Mrs. Ruiz’s Blog

Hey everyone! It has been over a week since I blogged last!  What a bad blogger I am!  There has just been so much going on!  As is with life in general there are ups and downs.  So as always I will focus on teaching here. 

Having a combination class is a lot of work.  I am not complaining, I am just stating a fact.  I strive to deliver quality instruction that meets state standards and utilize the district approved curriculum, in a way that will engage, enrich, and motivate my students.  This is no small task.  I know I can’t teach perfectly all the time and it frustrates me when a lesson doesn’t come together as I would have liked.  I have learned to reflect on my teaching to refine my practices and sometimes I need more reflection time than others.  I feel as thought the class is coming into a rhythm now that the new school year is into it’s second full week.  We will have Response to Instruction starting August 25th, which will change things a bit more for our class rhythm, but I know it will be for the better.  I will have more opportunities to work with each grade level in isolation and be more like a small 4th grade (12 students) or small 5th grade (17 students) class.  I feel strengthened by the fact that I know my administration is behind me and looking out for my combination class as much as possible.  Finding the balance between 2 grade levels curriculum’s has proven to be a challenge, but it is not impossible.  I believe it is just challenging my imagination more than it has been challenged in the past.  I am having to find creative ways to blend the material or creative ways to keep one grade level meaningfully engaged in a relevant task while I work with the other grade level.  Fortunately for me I have technology on my side and I am drawing on the many things I have learned from the DEN.  My students are just crazy about blogging and so much more than any other class I have had.  The love to post, reply to forum topics, vote in polls, and upload and comment on their favorite photos.  They will be webquesting soon as well and I look forward to the projects they will create. 

Overall there is so much to think about as a teacher in planning for your class, and for the combination class there is even more.