Summer School Reflections II

Because I like to end on a positive note, I'm going to start with things I'd like to see changed about Summer School, but before I do that, let me start with a brief overview. I can't say that summer school wasn't interesting this year. It had its ups and downs, and yes, I'm trying to build suspense before I tell you what those were. Actually I'm trying to hit the minimum number of words. Ok, let me get to the point.

Things that need to be changed (Cons):

1.) Put two second years in a room. Honestly, I think Dave O. got the shaft this year and had to do way more than many other second years.

2.) I got very little out of summer school for two main reasons.
a.) We had two students for the whole month. What is that going to teach our first years? Classroom management was a breeze for everyone involved. Some of the biggest problems our first years will have next year are going to relate to classroom management. Summer school is giving my first years a false sense of security. They think they are management goddesses but they have two students. Even the best teachers struggle with management when you cram 30 students into a small classroom.
b.) I'm not teaching anything that I will teach next year. Therefore all the lesson plans that everyone is producing, even me, will be useless to me. In fact, they will be useless to 33% of our first years because they are not teaching their subject area.

3.) Second years are getting very little out of this deal. We're not really teaching all that much (maybe 15 lessons all together) so the practice isn't really worth the month of 35 hour weeks. We're not really getting laptops (I think it's dead in the H2O.) which would be so very helpful during summer school and would allow us to integrate technology into our classrooms in the fall, something the delta desperately needs. We're not really getting paid for our efforts (a mere $200 TAXED stipend that in the end won't even cover half of my gas money to travel to Holly Springs.) Other summer school teachers are making thousands of dollars.

4.) This is the kicker. I don't feel it is a good use of my time to teach summer school. So many people in MTC told us that we should avoid teaching summer school at all costs. That was last year. This year, we're teaching summer school. It's so contradictory. We've been teaching for 12 months straight if you could last summer's teaching during summer school. We need a break.

Now for the good things (Pros):

1.) We're getting practice...kind of. Practice is almost always good.

2.) It's better than sitting in some class in Oxford.

3.) And the best pro of all, the kids are really learning. We're providing an excellent (practically free service) for these kids and they are getting some great instruction. It's probably the best thing that ever happened to our two students. There is a 2.5:1 teacher to student ratio. Where else in the world will you get that? It may look like the cons outweigh the pros but seeing their learning makes summer school all worthwhile.

And that's my 2 cents...