Life at ICSV

Well, life has settled into a rhythm here and I have to say it's pretty uneventful. I wake up at 6:45 every day and leave at 7:15 to get the bus and the U-Bahn to go to school. I arrive around 7:45 and then stay at school until 16:00 or later. Then, I come home, make dinner, and watch something until bed. I run errands to the grocery store on weekends and clean as well.

One could say that is just living life as a teacher but all teachers know that everyday is not the same. Some days with my students are better than others--they have their ups and downs too! I really look forward to the good days while the low days take everything from me. Some of my students say the funniest things though! For example, on my first official day when Ms. L did not come to school, one of my students entered my classroom, looked at me, and proceeded to ask "Wait...where is Ms. Fiscus?!" I just looked at him and said, "John*, who am I?!" These kids crack me up and I'm reminded everyday how much I love all my kids and the other students at ICSV.

I have really enjoyed working with these six students and making relationships with them. We are all getting to know each other and how we work best. One thing I have really been working on with my fourth graders is organization. They were all really struggling with how to keep track of and prioritize their homework. Now we go over when their homework is due and what they are going to work on that evening. This has really helped them think through what they have and in what order they should do their work. Have they mastered this yet? No, but through this scaffolding it will become easier for them to organize themselves which will benefit them in their future. Before I implemented this I had one student, we'll call her Jane*, who told me that she didn't do any of her homework on the weekends because it was her break time. Because of this, she had to turn in two assignments late since they were due on Monday. I helped her realize that she has 48+ hours in her weekend when you count Friday evening so she can spend 30 minutes doing two homework assignments.

The elementary students at the school have been great and for the most part, they are all eager and anxious to learn. But there are unique challenges that come with teaching at a school where over 60 nationalities are represented. For example, in the third grade class, there are 18 students; of those 18 students, 11 of them are in ELL or LS. That's over 50% of the third grade class! This means that instruction time takes longer while you still have to teach a certain amount of material to prepare students for the fourth grade. I admire how the third grade co-teachers are able to adapt and teach all of their students while also being grateful that I am not the one in that position. I have a very small caseload and can work with most students one-on-one or in groups of two which is so nice!

And so life continues on and I'm just along for the ride!

*Student names have been changed to protect their identities.