Countdown

I took the day off from work today. Yesterday was a bit stressful. But the kind of stress I like. I do not like the 'dread' stress... like when your boss comes to you on Friday afternoon saying (s)he needs to talk to you on Monday... and you have to just wait and worry. I actually prefer to deal with 'surprise' stress... which is good because it is actually the kind I am best at handling. I had too many aides again. I had to quickly assess which one would work better in my room and arrange for the other one to go to a different classroom. It was a bit of a time crunch because once I know which aide is staying, the daily routine and information about the kids needs to be explained and things get hectic once the kids get off the bus. One of my students just started two new medicines. Mom gave the med before she left for work, then Dad (not knowing the med was already given) gave it again. So, I had several quick phone calls to the school nurse, the Mom and poison control. Poison control is one of those things you don't appreciate until you really need them.

Looking at my attendance book I can see that the end of the school year is near. I only have 4 weeks of "present/absent" boxes left to fill out. Of those there are a few half days and Memorial Day weekend. So it is definitely drawing to a close. I have mixed feelings about the end of this year. Our building is being remodeled so everything in the room needs to be moved out. Since I helped Pepper and Skip do this last year, I am very aware of what a pain it is to move everything... especially with a deadline that is also the last day the students are in the building. Since I am changing jobs next year, I would have had to pack all my things anyway, this just means there are lots of extra things to move. I have mixed feelings about the new job I will have. I am absolutely positive that I can do the job. I have actually done this exact job before. I also know that working with Pepper will be fine, although I am sure there will be days that will be easier to work together than others. Skip has told me that she does not think coming to this building is in anyone's best interest. She is concerned that I am coming for the wrong reasons. I think any change brings up a lot of different feelings, especially a change that I was not sure I initially wanted to make. But I am looking forward to this challenge and I will make a positive impact. I learned a lot about what is important to a classroom teacher by being one, and this will be a good thing. There are some people at the new building that I can't wait to work with and I think Megamom has enough enthusiasm about my coming there for all of us. Getting to focus on articulation, language and processing, rather than behavior and augmentative communication will be a nice change. Plus having a bigger variety of students and parents will be refreshing. I will miss my classroom though. I wonder who will take my place. I pray that the new person loves my kids as much as I do. Change is good, right?