The rest of the week

Wednesday morning was okay. In the afternoon, I had an IEP meeting that was less than stellar. There were at least 15 people present. One of the people representing the student's parents pounced on every word that came out of my mouth. She even went so far to imply that I looked tanned when the subject of my absence came up. It took every ounce of self control in my body not to strangle her. Sips of water, deep breaths, count backwards from 100... She interrupted everyone, dragging the meeting on and on. I wanted to tell her to shut up and actually listen to what people were saying instead of blurting something out every five minutes, to open a child development book, or better yet, find an article that lists the characteristics of a person with autism. After 90 minutes, I left. It was the end of the school day and my para needed help with my students at dismissal. I did not go back either as I had to scoot to a doctor's appointment.

Thursday was better and nothing too remarkable happened, thankfully. The kids were very excited to go outside for recess the few times that we were actually able to get out this week.

Friday morning when Mr. K1teacher woke me up, I was thoroughly confused and exhausted, thinking it was Saturday. After getting dressed and having breakfast, I snoozed on the couch. I certainly should have stayed there as the day only went down hill from there. It included a frustrating conversation with my principal, getting head-butted in the abdomen by an older student, and helping a colleague to restrain a physically dangerous student while other teachers stood by and watched. It was a full moon though, so hopefully things will be slightly less crazy tomorrow.

I'm back!

This is my first week back. It is hard.

Monday was especially challenging. First, we got a new student while I was out. It is a new student who already faced so many difficult issues in his life and he does not have a way of dealing with them. He is on some pretty heavy duty medication and has some non desirable and aggressive behaviors. So it is always lovely to come back to that. Second, it seems like some of the other students were either thrown off by my absence, thrown off by the arrival of the new student, or missed the structure. I felt thoroughly exhausted by 10 am on Monday and the day was not even half over. Students who are normally great students, students who typically serve as examples for other students seemed to be testing me, to see if I still meant what I said, to see if the rules still stood. The students who typically benefit from the modeling of the other students were down right nutty, defiant, and at times unsafe. At home Monday night, I was exhausted and overly emotional but riled up and unable to sleep.

When I got up yesterday, I felt worse than I did on Monday, probably due to lack of sleep. Yesterday was better though. For starters, no one threw a chair when they were upset. I felt more organized and prepared. The students who typically model good behavior went back to that version of themselves. I will start a new behavior plan this morning for one of my students who seems to be having a very difficult time.

Hopefully, each day continues to get a little better. One day at a time...

Personal Info

So I am still hopeful that I will be able to go back to work eventually. I want to keep this space for my work ideas and experiences. I have created a new blog devoted to the pregnancy. You can find it here http://pregnanttanya.blogspot.com/

Long Overdue

I haven't blogged in a quite a while. I haven't been in school in quite a while either. I missed a week of work in December and have not been back since the holiday break. My husband and I found out in November that I am pregnant with our first child. I have been basically quite sick since right after Thanksgiving. I am hoping things get better for me soon so I can get back to teaching! Until then, I would appreciate warm thoughts and prayers.

They are thankful too

After reading the book "Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks" by Margaret Sutherland and Sonja Lamut to my students, I asked them to think, draw and write about what they were thankful for. Many students said that they were thankful for their mothers. A few said he was thankful for his new baby sister. One said that he was thankful for his house. One was thankful for her whole family. One student was even thankful for her teachers.

This is the first year that nobody mentioned their gaming system or spider man toys.

Thankful for

In spirit of Thanksgiving, here is my thankful list.

I am thankful for:
A wonderful, supportive and often hilarious and sometimes outrageous family
For my brother in law who is coming home from California for the week
For in laws who cook the turkey
For a husband who loves me just as I am
For friends who know when to talk and when to listen
For ample heat and food
For my job
For the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young children
For friends that cause me to smile, just by thinking of them
for a car that is safe and reliable and gets me where I need to go
For a half day on Wednesday
for a lunch date with a fellow coworker and good friend
for a growing home yoga practice
for good health
and for.....
many other things.
Stay tuned to find out what my students said they are thankful for this year.

The first time

Any teacher knows that it can sometimes be difficult to be away from the classroom. Last week and the week before I was sick. It started with just a sore throat and lead to body aches and sweats and chills and all that jazz. Naturally, I had to stay home for a few days. So I am grateful for the fact that I have a professional job and have paid sick time.

But then when I was feeling better, I had to go back to work. Since it was the first time I had been out all school year, I was a little uneasy and unsure what to expect when I returned. In years past when I have been out for more than a day I have returned to physical and mental disasters. When I returned the room was somewhat as orderly as I had left it.

Still, I felt uneasy. I spent a lot of time tidying up and trying to get organized. I think I should have planned more, but on the other hand, I did not know what work the sub had done with the kids and I wanted to connect what I was doing to what they did when I wasn't in. The kids felt the need to be really nice the first day I was back. They were very sweet and loving, giving lots of hugs. Two even said that they prayed for me and my family to be healthy. Very sweet.

The second day, they decided, consciously or not, to test me. To see if I still really meant what I said. Yes, I still mean what I say, and yes you still have to listen to me. I liked the hugs, and sweet comments better.