A week of new jobs

On Monday, I started working as an ELL/Title paraprofessional at an elementary school. I was given a brief tour of the two rooms I'll be working in and an explanation of the materials I'll be using. The ELL teacher will be creating the lesson plans for me to implement with the students, which takes the pressure off for me. Then I went right to work testing the students. We started the timed minute reading tests to see what their reading levels were. The next day, I began testing the new students who filled out a language survey stating they spoke another language. I tested K-6 students in their speaking/listening, reading and writing of the English language. We then put the students into groups according to need. I will start teaching the groups next week.

On Tuesday, I also started teaching an Aquatic Pilates class at the YMCA. It is an outdoor pool for another couple of weeks before they put up "the bubble" as they call it, transforming it into an indoor pool. I was glad I had my sunglasses with me, the sun is glaring off the water. I created a pilates interval class and a regular pilates class to add some variety. I'm hoping the participates like the class. And next week, I start teaching swimming lessons. We'll see how long I can keep up with my schedule.

On Monday, TJ also began his career of teaching elementary school. This year, he is teaching 6th grade. The other 6th grade teacher is also a first year teacher. They are having fun learning the ropes together. Monday they happened to both wear red shirts, so they decided to continue matching the rest of the week. The students caught on; it was the faculty who were a little slow in the uptake. TJ also tested his students to see how much they knew and remembered from previous years. He has a student from Iraq, who has only been in the states for 3 months and a couple of very smart gifted & talented students, so he has a wide range. He's having fun reading "Freak the Mighty" aloud to his students.

All in all, it's been a good week for both of us.