summer school

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summer school
By Carolyn

It is good that you at least recognize what the problems are that you are facing. Summer school is probably a good place for you to get "wet." When you get your first full-time job, you will recognize what you will have to
improve upon and may think of some ways to handle those problems.

Transitions are usually one of those things that kids, not just teachers, have difficulty with. I am a full-time fifth grade teacher now and have taught for a number of years, but I recognize that there are some groups of kids who have a more difficult time adjusting to changes, such as transitions, than others.

The group I had last year was like that. You will just have to quickly make the change without signalling in any way that you are about to do this. Have everything ready to go so that you aren't groping around for materials while they get involved in idle chit-chat. Make sure that they have what they need, too, so that they aren't wasting valuable time in-between activities.

Kids will waste a lot of time in transition if you don't have a system for transition. Write the page number up on the board and give them a set amount of time to get to that page. Award points to the first group to get to that page.

I think that once you get into your own classroom, you will find it easier to get the kids set into a classroom management routine. Summer school is short and, as was mentioned, kids there are not necessarily motivated to work.