Hello,
I started this blog in Jason Ohler´s technology course. I learned how to post pictures on my blog, which is great because I love taking pictures and sharing them with others. This opportunity will help me get back into creative writing. I also think it will be a great way to reflect on my work as an Instructional Coach in rural Alaska.
I am on a new adventure, albeit reluctantly. I wanted to stay in the classroom in the village. I loved teaching ESL in the primary grades, Kinder through 3rd grade, but the funding was cut for the program. In my new job, I am training teachers to teach with a program called SIOP, Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. Though I knew it would be challenging, I strongly believe in the program and wanted to share the joys of raising student achievement with other teachers. I felt that I could learn a lot and the it would be rewarding to share what I had learned about SIOP through my coursework at Stanford through the CLAD program (Culture, Language and Academic Development).
I am on a new adventure, albeit reluctantly. I wanted to stay in the classroom in the village. I loved teaching ESL in the primary grades, Kinder through 3rd grade, but the funding was cut for the program. In my new job, I am training teachers to teach with a program called SIOP, Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. Though I knew it would be challenging, I strongly believe in the program and wanted to share the joys of raising student achievement with other teachers. I felt that I could learn a lot and the it would be rewarding to share what I had learned about SIOP through my coursework at Stanford through the CLAD program (Culture, Language and Academic Development).
I have gotten off to a flying start, busy with training, and getting to know teachers at the schools I work with. I am finally feeling like I have a chance to breath and sleep. Tomorrow I will be busily packing and then running over to the gravel runway, now covered with snow, to jump on another small plane, probably a Cesna 207, that will take me across the tundra, to Bethel where I will spend two days scoring 6-Trait writing assessments with other ten SIOP coaches.
The schedule of a coach keeps me very busy; it seems like I go from one training to school, and then back on the plane again. What about all that work I promised I would do this week? I still have not finished doing things for teachers that I had promised them. What about cleaning, packing and catching up on my own life? It’s after nine p.m. and I have not cooked dinner yet, much less eaten. Nor have I looked at my mile-long "To-do" list.
Getting caught up? It’s not going to happen. Not today, not tomorrow. Perhaps, next year, in 2010. It’s all in the life of an instructional coach inWestern Alaska .
The schedule of a coach keeps me very busy; it seems like I go from one training to school, and then back on the plane again. What about all that work I promised I would do this week? I still have not finished doing things for teachers that I had promised them. What about cleaning, packing and catching up on my own life? It’s after nine p.m. and I have not cooked dinner yet, much less eaten. Nor have I looked at my mile-long "To-do" list.
Getting caught up? It’s not going to happen. Not today, not tomorrow. Perhaps, next year, in 2010. It’s all in the life of an instructional coach in
