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.
