Lethargy Doesn't Work

This week was interesting because the morning began with almost absolute silence for 2 hours. I try not to bother my supervisor when I know that she has a full day because she has to write reports, score data, and plan. On the other hand, it usually leaves me terribly bored and lethargic. I try to bring in school work or books, but 2 hours is a long time. So after the hours were up, I had a student interview with a student. I don't think I could be any more drained while giving this interview. I could hear in my voice that it was too calm. And I realized that if I was going to get any true or useful information out of the student that I was going to have to have more energy. Unfortunately, the interview did not spur more energy. I got the information I needed, but I think I've learned a lesson from the experience. Drink coffee or tea or move around prior to talking with students.

By the end of the day, things had gotten more interesting, but it was still generally slow. I wrote up my student interview, counseling group was canceled, did my classroom observation without the teacher there (and hence no intervention was done), and attended a meeting. The final part of the day involved a meeting with the assistant principal and a few other people regarding the high school's implementation of RTI. This is very interesting to me because I like parts of RTI. In addition to liking the idea, we've actually learned a great deal about it. So much so, that the process appears simple to implement. However, when discussing it in the meeting, it felt completely overwhelming.

I knew that what they were saying was about RTI and I think I understood what was trying to be done, but the vocabulary was entirely different. There was this strange hesitation about it that I felt would hinder any kind of transition to RTI. Apparently, RTI is being discussed at the district level, a group made up of many members of the district, and then by each school. Therefore, communication was being addressed at all different areas and it seems confusing at best because there was an uncertainty about what should be done. As I tried to make sense of how things were being done, I felt I was being pushed away at the same time. I don't feel included in the process -- not that I need to be, but I feel like I have a lot of valuable information. I would love to be on the official task force for implementing RTI. Instead, I'm somewhere in the middle getting bits and pieces of it and trying to make sense of what is going on. I hope that when the year is over I can discuss with my supervisor to include me in the plans for next year.