Life Goes On

April 10, 2008
As seasons come and seasons go I find that my season of 7th and 8th Communication Arts has come to a close for a time. Not for a lack of great effort, but instead because I found myself better qualified than all else for a position in the sixth grade. At first I was unhappy to leave a position that I had worked so hard to improve by writing curriculum, assessments, and a good rapport with the high school teachers. After a long and careful look at what was best for my family and me, I realized that the move to sixth grade would be beneficial. I will have less students, 50 versus 100, and my coworker is much more pleasant to work with. I am still teaching communication arts, but I also get to teach geography. All in all I look forward to the move down the hall.

With fewer students I feel that I can focus more on mentoring a few rather than trying to reach out to so many. The more we have read and discussed this year the more convinced I have become that mentoring students is as important as the teaching of students. My one wish is that I could find more books to read on advice for working with male students. Raising Cain was great, but I wish there were more books to give advice and tips on how to work with the male students.

Since we last met as a group I did partake in an interesting activity that drove home just how much men are needed in the teaching field. At the Youth Writing Conference this year I was the only male teacher to bring students. The year before, in 2007, I remember that there were at least a couple of other men, but this year I felt like the Lone Ranger.

As the Lone Ranger I look forward to coming to class and to the Round Table so that we can again share ideas. I feel that I learn more in the three hours a month than I ever did in a semester in another class.