jessavamyn
02-06-2009, 06:53 PM
I work in a high-poverty urban district. Statistically, fifty percent of my students are illiterate. Thirty percent have IEPs. Eighty percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. I am a fourth year teacher and up until now I have enjoyed my job despite its challenges. However, I now have a class of 37 freshmen and sophomores, 25 of which are boys. I teach Spanish and in order to learn the language it is necessary to participate. A class this large makes that very difficult. I have organized my class well: the students are in groups, I keep file cabinets stocked with extra supplies and copies for them, they are allowed one pass per month (which is actually against school rules as there is a "no pass" policy), I have contacted and talked with all the parents I could get a hold of...several numbers are disconnected, several are wrong, and many students are homeless or semi-homeless (living with friends, relatives, in vehicles, etc.). After two weeks of working day and night and becoming completely overwhelmed and suffering from burnout, I am running out of ideas and am convinced that it is impossible for this group to simultaneously concentrate on one thing. Indeed, the main issue is that I cannot gain control of my students' attention hardly at all during the 90 minutes we share each day for class. Engagement is low. Attitude is high. This is uncharacteristic for my classes. Part of the problem is that my room is designed for no more than 20 students and they are cramped together very closely. This cannot be helped. I tried to get us a computer lab but the technology coordinator and I tried logging on to two computers in the lab and after 20 minutes neither computer was fully logged on. That's not an option. I have sent a few students out with security guards for poor behavior. They were supposed to report to an administrator, but instead they returned two minutes later saying that he/she didn't want to see them now. I called the administrators later and they claimed that the child "was not their responsibility." Thus, administration is not on board with me. There are no paraprofessionals or special education teachers available to help in a Spanish class, as they are needed in Math and English classrooms. However, I have 8-10 special needs individuals in my room, of varying categories. I do not have time to give them the individual attention they need...they are falling behind and I feel bad about it. I have spoken to guidance counselors who are also overwhelmed - there's nothing they can do. There are only two foreign language teachers in a school of 1000 students that requires two years of foreign language to graduate. I'm stuck. What would you do?