Reflecting.

I'm sort of just writing this post to figure out some of my thoughts right now, so I have a feeling this entry may be kind of boring and not make much sense.  I've been weighing the pros and cons of my specific teaching position (as the resource room teacher who co-teaches two math classes), and I definitely have it easy in many ways. I have a "case-load" of 13 students.  My second period class is 5 students, and they are angels.  My seventh period class is 8 students, and as individuals they are all wonderful (except for one, I hate to say it, but he's just a nasty kid.  He has good moments, but they are few and far between).  When they get together as a group, they can be a nightmare.  For some, it's because the work is way too hard, and for some it's because it's way too easy...I can't seem to find a balance between remediation and challenging them!  What is good about the resource room class is that I can sort of do what I want with it...so one day I'll teach art history lessons that relate to their global class, and another day I'll do writing strategies and another I will have them all practicing math.  The problem is that it's hard for me to track how they are doing because they are not graded in my class (which also results in many of them not taking this seriously), and I don't really know what the end of the year result is supposed to be for them!  

I know it's only week three, but I'm starting to feel like even on my really good days that I'm not making a big difference with them yet.  Our ultimate goal is to help them pass all of their classes, and especially the Regents' Exams they are taking at the end of the year (passing at my school is a 70, not a 65).  I'm thinking I'm going to have to somehow restructure my class (already! ugh!) so that I can track each student's progress in every class.  Or should I just figure out with each student which subjects they need the most help with and track their grades in that?  So much to think about, I don't even know where to start...