Teaching... Interrupted!

Getting settled into a new school, new position, and a new network of relationships and how things are done has taken longer than I expected. It has seemed that once I develop a routine, small groups for remediation, new projects, etc., that another meeting, training, or special project comes up. This is not unlike being a teacher, where assessments, assemblies, and so on keep us constantly adapting to change and interruptions.

As a new Reading Specialist, I've felt waaaay behind where I need to be in my position. I have a list of "I need to..." in my head (and on paper, on Evernote, on my whiteboard, etc.). Luckily, I have a good relationship with my administration and have been reassured I'm doing what I need to do. In the back of my head though, I still have the voice "but you know you should be...." and so on.

No matter what one's position in education, I feel like we all have these voices in the back of our heads. Goal setting and determining priorities is helpful in real life, but in a teaching life we know our goals and priorities are often different from what has to be done, what's due on Tuesday, and what you planned for the day when an an unexpected fire drill kept your students outside for your entire reading block.   

So how do we deal with the disconnect that leads me to not have written in my blog for two months, not have met with most of my small groups for two weeks, not, not, not...? I'm trying something new. I'm trying to focus on what I have done and what I can do best with the most impact despite changing situations, schedules, and surprises.

I love all of my new staff and students because they are so encouraging and supportive and enthusiastic. Yes, I am light years behind where I would like to be. But if we're good teachers, we should all feel like this because it shows we have a professional trajectory of how we want ourselves to evolve as educators. 

So instead of feeling bad about all the things I haven't done for my new staff and students and all of the questions I haven't resolved (i.e. when do you meet with elementary teachers for ongoing staff development and data discussions...!?!), I've decided to take this morning to get back to something that was important to me (my blog!) and reflect on the little things I have done. 

• Secured Title I funding for Words Their Way word sort books for each grade level and a listening library for second grade (training is next, whoo-hoo!)
• Rolled out a "BOOK TRADING CART" to visit classrooms in grades 3-5 each week so students can trade old books for a new one (they're loving it!)
• Organized testing for PALS K-3
• Planned "Read for the Record" day and promoted "Read Aloud to a Child Week"
• Survived a mini flood in my room and rescued books that were drowned
• Managed to learn a good many of our 300+ students' names and get to know them as readers
• Worked closely with the first grade team to begin to align instruction
• Assessed multiple students in grades 4 and 5 using the QRI and running records to determine reading levels 
• Began working with small groups, delivering mentor lessons, and assisting teachers with gathering resources and ideas in a structured schedule and "on the fly"
• Provided trainings on PALS, setting up a classroom library, and how to use the DSA to guide instruction
• Held data chats with teachers
• Provided a detailed disaggregation of our first biweekly assessment to all teachers with suggested strategies for remediation of weak objectives
• Helped organize benchmark testing on a new computer system 
• Collaborated with three other reading specialists to provide word study training at our city-wide PD day and created a Wiki as a resource page for our teachers (see rpswordstudy.wikispaces.com)

And it makes me feel even better to think about all of the projects I have halfway done that I can soon add to this list: putting our leveled library on a web-based check out system so teachers can search for books and know exactly where to find them; creating baskets of mentor text for reading strategies and writing skills; holding a family literacy night; organizing Strategic Planning team initial meeting; creating a data wall and cards for each child in our school to visually help us track our students' progress; organizing progress monitoring for PALS and the DSA.

No matter how small, we have to celebrate our accomplishments - even if they are just small check marks on a to-do list. Teachers, don't forget to do this for yourselves AND with your students. Our kids, too, need to feel like they've done something and we all need to feel as though our days aren't just never ending lists of things we need to do.