After a disjointed summer break, interrupted by time-sheeting services for our new braille kindergartner and some "C" and "D" track students, it's back to work full time for me on Monday. The anticipation of a new school year is exciting and anxiety-producing all at once.
Since I no longer have school-age children, the start of a new school year means something entirely different to me now. The Back-to-School Shopping for that perfect first-day outfit and the list of supplies my children's teachers send home is no longer. It still means new pencils and pens for me and possibly some supply boxes to hold new materials I've ordered, but it's not the same.
Figuring out my schedule is a never-ending issue for me given the varied schedules my students have. I want it to be perfect...and I want it to be perfect NOW! It will not be perfect on Monday. It will not be perfect for weeks. Why not? I need to find out if the tentative times I've scheduled myself to pull students out of class works for their classroom teachers' schedules. Traditional and Modified Traditional schools do not begin instruction until Thursday. "A" track students start school on Monday.
My schedule will change throughout the year with certain kids being "off track," new kids being identified, and still other kids moving or no longer qualifying. Then there are always the new three-year-olds to consider. So many kids; so little time!
My last weekend without lesson planning is upon me, but I am not sad about that. I must admit I am a little bit sad, and definitely sentimental about Back-to-School without kids of my own going back.
Friday, August 9, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Feeling homeless
As an itinerant (traveling) teacher, the best things about my job are also the biggest challenge. I've been itinerant for the better part of my 28-year-old career. Sometimes it really feels like I'm homeless.
Today, I had to go to a school to enlarge another chapter of a student's math textbook. Although I'm at this school weekly these days, I know very few people here. The staff is not especially welcoming and they still don't know who I am! After I was finished, I needed to order large print textbooks for a student slated to start school at another school- my younger daughter's former school, in a couple of weeks. I don't have an office space or computer to use at either of these schools, so I drive to the Visual Impairment Program office at Harriet Eddy Middle School. School's not in session yet, so the school is open only limited hours. I enjoy the solitude of the quiet, empty hallways while I'm alone in my office ordering books. Next I drive to a Head Start Preschool. This program uses a building located on church property- not an EGUSD program at all!
Out of the three schools I worked at today, I fit in best with the Head Start staff I barely know. We have forged a relationship through one of their students who will be an EGUSD kindergartener in a matter of weeks. The staff here is grateful I am coming to work with this student. They are interested to hear of my relationships with families whose children I sometimes teach from age three through high school graduation. My office has been at Harriet Eddy since I was hired in 2000. Only office and custodial staff populate the campus in the summer. The teaching staff here has changed a lot since I've been here. We sometimes have students who actually attend this school, but right now, this is just a place to order books and use the copier.
The problem with being itinerant is one of ownership; it's a feeling of belonging. You may not realize that this a feeling that must be mutual.
The school staffs who include me and appreciate me are the ones I feel I "belong" to. Unfortunately, I need to wait a few more weeks before my "family" school opens- the one I feel I truly belong to. At this school, I fit in with office and custodial staff and general education and special education staff alike. At this school, everyone's an equal...even an itinerant teacher, like me.
Today, I had to go to a school to enlarge another chapter of a student's math textbook. Although I'm at this school weekly these days, I know very few people here. The staff is not especially welcoming and they still don't know who I am! After I was finished, I needed to order large print textbooks for a student slated to start school at another school- my younger daughter's former school, in a couple of weeks. I don't have an office space or computer to use at either of these schools, so I drive to the Visual Impairment Program office at Harriet Eddy Middle School. School's not in session yet, so the school is open only limited hours. I enjoy the solitude of the quiet, empty hallways while I'm alone in my office ordering books. Next I drive to a Head Start Preschool. This program uses a building located on church property- not an EGUSD program at all!
Out of the three schools I worked at today, I fit in best with the Head Start staff I barely know. We have forged a relationship through one of their students who will be an EGUSD kindergartener in a matter of weeks. The staff here is grateful I am coming to work with this student. They are interested to hear of my relationships with families whose children I sometimes teach from age three through high school graduation. My office has been at Harriet Eddy since I was hired in 2000. Only office and custodial staff populate the campus in the summer. The teaching staff here has changed a lot since I've been here. We sometimes have students who actually attend this school, but right now, this is just a place to order books and use the copier.
The problem with being itinerant is one of ownership; it's a feeling of belonging. You may not realize that this a feeling that must be mutual.
The school staffs who include me and appreciate me are the ones I feel I "belong" to. Unfortunately, I need to wait a few more weeks before my "family" school opens- the one I feel I truly belong to. At this school, I fit in with office and custodial staff and general education and special education staff alike. At this school, everyone's an equal...even an itinerant teacher, like me.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)