here we go

Hi All-
Well I am not sure if I will not be able to live up to the last post. So if you would like to stop reading now I understand :)
However, on a selfish note, today was a very fun day for me! I had my first gym class experience :) Last night, I volunteered to be a softball pitcher for the morning gym class session. Rach, Aylssa and I all have prep first hour so I figured it would be a fun way to awake the day. Once I got to gym class today, there were not enough students to play softball so we decided to play ultimate frisbee. For those of you that do not know what this game is, it involves a lot of running back and forth across the gym. You are not allowed to run with the frisbee so you must pass it back and fourth with your team mates from one end of the gym to the other. There are two teams, so you can also intercept passes from the other team. Long story short, I was sweating profusely by the end of class! Teaching 5 minutes after this experience was quite the transition. I looked GREAT to say the least :) It was fun for me because a lot of those kids (in gym) tend to sleep in my class and I was able to keep them awake by simply stating lines like "I know you are able to stay awake for a class, I have seen and experienced it with you!" It was greeaaat- I always enjoy seeing the kids outside of the Language Arts classroom.

The Big Question:
Every couple days I tend to reflect on some 'big picture' education questions. The one I have been pondering yesterday and today is about ability grouping. Is it beneficial for the students and teachers to put kids with equal intelligence and academic ability in the same groups? At Hopson Middle School the grades are divided into four sections (A,B,C,D) based on the Math class they tested into. I understand why it is beneficial for Math classes to break students in this way (no one wants to teach 4 different levels of Math at one time), but I am unsure if it is beneficial for the rest of us... In my English class, for example, the lowest Math placement group (B group) clams they are unable to complete some of my assignments because they are the 'stupid group' or 'dumb kids,' and this truly bothers me. I am constantly telling them that there placements are strictly for Math, and that Math is a very hard subject. As the common saying goes- the group will only be as strong as their weakest member- this can also apply in classrooms with students. I constantly find that B group refuses to challenge themselves at times (most times) because of this mindset. Most of the disruptive students are also in this class, and they all are able to play off each other because they are all sitting in the same classrooms at the same times. If I could pull one of those disruptive students out into a different class, I believe they would work much harder and feel the need to complete their worksheets, etc. because those around them are. Perhaps this is just me, I don't know.. and I am not educated enough on the background of these placements to make a concrete decision about my beliefs. However, I do constantly wonder what the atmosphere of the classes would be like if students did not have ALL their classes together as a group, and no class felt like they were at the top or bottom..

I am not sure about my beliefs on ability grouping but there is something that I completely sure about... I want to teach. Though we are teaching in a very extreme environment, I still find myself smiling at the end of the day and loving what I do. This experience has further confirmed my passions about teaching. I can't help but smile thinking that next year (hopefully) we will all be doing this on our own! We will have our own classrooms and students, and I personally cant wait! Though we are in the middle of no where, and some classes may feel like we have not taught a single thing that day, I still can't wait! Corny, I know, but very true! I am so excited for all of us to finally test what we have learned and practiced for so many years. Everyone in this group will be a better teacher because of this experience- so let the fun begin!

Much love,
Molly