Pros and Cons

Most of you probably know that about a month and half ago I started subbing full-time as an ESL specialist in a 4-6 grade school. I have loved many aspects of this job so far. The kids are my favorite part. Every day I see 8 groups of kids for a half hour each. They are grouped according to their grade level and English proficiency levels. Everyday the kids come in with a million things to say and a million questions. I think they love being in a room where they don't have to be embarassed about an accent, or for asking an "obvious" question. They always come in speaking in Spanish because the majority of them are native Spanish speakers, and often I have to remind them that they are in ELD, English Language Development. Every day I am blown away by how astute these kids are, and by how much they can understand, even if they can't produce very much. I just really love getting to work these kids everyday!

Another part of the job that I loved when I first started was how easy the planning was. I only plan 3 lessons for the whole day and teach each lesson 3 times (I plan a math lesson for two of the groups, so I only teach that twice). I rarely have to take work home and I rarely "stress" about what I'm going to teach. This is vastly different from last year when I was teaching full-time...I constantly felt stressed about my teaching. In this position I really feel like I have a good handle on the teaching.

Well, I think the "honeymoon" period with this job has ended, because things are starting to get stressful. I can't go into too much detail because right now my stress is due to state testing criteria and the way the school is going about testing our ELL's (English Language Learners).

I came into this sub job as a certified teacher who had some experience working with ELLs, but not as a trained and experienced specialist who can get 60 non-native English speakers to pass the state test in less than a month. I feel like a lot of pressure has been put on me to "fix" this school and "fix" the ELLs who didn't pass the tests the first time around.

Over the past two weeks I have been frustrated with multiple issues at school, but at the same time, I really like certain aspects of it. The staff is a very young, upbeat group, and I have really felt accepted and encouraged by them. There are some great specialist and programs in place at this school, and I really like this age group, 4th-6th graders. There is a 4th grade position open for next year, and I have applied for it. I interview on Tuesday, next week.

Part of me is excited for this opportunity, but part of me is really nervous, because I have seen some things that I don't really like. There are many pros and cons that I'm weighing right now, so I would love your prayers and any words of wisdom you might have!