CommonCoreTeach

I have been teaching in New York City for fifteen years. My students are predominantly English Language Learners from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Many of the students find my school to be the second or third elementary school of their careers thus far, and often have patterns of lateness and absenteeism. These are the children I love, and these are the children who sorely need a day that will both educate and inspire! Routines are welcomed, and talking is a must...language skills need to be developed rapidly. Though it is tempting to water down curriculum, I like to introduce as much academic language as possible, using colorful pictures and boldface fonts to help with meaning in longer sentences, so that understanding is not lost...but neither is exposure! Every day is a challenge, is it not? I create a lot of my own material to supplement our textbooks, as budgets have been cut, and our current math program is not aligned to the new Common Core Standards. I hope that I can save you that step of having to create some of these packets...You may be short on time this week...I'm sure you have class data that your administration wants you to analyze, right?