I am hoping to "get a grip" this week. I'm finally just about all better from my various colds and infections. The celebrations are over at least for the next week & a half. I'm slowly but surely gathering what I need for the state inspection. I'm trying really hard to chill out and not get myself panicked. If I can remain calm, I will stay healthier in the long run. Right now I have to find old multicultural lesson plans to submit. There is so much emphasis put on multicultural lessons that we barely have time to teach the usual curriculum. The month of October was a wash because of testing. The testing is crucial especially for parent/teacher conferences, but it is sooooo time consuming that the kids miss out on a lot of instruction. Oh well...that's life.
My paraprofessional who's been on maternity leave is coming back on Monday. Nobody expected her back so soon because she was having trouble getting child care. The para who has been with me since August is devastated. She will be working with kindergarten now, and none of those teachers is very kind. I realized early on that the para didn't have both oars in the water, and since I have a 15 year background of working with the mentally handicapped, I was able to train her to be pretty good at her job. She drove me nuts until I just accepted that she had major issues and worked around them. I doubt that the k teachers will have that kind of patience. I'm afraid that they will be mean to her. I've tried to prepare the way for her, but there is just so much I can do. I can't force them to be nice to her. In the meantime, now that I've trained her extensively, it turns out that she is better than my para who will be back on Monday! Oh well, just like everything else at this school, I have no control who my assistant will be.
I put in a title 1 order for a kidney shaped table to do small group activities with my students. I also (God forbid!) ordered construction paper. My order was turned down because the items on my order form have nothing to do with CMT (Connecticut Mastery Test) goals. I TEACH PRE-K!!! How are my students supposed to learn to cut, color, and write without paper?! As usual, if I need something, I have to buy it myself! I'm so tired of spending my own money. Since I started teaching in 2000, I've spent thousands of dollars on school supplies. The funny thing is that the very same assistant stupidintendent who turned down the order came to me in the fall saying if I ever needed anything, he would get it for me...BULL!!!
I have so much school work to get to today. I'd better get to it.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Summer
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