Since making it through one of the worst years of my life wasn’t punishment enough, I figured I’d take on the newly created English 1 Resource Teacher spot during summer school. No clear role, no teeth for enforcement, no precedence of expectation, no track record of success. Why not?
There are a total of seven meetings I’m supposed to hold, one before summer school starts and the others weekly. Mind you, the English 1 teachers (five of them on my campus) will not get paid for this time. I’m taking bets on how long it takes them to realize this. Over or under: 2 meetings. Also, don’t know if you’ve noticed, but many teachers aren’t very inclined to plan en masse despite what multiple “professional development” plans say. Neither are they very receptive to talking through problems and coming up with solutions during meetings. The talk will happen, the solutions will not.
I wrestle with how to best make use of our time. The meeting today will be a Q/A session, really, and I don’t see it going longer than twenty minutes. I’d love to work with teachers on developing ideas, crafting units that address the needs of these students, and developing curriculum that fills in the gaps these students have. What I see on the horizon is meeting weekly with one out of the five teachers. I haven’t even started officially and I’m already thinking this is a waste of district money in a time where we cannot afford it. This is kind of an extension of my troubles with being the technology coordinator during the regular year, too.
What has your experience been like as or with a resource teacher? Any ideas for how I can best help my teachers? Any thoughts on how I can best make sure they cover the summer pacing guide? What do I do if I know they are just hitting play each day or some other fluffy summer “teaching”? What do you do if you’re offering something potentially worthwhile and no one is biting? What if you’re offering something your district believes so much in they put dollars behind it? What can I do if I make myself available and no one takes me up?