tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175684769476781639.post1201701862429923656..comments2023-10-31T09:19:18.737-07:00Comments on Organized Chaos: Beginning to reflect on the year- placement decisions?organized chaoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18050635225751382130noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175684769476781639.post-15854138364822577422012-06-29T17:12:40.268-07:002012-06-29T17:12:40.268-07:00I believe that scripted reading curricula can be a...I believe that scripted reading curricula can be a great foundation. Of course, you want to add your personal touch and follow the child's interests as well, but you should not apologize for usinga a good reading program that highly structured. Since you kept on using it, you must have felt it was helping your student.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1175684769476781639.post-50589589047701110062012-06-29T09:16:30.933-07:002012-06-29T09:16:30.933-07:00Please don't kick yourself and turn even the s...Please don't kick yourself and turn even the smallest of successes into failures. I think that is one of a teacher's pitfalls, we want to see 100% movement and fail to see that even a little bit, means a lot. It is the nature of the beast and as our districts are becoming more number oriented, we too, are falling into that trap. I will share a little of my story with you, just so you can see where I am coming from. I use to teach in a good neighborhood school, my neighborhood school where my own children went. 3 years ago I was asked to open a brand new school with my old AP in an area that is filled with poverty. I was scared, very scared, not because I didn't think I could do it, but I heard horror stories about these kids for years and thought I would be mugged my very first day. Imagine being mugged by a first grader, I can laugh now. That first year was an eye opener, I never knew how easy I had it, even if I had a student who couldn't read well, they could read a little bit. Some of these kids had nothing, I mean nothing. This was the first time I ever retained a student and not one, but THREE!!! I thought I would be fired, I thought I was a failure. Then someone showed me where these 3 kids started and where they finished. Yeah, they were retained but they were reading, I had done that for them, they just weren't ready for 2nd grade.<br />So think about the small successes you had and move on from there. It will make you a great teacher, one that rises up and sees the good, no matter what.<br /><br /><a href="%E2%80%9Dfaithfulinfirst.blogspot.com/%E2%80%9D" rel="nofollow">Faithful in First</a>Janinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10953696469072686797noreply@blogger.com