Teacher Reflection (MARS) for November 23, 2010

Today was very different because we had an assembly. Students were leaving for color guard practice, then band, and finally, choir. During the remaining fifteen minutes before the show began, I gave up trying to teach math to six students, and they played Hangman. The good thing is students who were gone after the first five minutes of school could later help other students catch up.

Sixth grade in an elementary school is interrupted at least two times a week. Band students are pulled out on Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings for individual and group lessons. Choir students leave for the last fifty minutes of the day on Tuesdays. Safety patrol members are leaving for posts or working as office helpers at different times. There are fundraisers, assemblies, after school events, guidance classes, discipline issues and pull outs for speech, reading help and testing. All of these things and more happen during our academic time. For instance, I like that the sixth graders are in charge of the Harvest Festival, but they often miss hours of instructional time preparing for a two hour evening event. The worst part is that the only reasons I mind at all are personal; I get behind in my math pacing guide and my science schedule of labs has to be arranged again and again.