It’s hard to believe, but I have officially started a new year of teaching! I met my new kiddos last Thursday and have to admit that I was a bit nervous when they walked through my door. However, after only two days, I can already tell they are going to be a very entertaining group.
As we proceeded with all sorts of “getting to know you” activities, I was shocked by the experiences these ten-year-olds have already had! Although the majority of my 17 students are from Spain, I also have kiddos from France, Denmark, Korea, the US, Venezuela, Holland, and Mexico. Listening to stories of where they have lived and where they have visited has been incredible so far. I’m anxiously waiting to discover what it is their parents do . . .
Needless to say, the abilities some of these kids have, particularly related to languages, is amazing. In addition to English, the majority of students also take a Spanish and a Catalan class. So, they are speaking three languages a day at school, plus whatever their main language is when they go home! (However, this potential jumble of languages can create many problems as well . . .)
With these backgrounds, I definitely made some assumptions about where these students would be academically. How wrong I was! According to their data (limited though it is), only about five of my students are reading at grade level. After a writing pre-assessment, I don’t believe any of them are currently writing at the level they should be. To be honest, these kids are so much more like my Crawford kiddos than I would have guessed – and I love it!! They obviously come with many more advantages - being literate in their first language and living far from poverty to name a few. So, my hope is that they will make growth very quickly once instruction starts to meet their individual needs . . .
Overall, I am thrilled with the new challenges this class will bring. I have a feeling that teaching them will be more similar to what I'm used to than I would have ever guessed, even with the differences they bring. I can’t wait!!
(As you can see from the photos, my new classroom is nothing like room 41 - oh, how I miss it!! - but I like to think it will quickly transform!)
