It's coming...

The new school year, I mean. A week from today I start making that long trek (one hour and 20 minutes, one way) to school. The kids don't start until after Labor Day and because of budget cut backs I don't have to take all those pre- school sessions which means I get to spend more time in my classroom (Yay!) I am very happy, though, that they (the county) have scheduled teaching sessions for para professionals, something really needed. My aides had a good time last year selecting which sessions they would be attending.

This year, just like every other year, I want to have a great year. I want my students to learn a lot and I want them to be healthy and happy. This year it looks like I will have the same two paras I had last year! That makes life so much easier when you don't have to train new personnel. Working in my classroom necessitates a very steep learning curve. First you have to learn how to deal with all of the physical/medical issues; g tubes, seizures, feeding, diaper changing, toilet training. Then you have to learn about behavioral issues particular to each child. We have one new student this year and I am looking forward to learning about him/her (not going to specify because of privacy issues) and he/she fits into the rest of the class. And then if you have never taught children with intellectual disabilities before, you need to learn effective practices for teaching children who learn in diffferent ways.

I have great plans for well, great plans, lol and organization, organization, organization :) We'll see how it goes this year, but I do have good intentions (yeah, I know "the road to *%$ # is paved with..)

Regardless, I love my job.