It’s Getting Closer!
Two things are getting closer – the end of the school year and some pretty severe weather is headed our way. In fact, school dismissed two hours early so students could get home before the weather arrives.
Next Friday is our last day of school. I am both excited and a little sad as I am every year. I have to tell you, I’m really looking forward to my summer vacation. My husband and I are going to Disney Word for our 5th anniversary and we’re eating inside Cinderella’s Castle on our actual anniversary! Another reason I am so excited is because I have pretty much been sick since the beginning of April. I was *almost* back to normal and on Sunday I got sick all over again (sinuses, coughing, fluid on ears, etc.). I have really been struggling through the school days this week.
Today my team got together and we created the classes for next year’s second grade teachers. It really makes the end of the year seem even more real and closer than ever. I always worry about my students and what classes they are placed in for the next year. When we create next year’s lists we have to take into account parent requests (parents may make a 1st choice request and a 2nd choice and they have to give a reason for the requests), gender, ethnicity, math and reading test scores, special education, behavior, and whether overall if a student is low, medium, or high. It can be tough creating balanced classes but I think we did an awesome job this year! How does your school place students for the next school year?
We do the same thing when creating the class lists for the next grade. Parents are allowed to write a letter to request a certain type of teacher, but they are not allowed to mention names or else the request will not be given consideration. Some parents get very crafty with their requests, just falling short of mentioning a name. 🙂
We have a system very similar to the one you described except the parents are not able to make a request for a specific teacher. They are asked to describe the kind of learning environment they think would be best for their child. As a grade level team (plus 1 special education team member and 1 special class teacher) we work to create balanced class lists. The lists do not have the teachers names on them. The principal assigns each list to a teacher without the team.
Kimberly
Funky First Grade Fun
I’m so sorry to hear about how sick you’ve been! I hope this school year proves to be the end of it all! We have the same process as you and Kimberly (no specific parent requests) the only problem is, the lists don’t end up being the same by the time the beginning of school rolls around. it always seems like our principal changes them (grr!) kind of frustrating…