Rob and Dustin

So, tonight I sit here, and can't believe the week is over! It has been an incredibly interesting week though with kids coming and going. I had moments where I felt I was going to scream due to the caseload numbers, but once I got my schedule made, I felt better.

For those of you outside of the teaching world, Special Education Scheduling at the Elementary Level is insane! Accomodating 10 teachers and 22 students has been a challenge, but now that the "hard" part is over, it's felt great to be teaching in the classroom!

I started regular classes on Wednesday, and am learning what a challenge this year is going to be, but in a very good way. I have some students who are REALLY low academically, and writing a simple sentence is a challenge, so I have my work cut out for me, which is a very good thing. I took writing samples this week and put them away in a file. In May, it will be really cool to show them how far they've come!

I have already had my first class where a student busted out crying. Yep, you guessed it, we stoppped the lesson and took care of Rob. Rob is a really nice kid that I had last year, and can't recall ever seeing him cry. So, we're in class and discussing our families, and he busts out crying and told me his Dad died his Third Grade year. I didn't know that, and I had him all last year! So you know what I did? I held him! The rest of my students were incredibly respectful and waited for Rob to get his emotions out, and then we were joking by the end of the class period and he was laughing. As I held him, I knew that that was my purpose for being in that classroom. Not my sole purpose, obviously, but for that moment in Rob's life, he needed that. And I felt honored to be there for him. Yep, it's great to be back in the swing of things!

And, it couldn't be a post without a Dustin update! This kid is really growing on me. And, the cool part is that he's responding to me. I sat in his regular class with him this morning (part of my daily routine is to spend 30 minutes a day with him in class) and continued setting boudaries for him. And, he's getting it. Even his regular ed teacher commented to me that he's settling in. He still has A LOT of behaviors to improve upon, but he's making steady gains. Very good stuff!

So, here I sit, wiped out and could ramble on some more, but I need to crash.

I hope you've had a great week!

Later!