New Year's Resolution

I have a task at hand. I have a group of students I asked for. I asked for the "low-performing" kids. I asked for the behavior problems. I asked for the special needs. I asked for the kids not on grade level. I did it to push myself. I am going to make a story out of this. This will be my first real attempt at setting a goal as a teacher and making it there. I have been teaching 8 years and I think this now is the time to share the struggles and joys of teaching with my friends. How cliche does that sound? Here is the situation. I am a teacher at a first year charter school in a rural area in South Louisiana. It is not a normal middle school. We are open from 7:15 till 5:00 daily. We use block scheduling. The kids are super precious in their uniforms. It is a predominantly "black" school. I am the only "white" teacher. I feel I have had a course in multi-cultural relations since I started this job. Because it is the first year of this charter school there have been many hurdles to jump. First off, I have no textbooks. This has been the hardest thing to wrap my brain around. Text books have been a part of my life since 1985. We use IPAD's. Try teaching a class of 5th, 6th,and 7th graders with IPAD's. It completely blows any idea of classroom management out of the water. So I have to use IPAD's to teach middle school students for 110 minute block periods. I teach history and ELA. This task is very difficult. I have cried. I have come close to mental breakdown. I have thought about quitting. I have thought about becoming a secretary. I have been depressed over the lack of money I make for such an important job. But, something clicked recently. I will do this. I will succeed. My students will succeed. My resolution for the new year has always been "to write a great American novel". Not this year. This year I am dedicating my first 6 months to a group of students. A group of 5th graders. A group of 6th graders, and a group of 7th graders. They are going to have the best teacher on the face of the planet. I want you all to journey with me. Ask questions. Give feedback. Keep me honest. Make me write. .