Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

We just had parent-teacher conferences last night and I am now dead tired. Having my time divided between my traditional class parents and the Academy 21 parents was very interesting. I think I could sum up my year so far with the phrase "running around like crazy". It was nice to sit down one on one with the Academy 21 parents and let them explain their concerns. I liked that I was not unable to speak to any of their concerns and that I was able to explain the growth that I have already seen with their student.

I think the biggest hurddle we have with this pilot program is TIME. Since I teach five other classes of traditional social studies, I have a lot of grading and planning to do. I wish I had more time to spend in the Academy 21 room and more time to have more/longer 1 on 1 meetings with my advisory. I wish they had more time in the Academy 21 room instead of having a few classes that they have to leave for. I also wish people didn't expect to see all of this product in the little time that we have had in this pilot. I get that if your kid was in a traditional class they would have at least filled out four worksheets and maybe one crossword puzzle by now, but that is not the way project/problem based learning works. I have heard that time is so precious, but now I view it as a competitor. I am competing against time. My principal said this year would not be a marathone, it would be a sprint. Boy is that statement true. Good thing I have some great running shoes :)