Tuesday 17 March 2009

The life of an administrator ......

It's been about 5 weeks now, since I stepped out of the classroom and into the role of 'specialist' teacher and 'administrator'. Maybe I was a little naive in thinking that my role wouldn't be all that different or that I would be viewed in the same way by other staff. So, it's been a bit of a learning curve as I make the mind shift from 'teacher' to 'administrator'.
The role of 'specialist' ESL teacher is fairly demanding particularly as I have had no training in ESL and rarely worked with ESL students before arriving here at EtonHouse. But, it's a role that I am learning a lot about and the programs for different year levels seem to be falling into place. I'm really enjoying working with a range of year levels - from Year 1 to Year 7 - each day. It's taken less time to get used to the older kids than the younger kids - I still have a lot to learn about teaching Year 1 and 2 children, they are a totally different group and sometimes it is hard to work out their needs. Conversing with the younger ones is also very different, they're just so little! Some teachers seem to be a little reluctant to send their students out to ESL classes as they are worried they will miss important class learning (doesn't matter that they wouldn't understand it anyway due to the language barrier!) - but I think I was guilty of this too when I was a class teacher.
And then there is the PYP administration side of things. I'm actually really enjoying this side of my new role - I love writing curriculum and preparing professional development sessions for teachers.
Apologies for the lack of photos today and the ranting post, but it's taking up a fairly large chunk of my time and energy here at the moment ....... I might need an Uberfood dinner and wine to cope with it all!

1 comment:

goooooood girl said...

your blog is feel good......