h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The latest change at work is now common knowledge, so now I'll finally get around to writing what being back to work these last few months have been like

For those that don't know/have forgotten, I work as an instructional assistant with the special ed./resource program (those kids that need extra help, but not enough to not be in a regular class for the vast majority of the time) and have been at my school since January of '07--long enough for a kid I worked with in kindergarten to now be in 3rd grade I worked with Mrs. P until I went on maternity leave last year. I knew I'd be working with a new teacher this autumn, because Mrs. P was burned out on the paperwork after 29 years (not on the kids--just the red tape and hoop-jumping) and chose to take early retirement. Retirement's fairly easy to explain, and she didn't leave until the end of the school year, so there weren't a lot of problems there (aside from having to get to know a new teacher).

So my first day back, on the first day of this school year, I met Mr. B., and found that A was going to be the other aid again (she'd been an individual student's aid when I left, though she been an aid with me before--I'd even been smart enough to swap schedules with her so she would have the morning stuff down pat before I left, then there were staffing changes) so the kids would have at least something familiar--we'd changed rooms, as well (good change--we'd been in a half-room, and it was the other half that had the thermostat and the sink). Except most the kids I was used to working with had aged out of the school, and 9/10 of the kids we'd be working with this year were added to the resource program after I'd left on maternity leave at the end of last January. Anyway, I got along well with Mr. B, and, while he completely changed the way resource was being done, we got the bumps smoothed out in a decent amount of time. We did have subs fairly often--Mr. B had some curriculum training to do, as he'd been in Thailand teaching ESL for a year. While in Thailand, he met his (now) wife, so he had to be gone for immigration reasons at times, too. It turns out his wife is terminally ill. Because of the immigration issue, she can only go to one of 2 clinics, both over 6 hours away. She started having very bad reactions to her medication, so Mr. B had to resign and move so that she could go to the doctor several times a week. Completely understandable (I just would've liked to know before Mr. B's very last day that he was going to have a last day...) This was in midNovember.

Mr. B's replacement was Mrs. F, who isn't actually certified for special ed, so Mrs. O (semi-retired, but certified) has been with her to do paperwork and testing and such. It's been a great personality match. While there's been a few changes to how things are done, most kids accept different-teacher-different-ways. About a week before break, Mrs. F told A and I that she wouldn't betaking the certification course while teaching our class, after all--legally, since she wasn't certified, the district had to post the position, which they did for 2 days. Everyone assumed no one would answer the post in that amount of time. Well, they assumed wrong So I get to help break in a *third* teacher this year. The kids just learned today that next week is Mrs. F's last week, and Mrs. K's first--they're going to overlap, so this transition should be a bit smoother. This time, some students don't understand why the teacher is leaving--just because of a special piece of paper. All the adults understand, and can even see the reasoning, but it still sucks. The student in charge of designing the welcome banner for next week suggested that we leave the new teacher's name off, in case she doesn't stay, either, so it can be re-used. Mrs. K *will* likely be here at the end of the year, but who can blame the student for being cautious? After all, the school year isn't even half over yet, and everyone will be meeting a new "permanent" teacher for the 3rd time.

As a compromise, the powers that be could promise to only hire teachers with the same last name, so the banner could be used over and over!

(I've been exposed to Fluffy Pink Rabbit too much lately. )

But it would be too confusing if the teachers had the same initials

Yeah, it's tough on the kids. 13 had that situation in his school class - for a number of unrelated reasons, they have had something like 5 math teachers in 1½ years .

Hasn't helped the class in coping with a few rather unruly - or rather, very very discussion-seeking - elements either.

They now got a teacher that 16 also had - he's great and both very good and relaxed with the kids, yet has a physical and psychological presence that calms everything down nicely.

I remember having a substitute teacher for several months because of maternity leave. When the "real" teacher returned it was kind of weird to get used to.

Sorry about the wacky idea, Amy. I've been thinking about your post, and I have to say that I admire you a great deal. You are very good at keeping your balance through thick and thin.

Turns out the student's idea to make the banner reusable was to welcome new students as they come, and to use at the beginning of the school year, so not *quite* so heart-tugging

That's a relief. My heart is tired of getting tugged.