I have two months left. State testing is coming up in less than two weeks. And then we finish the year out. Funny how the year has dragged along in many ways, and yet how it has flown by in others.
After spending two frustrating months trying to teach kids how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions, we (both of us fifth grade teachers) gave up and moved on. We covered Geometry and Order of Operations and reviewed decimals. With the upcoming AIMS tests, I decided to try and teach fractions again. And go figure... half of the class responded with "Oh yeah, I remember that." And even "That's not hard." I typed up a two page "Fraction How-to" for the students and handed them out, along with a page packet of fraction work. The kids were able to work on them with significantly less whining and moaning. Don't get me wrong - they still say that they hate fractions. But they seem to be able to handle them better now.
And I have learned an important lesson. Sometimes you have to stop teaching and change direction in order to get to your destination.
As I approach the year's end, I have to decide whether I want to be considered for employment again for next year. I am divided. I want to work. I want to teach. Ideally, I could work in my home state, even being able to live with my husband. (What an idea!) But then he just told me that one of the local districts just laid off another 100 teachers and closed another elementary school. All those kids are being crammed into classrooms with class sizes of 30-40. My class this year has ranged from 15-21. That has a certain appeal. And the teacher job postings in Oregon are pretty slim. What's a girl to do? The draw of working has to be balanced with the draw of living in my home state, with my family. I have been struggling with this decision for a few weeks now, and I have gone back and forth. Hmmm.
I'll let you know when I figure it out. There is always the possibility that I won't be asked back. That would make my decision much easier.
