American Preparatory Academy
It's been a while since I updated my blog, time to spill what the summer entailed and what my next adventure will be. I am thrilled to say that I will be teaching 4th grade this year at The American Preparatory Academy. I didn't know for sure if I was going to teach again this year, but my brother in law Davey convince me to interview at APA. I'm so glad that he did, because they offered me a position.
APA is a Direct Instruction school. It is a very different approach than your typical public school that many of us attended as children. I taught in the public school system for four years plus one year of student teaching, and I found myself complaining constantly about what was not being taught and that children were not learning.
I was fortunate enough to also teach summer school after they offered me a contract for the fall. It was such an awesome experience to watch children come to school each day ready and excited to learn. Although it was summer, I rarely heard a complain about being in school. Teaching over the summer gave me a chance to dip my toes into direct instruction. It is very new to me, and I absolutely love it!
You can read about DI here:
http://www.nifdi.org/15/about-di
You can watch a demonstration here:
DI Pioneer - Zig Engleman
Over the past two weeks I have been participating in teacher training and pre-service for the upcoming school year. I thought that I knew a lot about DI when I taught summer school and with the little observing I did at the end of last year, but I was wrong. I have gathered and learned so much information and I am thrilled to be a part of it. Carolyn Sharrette and Laura Campbell, founders of APA, are truly amazing, and have done some awesome things for education over the past ten years. I know that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I feel so fortunate to have been hired, and I get to make kids smart!
School starts on September 4th, which is in a week and a day! I cannot believe that school is so close. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Usually when school would begin I would have a mountain of nerves and anxiety. Fortunately I feel very peaceful and just excited to get started. I perform the best when I am constantly busy and challenged and I know that I will find that with APA. I have such a fabulous team to work with and help me along that I am not scared.
There are a few speed bumps that I will have to get through at the beginning of the year. For one, our school is still under construction. I have a week to really get my classroom ready for the kids to come and be productive learners. I think that I can do it, but it will be a lot of work. Starting tomorrow I am going to try to spend all of my time at TAS (my campus) getting things ready to go. I need to be prepared for at least the first 2 weeks of school. Luckily the teachers on my team are amazing and they have already done a lot of the work for me. Now it is really about me practicing and getting ready to teach the awesome curriculum. We have a pretty tight schedule, which I am so happy about. The kids will be learning so much this year, and I am glad to be the one delivering it!
Here is to a great year at American Preparatory Academy.
Ms. Cain
APA is a Direct Instruction school. It is a very different approach than your typical public school that many of us attended as children. I taught in the public school system for four years plus one year of student teaching, and I found myself complaining constantly about what was not being taught and that children were not learning.
I was fortunate enough to also teach summer school after they offered me a contract for the fall. It was such an awesome experience to watch children come to school each day ready and excited to learn. Although it was summer, I rarely heard a complain about being in school. Teaching over the summer gave me a chance to dip my toes into direct instruction. It is very new to me, and I absolutely love it!
You can read about DI here:
http://www.nifdi.org/15/about-di
You can watch a demonstration here:
DI Pioneer - Zig Engleman
Over the past two weeks I have been participating in teacher training and pre-service for the upcoming school year. I thought that I knew a lot about DI when I taught summer school and with the little observing I did at the end of last year, but I was wrong. I have gathered and learned so much information and I am thrilled to be a part of it. Carolyn Sharrette and Laura Campbell, founders of APA, are truly amazing, and have done some awesome things for education over the past ten years. I know that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I feel so fortunate to have been hired, and I get to make kids smart!
School starts on September 4th, which is in a week and a day! I cannot believe that school is so close. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Usually when school would begin I would have a mountain of nerves and anxiety. Fortunately I feel very peaceful and just excited to get started. I perform the best when I am constantly busy and challenged and I know that I will find that with APA. I have such a fabulous team to work with and help me along that I am not scared.
There are a few speed bumps that I will have to get through at the beginning of the year. For one, our school is still under construction. I have a week to really get my classroom ready for the kids to come and be productive learners. I think that I can do it, but it will be a lot of work. Starting tomorrow I am going to try to spend all of my time at TAS (my campus) getting things ready to go. I need to be prepared for at least the first 2 weeks of school. Luckily the teachers on my team are amazing and they have already done a lot of the work for me. Now it is really about me practicing and getting ready to teach the awesome curriculum. We have a pretty tight schedule, which I am so happy about. The kids will be learning so much this year, and I am glad to be the one delivering it!
Here is to a great year at American Preparatory Academy.
Ms. Cain