Here We Go Again!

I don't know why it's so hard for me to keep up a blog during the school year. At any rate, today is the first day of summer vacation (woot woot!) and I am posting.
I knew this year was going to be tough and it was. I had two new preps. One was algebra 2a, which is the low functioning 10th graders who are now required to have four years of college prep math in order to graduate. They didn't want to be there, they weren't prepared to be there, I wasn't prepared to teach them effectively, etc. It was a bloodbath. It was like being a detention hall teacher and I hated it. I also taught pre-calculus for the first time. It was the first time I had seen many of the topics in 25 years, and I really had to stay on my toes. I had good guidelines from the previous teacher, but I had to do the homework every night before I assigned it to make sure I really understood what I was teaching. It was shaky at first, but I rediscovered the "joy" of this math. Also, these were the high-functioning math students (who I had for advanced pre-algebra and algebra I in middle school) who are also a joy to teach. I also taught algebra I. Although I have taught algebra I for several years, this was the first year I taught it to the general population, rather than to just the high functioning 8th graders, again thanks to the new graduation requirements. Algebra I is a whole 'nother ball game with unmotivated students. I wasn't able to cover as much as usual, and I really felt guilty about the 8th graders in the class, because I felt they were held back. Another teacher will be teaching algebra I next year and I have talked to her about this problem. I will be taking over all of algebra 2 next year, and instead of splitting the low kids off from the rest, we are integrating the classes and just hoping for the best. The state has now lowered the algebra 2 requirements to 1/2 semester for graduation, so the principal's take on it is that students only have to pass the 1st semester, and if they fail the 2nd semester, it will be okay because they won't have to repeat it to graduate(!). This ought to be interesting. At any rate, I am pretty happy about next year because for the first time since teaching here, I will have ONLY THREE PREPS!!!!.
I am already happily planning!
Time for my first morning walk of the summer!!!!