The Value of Time

What a whirlwind.  In some ways, it always amazes me how fast each marking period ends.  I have such high expectations for myself and my team, and yet I can never be satisfied because our time is so precious.  I am sitting here hoping that I have enough data to properly assess each student and I am thinking about how there are students who I don't know their whole story yet.  It makes me quite sad to think about that, but there is some sobering reality to the amount of time we have.

I was curious so I did some math today.  Our first marking period will consist of 41 days.  I took the amount of minutes that I would have for instruction if there were never any interruptions like fire drills or assemblies.  That number came out to roughly 10,865 minutes.  That sounds like a lot so I should have had time to spend with each child.  I then divided that out by 30 kids and then by 60 minutes to express it in hours.

If I only spent time one on one with a child and never did any whole group instruction.  I would have a grand total of six hours with each kid.  We do many things to make each child feel involved in everything that we do, but it is quite sobering to realize how much our time is stretched and how little one on one time we have.  This time is so very precious and is probably why one on one tutoring costs so much.  

I am not using this as an excuse, but I thought it was an interesting way to look at things.  I do everything I can to borrow every minute from the day and get as much small group and individual instruction as I can while still getting through all of our curriculum as a whole group.  

This is one of the main reasons that attendance is so important as missing those few moments that are carved out for your small group or individual time is tough.  I won't rest in what I do, but I am also going to understand that I will know my students much better in the third marking period than I do in the first marking period and we will be a better team every day that we have together.

P.S.  I also want to thank parents that send a quick note if something unusual is happening in your child's life as I don't always get to everyone in the morning beyond a quick hello and a smile.  It is always good to know when something could be having an effect on their attitude and performance.  Thanks for keeping me in the loop.