Entry #2 - Sept. 14, 1998

''It still comes down to: we can only do the best we can with what we have, and when that is next to nothing -- well, we'll see!''

The first week back , for a resource teacher, is a bit disjointed. Instead of those rows of expectant faces, you're greeted by impromptu administrative-type duties, and a mad dash to set up timetables .Still, it's great to see everyone again and remark on how tall and sophisticated some students have become in only two months, while the Grade Six kids look SOOOO young!

I noticed a large huddle of familiar figures while I did yard duty the first morning -- boy, had they grown! Wait -- these are graduates! Several area school boards have locked out their high school teachers, so we had a coterie of alumni in the schoolyard, looking wistful and asking if we needed any help in class. All 122,000 teachers in Ontario are currently without a contract but elementary teachers are not expecting any imminent job action, although the toxic political climate saps morale. It reminds me of growing up with the threat of nuclear war always hovering like the Sword of Damocles; eventually, you just shrug it off and carry on.

All our eighth-grade teachers, with one exception, are "new" -- but not fresh out of school: several have done a lot of long-term substitute teaching. The grade six and seven teachers were all here last year, except for one new graduate who has a 7/8 split grade homeroom and is also doing Grade 7 science.

At a staff meeting before school started, I was pleased that we are going to have a schoolwide behavior code and more consistent expectations. The office tended to be cluttered with kids sent there for such things as chewing gum, limiting the staff's ability to deal with REAL crises when they occurred. Now all staff know what are considered "office" behaviors and what are to be handled in other ways.

Teachers have all been asked to post their classroom rules and expectations, and to outline them in a letter to parents which will go home with a copy of the school Code of Behavior (a booklet). I think this is a positive development (although there was some grumbling, of course). I found the lack of organization and confusion about expectations and procedures really made life unnecessarily difficult -- for the students even more than the teachers, I expect.

Added to the mix are all the new curriculum expectations, especially in science and technology. We have almost none of the resources needed to implement these, so it will be interesting to see how it shakes down. A new curriculum in Arts, Social Studies, Math, Physical Education, Health and French is also being introduced. I smile wanly over my 1975 math books and wonder what else is new: the last "new curriculum" was introduced only four years ago, and is already history. It still comes down to: we can only do the best we can with what we have, and when that is next to nothing -- well, we'll see!

Meanwhile, I'll have a diverse and rather challenging group to work with. There are 19 seventh grade students identified as needing full-time Learning Disability support, and another 12 who are identified for less-intensive assistance. That makes more than thirty kids, all between 4 and 7 years below grade level, really needing one-to-one help. For the first time in many years (for me), they are almost all boys. We have been doing a good job of recognizing girls whose achievement was impaired by learning difficulties, but it happens that this year I have only 3 or 4 out of the whole group.

I'm hoping to have some support from an educational assistant in order to individualize instruction somewhat. We have a preliminary timetable set up and I've evaluated some of the new students, touched base with the teachers, and got an idea where we should start. We will "play it by ear" a bit the first weeks, seeing where the students most need assistance,and juggle groupings and expectations as we go along. At least, if we can't exactly work co-operatively due to time and timetable factors, we needn't be at cross purposes. Onward and upward!

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