And just when I was starting to feel comfortable...

It is a cyclical thing; just when I am feeling comfortable, I really should anticipate impending change.

I thought I had it good, getting into some semblance of a "normal" routine in the second week back at school after having a week and a half off for spring break. Despite typical patterns of students forgetting hw, performing poorly on assessments, and lack of interaction in class, I was feeling pretty good at least about how manageable my weekly schedule was, teaching grades 6-9 (even though some of those grades overlap awkwardly in shared classes). At least we were all getting into the swing of things, with an established routine, during the second full week back at school after spring break. Third quarter grades had been submitted, the housing stresses of teachers moving was mostly behind us (finally, after having to sub for many teachers during the first week back after spring break, causing many of us teachers to have no planning time, since there is no sub system in place at our school), and a new quarter of ASA (after-school activities) was up and running (I’m still leading an SAT-prep class with higher-functioning, more motivated HS students).

However, on Friday I was notified that I'd be adding grade three ELL to my preps. (Long story short, this is due to changes in staffing, and needing to redistribute teachers to cover other preps/courses.) I'm the third ELL teacher these kiddos will have had this year. Don't even try to make sense of my current schedule, or find solution to the scheduling issues this late in the school year. It's whacky. It's really a long, interconnected web of cause/effects, so I'll spare my readership the intricacies that will inevitably turn into far more of a back story necessary (Mom/Dad, if you want to hear it, I'll email or Skype you. hah). 

I feel bad that these students have been jerked around from one ELL teacher to the next. I don't feel that the change in teachers provides a stable atmosphere to facilitate optimal learning; they are already fragile in a new school environment (three Korean, one Chinese). The last thing they need is a new teacher, with new teaching styles, standards, and expectations (try though I might to maintain consistency and regularity in the routine that the previous ELL teacher had established). Nothing about the situation is best for the students (which is what the administration keeps encouraging and prompting through all the chaos with the ridiculous politics and irrationality of the school board this year; just keep the students' best interest and learning a priority through it all). By the end of the year, judging from where they’re at right now, I'm guessing these students still won't be at grade-level or ready to actively engage in grade-level content within the context of the homeroom class. 

As for me, I'm frustrated particularly with the third grade situation because I don't feel I'm the best-qualified teacher to be put in the position of teaching these students. I have been teaching secondary students all school year. Am I capable of teaching primary? Yes. I took ELL theory classes to prepare me to teach to learners of this stage, and have innate knowledge of how to connect with this age group. Do I love primary school kids more than secondary? Yes. I'm totally jazzed about teaching kiddos of this age. It's just that I haven't had the familiarity and experience of three quarters of the school year to get to know the resources available to me to plan lessons that meet the needs of these students. Getting to know their needs, and then actually making progress during a critical period of the year--the very last quarter—is a tall order!

So this is what my weekly schedule now looks like:

	Monday DAY A	Tuesday DAY B	Wednesday DAY A	Thursday DAY B	Friday DAY C
Period 1 8:30-9:15	Grade 3	Grade 6	Grade 3	Grade 6	Grade 3
Period 2 9:15 – 10:00	Planning Time	Grades 6 & 9	Planning Time	Grades 6 & 9	Grade 6
Recess 10:00 – 10:15	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess	Recess
Period 3 10:15 – 11:00	Grade 7	Grades 9 & 8	Grade 7	Grades 9 & 8	Grades 7 & 9
Period 4 11:00– 11:45	Grade 7	Grade 8	Grade 7	Grade 8	Grade 8
Lunch 11:45-12:30	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch Supervision	Lunch
Period 5 12:30 – 1:15	Grade 3	Grade 3	Grade 3	Grade 3	Grade 3
Period 6 1:15 – 2:00	Planning Time	ELL Meeting With Line	Planning Time	Planning Time	Planning Time
Recess 2:00 – 2:15	Planning Time	Planning Time	Planning Time	Recess Supervision	Planning Time
Period 7 2:00 – 3:00	Planning Time	Planning Time	Planning Time	Planning Time	Planning Time
Period 8 3:00 – 3:30	Planning Time	ELL 1-on-1 with Sunwoo (Gr. 6)	Planning Time	ELL 1-on-1 with Sunwoo (Gr. 6)	Planning Time
3:30-4:30	ATLAS/Meetings	After School Activity SAT Prep Course	Weekly Meetings: Dept/Com/All-Fac	ASA: SAT Prep Course

This doesn't indicate the inconsistencies that will crop up from week to week, due to having some random Wednesdays off in observance of Chinese holidays, a few early release short-schedule days, some MS and HS overnight field trips, and other upcoming day-long events that will skew the regularity of our A-B-A-B-C patterned schedule.

True, I will be spread thinner than before, searching for new resources and ways to meet the needs of these new students, all the while still planning for my MS and HS preps. I now have five different grade levels to prep for--still only 18 students in total--but all at varying stages of language development, performance, and none nearing proficiency to be sent into mainstream Language Arts classes. That's a lot of differentiation to take into consideration when lesson planning. I want what's best for each individual student; I am not mass-producing stock lessons for all students to complete at the same rate. I hand-select, and oftentimes self-create my worksheets, activities, and pick and choose from scanty resources to develop lessons that are tailored to meet each student's needs.

I am happy to be learning about ELL resources that are out there for primary grades; it breaks up the monotony and frustrations of teaching adolescents, having to assess longer writing assignments, grade more complex projects, and put together other work that I assign my secondary students. I do like the variety in the day, though the last week has been especially hard to change modes.

That’s all just to say that unpredictable change can be rough, and almost never ideal, but I now have the opportunity to further expand my repertoire of teaching experience, and relish the seeing the silver lining around the edges of a dark, storm-cloud of a situation.