update on school change

I now have been at the English classroom for 1 week. Yes - I am still there! I noticed online today that the job posting has been extended until October 6th - so it looks like I will be there probably through most of October.

I feel that the students are ignoring me since they feel that I won't be around forever.  Why should they give me their best work. I keep telling them that the work they are working on will be graded and needs to be turned in today. Quite a few ignore the rules and expectations.

Even though these students are in high school and special ed they are lacking in sentence structure (capitalization and periods). A few students just sit there looking bored and not completing or for that matter not even starting their classwork. I am not sure how to reach them to let them know this will affect there education. Maybe they don't care. Well I care.

Here is an example: Yesterday I began the day with a writing prompt. All I was asking was 5 complete sentences - some students gave me that and even more. The majority gave me 3 incomplete sentences - maybe. Then we moved onto a spelling list (taken directly off of their school work) - students complained that it was elementary and yet this is what they are needed. I wanted students to alphabetize their spelling. From experience I decided to put the alphabet on the board - I saw every student that was following the directions look at the alphabet on the board. Next was a sheet of handwriting (do you know that some districts aren't teaching cursive any more - what a shame - what are students going to do when they need to sign a legal document).

If students would spend less time complaining about their work and just get started, they would finish it much faster. 

Today I decided to ask another special education teacher who also teaches English what she does in her class. She gave me some reading material and then I created questions to go along. Of course some students did this, but most did not. 

Tomorrow I am going to try another approach and see if I can grab their attention. Luckily I am grabbing some materials from my own classroom (the one I am finally getting students in- which is a whole another issue).