thoughts, please!

okay ladies, i need your help.

here's the situation.

scheduling IEPs has been a nightmare for our child advocate, we've all been out so often on fridays with trainings that we can't have staffings. this of course means that we're nearly out of compliance with a bunch of our kids.
our child advocate has been working like crazy to make this work, and she is trying to have the IEPs on the thursday right before Halloween (the 29th). we have that friday (the 30th) off as a PD day.

ordinarily, none of this is an issue.

however, I'M DYING TO GO BACK TO CAMP. camp always has a halloween celebration with tons of kids, and i would LOVE to go. this would mean that I would have to take that thursday (the 29th) off in order to drive out to camp in time.

do i take the day off and make scheduling even harder, potentially putting our school out of compliance?

what do you think i should do?

JOB!

So i technically have a job.

West Bloomfield called me today and asked me to come in a fill out payroll information to be a sub para-educator. Then they told me on November 4th to come in for an interview to be a guest teacher.

PESG is still being mean and I do not have Oakland County on my sub list but West Bloomfield runs through PCMI instead. so YAY!

Talk to you later. Signed

The girl who finally has something to do with her days!

funny things

had a kid tell me i look like a cop in my sunglasses.


kids make me smile :)


i want to hear your stories!!!!


that is all.


love!

baby, it's cold outside.

yep.
snowed today.
the thermometer literally read 29 degrees on my ride home tonight.
go CO :)

though it was adorable scooting the little children onto the buses amidst the swirling flakes this afternoon. zipped up in their hoodies, small bodies would come up and hug me, often adding some comment such as "i like the snow," or "brrr, it's cold!". you know, something very profound in their minds. it never ceases to amuse me when i get hugs from strange children.

had a great moment today, teaching my interventions class. i don't remember why, but we all just burst out laughing, real laughter, for a solid two minutes. and i did think to myself, "this is why i love kids. this is why i teach. this is good."

so, faith reinstalled in the profession of teaching, i come to you all with a question. what kind of behavior systems did your sped teachers use last year? Adia, i got you girl. i know what Gwen used, but i'm wondering what Mrs. Gonzalez and Mrs. Paulsen did to institute an effective behavior management system. i've got some ADHD kiddos sans meds that could really use a good system...so any insight would be much appreciated :)

ps. administered the woodcock today. didn't get to doitability. but you better believe i chuckled to myself all the same.

love you all, have a wonderful weekend, stay warm!

hello

YEAH KATE!!! let me know when and if i am not home i will try to come up to see you!!!! HEY I know you are all going to laugh at me... but remember the stupid project we did for SP. ED lit? with the 500 binders. I am looking for higher level stuff for my kids. If you are not using yours could you maybe send it to me.... DONT LAUGH! I KNOW YOUR LAUGHING!!! if not do you know or remember some of the sights for older kid decodable passages and words.


CRAZY (i know)

Thinking and Walking in CIRCLES!!!!!!!

So today is the first day in over a week that I have been home before 7. I leave the house at 6! So much is going on this week that my brain is spinning and people are starting to notice. I have lost, left and misplaced more books, papers, and sentences than I can to admit! We had parent teacher conferences on thursday and friday. Longest days ever. It was nice though, some of the girls invited me to go with for a late dinner thursday after conferences ended. This week we are starting interventions, doing guided reading, starting the wilson program(which has been postponed to next week cause I couldn't figure it all out on my own. I need to start it now, but training (which is required to teach it) isn't until the end of OCT and, i dont have all the materials! Dont we love school systems. I am dealing with kids who dont seem to have any retention of material as well! We are meeting with parents at length to figure that out cause the parents are unenvolved in the kids life it feels like when it comes down to what is important. my kid dresses himself (no coat, or umbrella, in short sleeves when it is 40 and raining) and packs lunch of marshmellows and cookies. And then I have my kids who are doing great and goals are only to keep at grade level and parents completely freaking out about progress! go figure. I also found out yesterday that I have to dismiss a kid from OT this week and they want it done yesterday, but i need to follow legal process which takes at least 2 weeks. I Love coming and going.

Anyway, I love and miss you! what are you girls doing for halloween? or beginning of november for me to come to EL. Kate are you coming home for winter???

Love and Misses,
Coming while going :)

so it goes...

do you just ever have days when you want to give up?

not saying i'm giving up. just saying, last week was hard. this week is shaping up to be much the same way.

god bless title one schools, but WHOA. commerce city is a whole different story from lansing. these kids, all they've got is the place they came from, and it sure isn't much. and they don't expect much from life. they DEFINITELY don't expect much from school.

okay, that's over-generalizing. some of my kids do want to learn.
but i've got this one kid. man, and all it takes is one. Adia, you know the ONE from last year. this year, it's another one. ugh. and he's just the icing on the cake of a multitude of behavior problems, attitudes, and learning disabilities. as well as a whole bunch of kids that aren't on my caseload. maybe i've bitten off more than i can chew with this one.

i love kids, but this district...some days it gets me down.

tomorrow - district walkthroughs. wahoo.

And let the games begin!

I am off on interviews the next couple of days.

Tomorrows interview is down the street. I could walk if i wanted to. It is for a sub para job in an autistic classroom (I believe).

Then Monday morning (IM STOKED ABOUT THIS ONE!!) I have to be up and outta the house by 730 to drive to Ypsi for a teaching position interview in a ECDD special needs classroom. IM EXCITED and not dreading the having to get up early.

YES i realize ya'll have had to get up early but im still sleeping when I want to so its a big deal to me. LOL!

Oh yea and there is a possibility of working as a teacher at a temple in oak park that is for ages 1 - 3 i believe. Needless to say that ZA endorsement is looking bright in my future. (the job in ypsi asked if i would be willing to go back for the ZA)

Im excited and exhausted.

Peace