I had a fabulous summer, spending about half in Denver doing various things like hikes, baseball games, MOVING to a new and fabulous house, volunteering at El Museo de las Americas for their summer art camp, and enjoying little work! The other half I spent at home in Grayslake/Chicago, a quick trip back to Minneapolis, and then some exciting trips to places near here. I went on a camping trip with Joanna to 5 National Parks in 5 days- we spanned most of Colorado and some of Utah. . . Then I went up to Yellowstone with my grandma and then enjoyed Estes Park/Rocky Mountain NP with the rest of my family. It was definitely an eventful summer that contained the perfect balance of friends, family, nature and city life. I am so grateful!
School officially started for teachers on Friday, so we have had some all-day, intensive orientations since then, just getting back into the swing of things, moving classrooms, meeting new teachers, learning new systems, protocols, procedures, etc. Because my school has received a grant for "transformation" this year, the expectations for professionalism and quality instruction are very high, and so the administration is really cracking down on the teachers and that they are all working hard.
For sped teachers, this is a bit different. Schedules aren't yet complete, we've been moved into one office, I don't have my own classroom this year, I will only be teaching one class of language arts to 7th graders that are reading below a 3rd grade reading level, and then the rest of the day I will work as a consultant to the 8th grade teachers with special education students in their classes, either going in to support or pulling out small groups. I will have much more time to create good paperwork for the students, but I will have much less contact with students than I did last year. This is good and bad for many reasons, but mainly just adjusting to a new year and new expectations and finding the positive in all of it has been my main focus as of late. I definitely feel like I have more responsibility this year to lead as a 2nd year teacher, and I am not scared to speak out if there is something I believe that needs to be heard. I am also much more confident in my planning for my one class, because I have taught it before and I have a year of teaching under my belt. There are 5 Teach for America new teachers at our school and 3 are on the 8th grade team, so it is exciting to have the chance to work with them on differentiating for the special education students. While I won't have as much time or contact with students, or have my own classroom to welcome them into, I will have more energy and time to fill other responsibilities and balance a bit better. There are so many good opportunities to take advantage of this year, so why dwell on the negative things...
On that note! Still lots to do, but without a feeling of impossibility. Getting late, will post soon about how my students are this year! I get to meet them all on Tuesday.
Paz-
C
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