First week of school

After the first week of school, I am exhausted! I have 20 special education students on my case load. One is self-contained (Jessica) and 17 are resource and 2 are consultation (30 min. per week). All the self-contained boys I had last year moved up to the 4-6th classroom. Their teacher is very strict and I get the feeling she doesn't like it when they talk to me. When I walk by their classroom or see them in the hall, they wave at me with sad faces.

I have about 10 of the same students, and the rest are new to the school or in kindergarten. The group is younger this year, and they appear to have less behavior problems than my group last year (yeah!). The majority are Learning Disabled, but I have 2 autistic and a few Developmentally Delayed students. Stephen's younger brother Owen is in 1st grade and in my class. On Thursday he saw Stephen in the hall and immediately had a hysterical crying melt down for over an hour because he wanted his mom and dad. Beth is in my class again, and she is talking more and more! She remembers my name and students' names, and she is following directions well. She's sitting with the group for Calender time and at her desk to do work! George (high functioning autistic) is also following directions very well. His 1st grade teacher, however, is having a difficult time with him because on the second day of school she says, "I can connect with him!" Well shit lady, he's autistic! She said she knew about autism, and I told her that many autistic children do not have well-developed social or communication skills. He will connect with you if you get on his level and really force the eye contact.

The Principal stories continue this year: The teachers wear a uniform to school because the Principal wants us to model for the students. I get that, and I really don't have a problem with it because it's easy to pick out what to wear. Many teachers would rather not wear the uniform, which prompted a 30 min. (pointless) discussion about the topic. The Principal said, "Wear your nice clothes when you go out." One of the older teachers said, "Well I don't really go out." So the Principal responded, "Don't you go to Church!? Everybody knows I wear my best outfits to Church!" Hello separation of Church and State? Now last year she put "Does not wear uniform" as a weakness on my teacher evaluation. I wore it 90% of the time, so I asked her about that and she informed me (in private) that my shirts are too short and my pants are too tight! Well, let me know that and give me a chance to fix it before you write it on my eval. Now I dress pretty modestly, and I would not walk around a school baring my stomach. The Principal is a rather large woman with a huge butt, and she often comments about her weight and how she wishes she could be smaller. So when she told me that my pants are too tight, I innocently responded, "Really? Because I wear a size 4, and I have to wear a belt to keep my pants up." I don't think she liked that comment. Well I told her I'd go shopping, so I went out an bought huge shirts and very baggy granny pants. My co-workers say she's just jealous of my size, so she's going to pick on me to make herself feel better. Then on the first day of school at our staff meeting before school started, the Principal said, "I guess some of you didn't get the memo about the uniform!" I looked around, and all the teachers were wearing it. Then she says to the group, "Would you wear that to a corporate office?" Ummm, hell no. I wouldn't help kids that have accidents on themselves or chase them down the hall at a corporate office either! And so it begins...