It's the beginning of the year. Nothing has really gone as planned. I'm not good with beginnings of the year. It's really the Latin 2 and 3 reviews (or lack thereof) that's bothering me, because I kept thinking I could get computer lab time. But that just hasn't happened. Problems with scheduling. And construction in the building. And new personnel wanting to do things differently.
But really I'm posting about what I do in Latin 1. I know so many people that just dive into the book on day 1 or day 2. I do other things. The end result though is I'm always a bit behind other people/teachers. We do some conversational Latin stuff (what's your name, how are you, thank you, etc etc), practice these by doing a skit that I wrote, then learn formal pronunciation, do numbers, then finally start the book. The good thing about this is that it gives a chance for students to switch in and out of class and settle their schedules. But then I'm always questioning whether I should do these things.
I do a pronunciation/syllabification worksheet at the beginning of every year. My goal is that when they are finally in AP Vergil, that learning scansion should be easier. Should be. Well... I like my worksheet; I like what I do... but am I wasting time on something no one else seems to bother with?
And yet, I must be doing something right. I had a decent number of medals for NLE last year and my program is bursting at the seams. In fact I'm overwhelmed because this year student schedules really didn't work well and I have too many doing independent study. I can't plan well. This is becoming very frustrating.
But I've learned not to let it get to me. Just to take each day as it comes. The students are reacting well to the start of the year, so that seems ok to me....maybe I'm just over thinking it.
But really I'm posting about what I do in Latin 1. I know so many people that just dive into the book on day 1 or day 2. I do other things. The end result though is I'm always a bit behind other people/teachers. We do some conversational Latin stuff (what's your name, how are you, thank you, etc etc), practice these by doing a skit that I wrote, then learn formal pronunciation, do numbers, then finally start the book. The good thing about this is that it gives a chance for students to switch in and out of class and settle their schedules. But then I'm always questioning whether I should do these things.
I do a pronunciation/syllabification worksheet at the beginning of every year. My goal is that when they are finally in AP Vergil, that learning scansion should be easier. Should be. Well... I like my worksheet; I like what I do... but am I wasting time on something no one else seems to bother with?
And yet, I must be doing something right. I had a decent number of medals for NLE last year and my program is bursting at the seams. In fact I'm overwhelmed because this year student schedules really didn't work well and I have too many doing independent study. I can't plan well. This is becoming very frustrating.
But I've learned not to let it get to me. Just to take each day as it comes. The students are reacting well to the start of the year, so that seems ok to me....maybe I'm just over thinking it.