ACCESS for ELLs testing will wrap up for my students across the district tomorrow or early Tuesday, depending on how well the first session goes. I have my fingers crossed to wrap up Monday so that I can get back to my actual job....helping students to access the material presented to them in a language that they do not understand. It may still take the balance of Tuesday to re-imagine and implement a drastically different schedule so that I can dedicate more time to a very English-language deficient group of students. If I manage it, I will be giving some of my course load back to my colleague. Of course, these students were not part of my original course load, but I have been doing my best to challenge and engage them in the pursuit of acquiring the English language.
So, so much for wrapping up. I am also gearing up for another review of my action research work that I will be presenting at the GLOBELT Conference in Antalya, Turkey, in a few weeks' time. The final manuscript is due after the presentation, but I would rather get it off my plate. The stress of travel in the final week of two different courses is a bit much, so I will also need to work ahead and complete final projects for both prior to traveling. That is quite a tall order, considering that I am barely keeping my head above water with all of my obligations in the first place. Tomorrow will be the new beginning of after-school tutoring again until 5:30 p.m. for any of my students across the district who choose to attend.
In addition to upcoming international travel and tutoring, The TESOL International Conference in Baltimore is also on the horizon. I wish that I were traveling a bit to the southwest rather than to the northeast this time around, but no such luck at the moment. Even better, would be to the Far East, but that is also on a back burner for the moment as well.
I have just finished and submitted an application for a Hope Street Group Fellowship, which concentrates on legislative advocacy in education, and a Bridge Fellowship, which specifically concentrates on developing strategies and programs to reach Latino and African American male students in high poverty and low-resourced schools. The Bridge Fellowship is my ideal project, so I have my fingers crossed for that while I am finalizing a Teachers for Global Classrooms packet and a NCTA/TEA summer seminar packet as well. Last year I attended the NCTA/TEA Korea into the 21st Century seminar in Boulder, and I am really hoping to be able to attend their Japan's Olympic Challenges seminar this upcoming Summer. The seminar on Korea was immensely enriching and allowed me to bring a great deal more depth to my teaching this academic year, and I would expect no less from the material on Japan. Speaking of East Asia, there is also a final curriculum unit project due in a few days for a book group called "Reading the Mao Years" which, by the way, was fascinating.
Sometimes I think I have way too much on my plate, but it is a sure way to not become bored. With Spring Break coming up, nothing will be dull, that is for sure!
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