Day 5

It was bound to happen sooner or later... it wouldn't take the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi to predict it... I'm teaching Special Education, for Pete's Sake... but still it made me giggle today when I realized that I was actually riding a Short Bus! (Almost everyone I know makes jokes or comments about 'riding the short bus' and while I realize that it may not be PC I, too, have always found humor in the, uh... less than full-sized school busses. Oh, and I usually pride myself on my tact.)

The day ran by pretty smoothly. A few tantrums while on the field trip but nothing we couldn't handle. I'm still trying to grasp exactly how I'm supposed to be setting up lesson plans, and what curriculum I am supposed to be following but I'm sure that will all come in time.

Day 4

Even though I started my new job a week ago I have only had 4 days with the kids due to parent/teacher conferences, and the election. Just when I thought I would never miss waiting tables...

• Day starts out and 3 out of 4 para-professionals called in sick. It was a rainy & dismal morning.
  
• Only 3 of my students actually make it into school today, so I start to think that maybe things won't be too bad.
• 2 of my boys start off on the wrong foot; lashing out, tantrums, screaming, etc.
• My other student decides that he, too, should be getting some of the attention. So he takes off his shoes, starts hitting other students, throwing things across the room , and snatching items out of my hands. He just wants attention. He wanted attention ALL DAY LONG!
• The Capper: (How do I write this tastefully?) Today I changed and cleaned a 13 year old boy after he *** cough, cough *** soiled himself. This was the exact moment when I yearned for an obnoxious patron or an irrate line cook. I can take their crap.

Tomorrow's another day.

Day 3

I could tell he was in a bad mood when he stepped off of the bus. His mood did not improve as the day progressed. At the end of the day he was aggresively pushing, pulling and screaming. He even ripped my sweater as he was struggling with me. He can't vocalize what is wrong so instead he gets physical and all I can do is block and redirect his aggression. It won't be the last time.

So Far...

....My favorite part of being back on the East Coast was just a few minutes ago. I was working on the computer and listening to the satelite radio and before I knew it was dancing with my niece and nephew to Del The Funkee Homosapian's Mister Dobbalina. Old school jams really do the trick.

Day 2

Today was a little more eventful than yesterday. Today I got to see the flip side of the coin. Slapping. Spitting. Throwing objects. Tantrums. It's fine. We'll deal with it all as it comes.

Many of my co-workers keep making comments to me about the job I've accepted, the difficulty of the task, the atmosphere in the school that might scare some people, and more than a handful of people joke with me about not showing up for work the next day. Apparently, it's a common occurence.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm not scared of the kids. When they start swinging I duck or block. When they scream I wait for them to finish. It's all part of the game. These kids sometimes lash out. It's what they often do. You just accept it and move on.

The hardest part of this job so far is the fact that I am over 700 miles away from my girlfriend. It sounds cheesy but it's true. When something happens I want to share it with her. When I have doubts I want her to assure me. Text messages, and phone calls help but I can't wait until she is able to leave Chicago and come live here with me. That's always been the plan.

Day 1

Today was my first day in the classroom. I was told to just sit back and observe for the first week or so. After about 5 minutes my ADD kicked in and I was right in the thick of things helping out and trying to figure out my role. There are 5 young men with Autism in my class and 3 para-professionals/Assistants. (When I say young men, I'm talking about teenagers. All of my kids are between 13 and 17... a little older than I had anticipated.) My work day starts early - 7:30 in the morning, after a 40 minute+ commute - and ends around 3 O'clock. The day to day schedule varies with special sessions of speech, aquatics, motor developement and weekly field trips.

I will be fine in the classroom. The paperwork is another story. I have been given at least 5 binders of reading material to acquaint myself with from the Staff Handbook to the Autism Handbook. There are case files for each student as well as a ton of forms that I will have to use almost daily. (Behavior Plans, Lesson Plans, Progress Reports, Alt MSA Forms, IEP Forms, etc.)

Thank goodness for my para-professionals... I have a feeling that I will need to use them many times while I'm in the back of the classroom filling out forms. I'm excited to be a part of this team. We all help out, are assigned duties, interact with the children, and work towards the educational goals... and I'll be the one carrying home the overstuffed bag full of paperwork for me to slave over.

I am excited about the work itself. I'm intimidated by the paperwork. I'll figure it all out as I go.

PS: Sorry for those of you, my firends, who expected to read my bitter, sarcastic observations about my new job. Don't fret, I'll still make those posts but probably not about work. It wouldn't be cool.

Moving...

SUCKS!!!!

Gracias!

My last shift at work. Everyone meets at the local bar for drinks and a send off. Many people wish us luck, some surprise us with heartfelt confessions, and still others just buy us a round.

I will miss the friends I have made, and the casual acquaintances who became so much more.

I'll Ruin The Ending For You

I just finished reading Songs From The Drowned Lands by Eileen Kernaghan. It is a fantasy novel about a race of doomed people whose island home is destined to be swallowed by the sea. Apparently, though fictional, the author borrowed from some celtic myths, and stories of the destrution of Atlantis.

The book is written in five parts, and each part follows a different member of a prominent family of the Grey Isles; how they accept their doom, flee before the oncoming destruction, or choose to battle the chaos. It was a fun read.

Here's the kicker. It's a little jarring when you read a book, grow to care about the characters and their plight, hope against hope for a miracle and then - nothing. No pay off. No triumphant moment. It was all for naught. The book ends with a wall of water bearing down on the isle as a group of sorcerers and the like try to combine their wills to halt the inevitable. They fail. That's it. There is a little bit about the bloodline continuing due to those few who had fled and would prosper in distant lands. The last paragraph of the book is the sea swallowing the land.

Your Mothers Must Be So Proud.

I overheard two teenage girls- I would guess around 15 or so - on the train yesterday. Among the many inane comments, and idiotic babble that the two were exchanging at an obnoxious volume was this particular gem.

"Oh My God! Piercing Your Belly Button Doesn't Hurt. Just Go Home And Drink Some Gin or Whiskey. You'll Be Fine!"

"I'll Have A Jack Daniels And Coke. That's So Good! Oh, And I Love Long Island Iced Teas."

"I Love Long Island Iced Teas, Too. But I Can Only Drink Like Two Of Them!"

"Yeah, Me Too."

"Yeah."

I just shook my head and once again wished to only have male offspring. Then an hour later I see this teenage kid wearing his huge, enormous, baggy, baggy jeans sdrawkcab... Backwards! WTF? Are you kidding me? That wasn't even cool back in the early 90's when Kriss Kross sported that stupid look in their music videos. His pants were on backwards!

Kids!