Different routine

Ever since Stephanie moved to Fairmont Elementary School three years ago, Stephanie has mainly taught classes "pull out" - bringing four or five or six classes of different English as a New Language students to her class - sometimes when they'd otherwise be in English class - for focused instruction in English - with the aim of them catching up with their classmates. The ENL program already had some textbooks, materials, computer programs, and equipement, but Stephanie had them purchase plenty more. She used some textbooks but designed a lot of her own curriculum. Occasionally she practiced "inclusion" where she "pulled (herself) in" - going into classrooms with some of her students and helping out them and other students - sort of like a teachers' aide/paraprofessional. Last year afterschool she worked with both ENL and other students ("boom boom") in the afterschool Culture Club. She also tutored non-ENL students.

This year things are different. The school district in general and the ENL program in particular got money to implement Scholastic's Read 180 program, which includes curriculum computer programs, and actual scripts for teachers. Stephanie is one of a couple of designated Read 180 teachers in her school - for which she went to Nashville in July and got trained Thursday in New Albany. As soon as the curriculum arrives, she's going to be teaching a Read 180 classes, to a mix of ENL students and other students, while also teaching one conventional ENL classes and then "pulling in" (herself) into two other classes. (Sometimes there's variety in this regard - Tuesday Stephanie's colleague actually ask her to take some of the ENL and the other class (it is a 3rd/4th grade split class and Stephanie has been working with the 3rd graders) out to Stephanie's class for a time to work on math.) Because the Read 180 program is scripted - which is useful in some ways but seems stupid in other ways (limiting creativity...part of what makes teaching fun)- and because when Stephanie is "pulling in" she's not in charge or doing the planning, Stephanie will now have to do lesson planning for only two classes. This means that Stephanie has been coming home much earlier (at least until Culture Club and tutoring start again). Now, Stephanie has some classes about Read 180 and it's not clear it will be going forever. But she's being a team player and working with it and one reward is she's got less lesson planning to do.

P.S. In the middle of the Read 180 training, Stephanie learned from her principal, who was also there, that her principal's daughter Abby, with whom I've worked on health care reform issues this summer, was in a car accident Tuesday and may have suffered back or neck damage. Abby is a dancer and was starting school this week and was slated to move to a new apartment over the next week.

-- Perry