HELP!

These last couple of weeks have been overwhelming. I look at where my students are at and how behind they are and ...... I get completely overwhelmed. I hope I can get them totally caught up so they are not losing more ground every year. Our states have switched the the CC Standards. The expectations for grade levels are much higher than in the past. This is a good thing for our kids. The bar was set pretty low in the past. What is so overwhelming is that...my kids are not even close to doing grade level work at these new standards. I think the lowest grades are going to be okay because they haven't been exposed to the lower standards for an extended period of time. I think they will be okay. When I have 2nd graders who are supposed to be doing multiplication by the end of the year but can't count by 2's, 5's, or tens, and find subtraction virtually impossible.... ACCCKKK! The bar has been raised.. and I have to help them get there. Here is the thing... I am more than willing to ask/beg for help. However, there is one person I don't really want help/advice from. The person who had the job before me. I stop myself once in awhile and ask... "is this my ego talking". Too be honest it might be a little bit of that, but not completely. My predecessor... didn't get them there. She taught the same things the same ways for many many years. Someone approached my Classroom aide today and broached the subject with her. She stood up for me which I really appreciated. You never know if someone sees how hard you are trying and what you are up against. She does/did and let that person pretty much have it. I can't completely get caught in the trap of " the person before me didn't do their job". As one of my college professors once told me " You can't teach to the students you wish you had, you teach to the ones you have." If there parents don't read to them or help them do homework... you can't fight that. You just do what you can with the time you have them. It is such an uphill battle. Parents need to take some responsibility and I need to push forward. I need to make sure I keep asking the right people for help. People who are up to date on researched based teaching methods. People who continue to learn and love learning. I have to push past the scrutiny I am under and continue forward. My Birthday. I had a lovely day. I drove South East to a town about thirty minutes away. I really loved it. It is very quiet and totally different than any place I have been before. The entrance to the town had a cattle guard (to keep them out or in I am not sure). It had a pond, the 1st church of the area (looked like a child's playhouse), a lake (fishing, kayaking, swimming), and all the neighbors were pretty spread out. If I am here next year I am seriously considering moving out there. I loved it! The downside is it is on the other side of our brutally curvy steep summit. It could make winter commutes extremely ummm interesting. However.... I would be able to sit on my porch and not hear/see what my neighbors are up to. The whole town wouldn't know when I was home/away..... etc etc. The quiet part is a big draw for me. It hasn't been too loud in my apartment but... it isn't so much fun being the center of attention on Main Street. So I don't know we shall see what happens. I really like it out there. It is very pretty. Some of you probably don't believe me but Sagebrush grows on you more and more every day. I love the wide open spaces... watching the storms come in.... the amazing sunsets against the mountains... and dry snow. I managed to avoid going to town last weekend but I am going to have to make the DMV Trip. For my friends up north the next time you are at the DMV be grateful. You really have NO IDEA. It is the DMV of the old days down here. There draw a number system is older than the one at the butcher shop. There is seating for at least 50 people and most of it is in use. I have to go to get my new-er car registered and work on getting my Nevada License (hopefully little testing involved)! The week after my classroom aide and I are heading to the Little/Big City for some power shopping. After we come home from the Power Shopping we are coming home to do some Power Cooking to fill our freezers for winter. There is nothing worse than coming home after a long, cold, hard, day than having to cook dinner. You really want a hot meal but cooking it is less than desirable. So I have found the past few years having a weekend of cooking for the freezer saves my mind. Especially when I get that winter cold. When that cold hits in the winter I can look forward to coming home to a nutritional home-made chicken noodle soup. It is a good feeling. The past month has been busy... and the next month looks to be busy and maybe busier. We shall see.... Have a Good Night