The Light of the World

No. . .it's not 4:00, but I was awakened just a little while ago, and could not get Kari Jobe's song, We are the Light of the World out of my head, so I decided to make a visit to FaceBook and post a copy to listen to from YouTube.  While there, I also thought about Brandon Heath's, You Put the Light in Me.  Thank you, Lord, for continuing to put your light in me.  May I show your light in the classroom instead of "burning the candle at both ends."  Too often I work myself into a point of burnout. . .as many teachers do, and yet feel as though the classroom contributions are never enough for the students.

Just this evening, I discovered that my parents were complaining about the weekly spelling list for their children, which generally consists of their regular spelling list with reading vocabulary words added.  None of the parents had commented about this list until now--although the students also use these words for sentence dictation, and writing assignments throughout the week.  Because second grade had not adhered to the pacing guide, we were left with several weeks at the end of the year without a reading story, so opted at this time to repeat a few stories reading skills over the next few weeks.  As a result, we also were left without a list of spelling words for the week, so I decided to review words that had given students difficulty over the past several weeks, and added these along with their social studies vocabulary to the list.  I also chose to use the time this week for writer's workshop, and TELPAS preparation by reviewing the steps in writing a story with my students.  I would much rather prefer to have a week for reading workshop followed by a week for writer's workshop to accompany the curriculum, but alas. . .we are tied to the pacing guide. . .in addition to having the spelling list cut down to 12 words now instead of 20-25.  How sad that we continue to dumb down the curriculum in order to appease the crowd. 

As with everything in my life, I am reminded of my time in China where the students beg for more English instruction instead of less, and ask more questions instead of thinking they already know everything. Ah well. . .I'm off my soapbox now.  Lord put your light back in me, and now allow me to return to my warm bed and rest before beginning the process all over again in the classroom tomorrow. 

~~Dr. D.