friday it just happened that there were two student issues that occurred in the same five-minute period. Both, though not dangerous, demanded attention right away. I couldn't split myself in half, so I had to call down to the office for some help. Last year with the assistant teacher, we could have dealt with that issue in a much more fluid and responsive way.
More skilled professional people in the classroom typically translates to more attention and care for the students. Simply said, one teacher can only divide himself or herself so many ways. Fortunately during the math blocks, I do have assistant teachers that come by to help--that's very helpful as they are highly skilled and reliable, but mostly during the remaining parts of the day it's me and the children.
So as I reckon with this reality, I realize that we have to have a predictable schedule. We all have to help each other, and as stated in the earlier post, I have to make time daily for administrative tasks such as collecting forms, lunch count, attendance, student conflict resolution, following up with parents, and more.
No one is superhuman, and when we begin to think we are, something inevitably wakes us up to the reality that we're only human. Onward.
