Bond with James: November 2018

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Teaching at Title 1 Schools | A Week in the Life of a Teacher



This week's vlog includes a 7-minute teaching warm-up and transitions into my reflection of the week; as well as my feelings about working and teaching at title 1 schools. 



When I first started A Week in the Life of a Teacher vlogs (17-18), I filmed and incorporated teaching clips in my videos. I did this because there had not been, to my knowledge, another teacher vlogger that had (consistently) done so. I also wanted to use my vlogs to share ideas and also reflect on my own teaching. I've spent a majority of my career working with or teaching at title 1 schools and I wanted to see where I could develop to support all students.

However, teaching Pre-AP chemistry for the first time in 8 years combined with teaching at a Title 1 school and daily vlogging and editing for a weekly vlog release began to take its toll on me mentally and physically. Therefore, during the spring semester, I continued to record my lessons for self-reflection, but I didn't stress about editing hours of lessons for the A Week in the Life of a Teacher vlog.

This school year (18-19), I decided to scale back the amount of time I spent vlogging. For the most part, I record on a single day and reflect on the week or some topic that people have asked me about. I feel this schedule allows me to rest, relax, and not stress about additional work.

Although, I have made the decision to try and incorporate small segments of instruction from one lesson taught during my weekly vlog release. I this will allow me to support my original goals and provide a lens to anyone who is interested in teaching, especially at Title 1 schools.

For the record, just in case this needs to be stated, I do not believe Title 1 schools are terrible. There are multiple challenges that make teaching at a Title 1 school difficult. However, I enjoy working with the population of students that I serve and understand the commitment and dedication it takes to support them academically and emotionally.