Title I lessons
LW, I share in your frustration. I started Title I this year after 12 years as a 4th grade Language Arts teacher. In the beginning I was questioning whether or not I made the right move. I also felt like I was not accomplishing anything. To answer your question about what to teach, my best advice is to work closely with the classroom teachers who have your students. I meet each week with each of the Lang. Arts teachers. We touch base on upcoming lessons, who is struggling and with what. This helps me focus for the week. Sadly, most Title I students struggle with many of the areas you mentioned and you are only one person who cannot do it all. I try to make my lessons parallel that of the classroom teacher when I do pull out. This way, they won't be behind when they get back to their classroom. We also do small guided reading groups where I can really work with them on comprehension and fluency. As for gaining a feeling of accomplishment, I still have days where I feel I didn't get much accomplished. Then, there are days when I am so glad to be working with these special kids who really need the extra help and often get overlooked, both in school and at home. My job is to help them to be more successful in reading, but I also am developing a closer relationship with many of my kids than I could have last year because I had 75 kids to teach instead of 35. I feel like I'm making a difference because they know they have a "soft place to land" in school and they have someone they can really talk to about things that bother them. There are still times when I miss the classroom, but whenever I do, I think of these special children that God has sent my way this year. Good luck to you as you continue your Title I teaching. Keep checking this board. There are a few wonderful and dedicated posters that I know I can always count on for good advice when I'm down.
