(no subject)
Let's see . . . 7 bodies to cover 12 classrooms - this will be interesting!
Being a special ed teacher and working with students in different grades results in a monster of an activity called scheduling. Happens every fall as we figure out what times to take students from their regular classes to our small-group areas and work with them on the skills they have difficulty with. It's always a hassle, because there's time conflicts with the classroom teachers, personality conflicts with the students and just plain never enough time in the day. It's an even bigger hassle for me, as I need to plug in paraprofessionals (classroom assistants/educational aides/whatever you want to call them - they work with kids) to cover students at specific times. Sometimes it's all day, sometimes specific classes. The big picture: it's beyond a nightmare and heads for that place with lots of fire & brimstone.
Yet, I accept it - last year, I had 4 paraprofessionals working with my caseload of 8 students and it managed to work itself out. Granted, I was revising and recycling schedules daily because very little remained the same from day to day (although sometimes I lucked out that the schedule from last Tuesday would work for this Friday - hence "recycling") and I celebrated if the day finished and the schedule was followed without an error being found, which was rare. I even managed to make sure the paras got in their breaks! (Don't ask if I got mine - you really don't want to know.)
This year, a brand new teacher joined the staff - her first year teaching! - and between the two of us, we have 7 paraprofessionals to work with 15 students in 12 classrooms over all grades K-5, a few students needing a body with them all day. I volunteered (willingly!) to take on scheduling of these paras, knowing all too well there's headaches and papercuts coming, especially since discovering in the supporting paperwork that I'm still 2 paras short of what we're supposed to have. (I also thought it would be nice for the new teacher to not have to deal with that for her first year - she's not complaining.) The master schedule is now spread out on the table, 2 sheets wide by 2 sheets long and is very blank as I sift through the myriad of classroom schedules, lunch schedules and specialist schedules to simplify it. The point is: It's not easy. It's not close to being done at the moment, but I'm working on it with a positive attitude. It can be done. It will be done - it might not be 100% perfect, but the students will be safe and sound, paras will have work to do and I'll be revising as I go along. That's the nature of the monster called scheduling.
A couple of my co-workers spent time this afternoon being very negative about scheduling and I just about lost it. Their scheduling involved pulling which students from what rooms at which times to work on specific skills that they struggle with. Yes, it is another monster, but I reached my limit of sentences involving the word "can't" from them. Such as "I can't do this." Such as "It can't be done." Such as "We can't see this working." ENOUGH! Just start somewhere and try!
I'm done ranting now . . . thank you for reading. . .
theemmer gets on a plane tomorrow. That brings back memories of her first time on an airplane . . . I was there and I don't think she'll ever let me forget it!
In the mid-90's, I was in college in Boston and after the winter/Christmas break, I flew back and she flew out with me for a few days. As usual at that time in my life, I had worked 40+ hours (i.e. whatever I could get) over the 3-week break and I know I had worked a 16-hour shift in the 24-36 hours prior to the flight taking off, so I was tired when I finally got on the plane. The next thing I remember is waking up and we're airborne - I can't remember if she woke me up or if I woke up on my own. Either way, she wasn't a happy person. I was sitting next to the window and had fallen asleep before takeoff; a complete stranger (a woman slightly older than us at the time) on the aisle had also fallen asleep, so she was stuck between two people completely oblivious to the fact that this big metal thing was racing down the runway and getting airborne. . . ah, memories.
Here's to a good, safe flight, hon!
Being a special ed teacher and working with students in different grades results in a monster of an activity called scheduling. Happens every fall as we figure out what times to take students from their regular classes to our small-group areas and work with them on the skills they have difficulty with. It's always a hassle, because there's time conflicts with the classroom teachers, personality conflicts with the students and just plain never enough time in the day. It's an even bigger hassle for me, as I need to plug in paraprofessionals (classroom assistants/educational aides/whatever you want to call them - they work with kids) to cover students at specific times. Sometimes it's all day, sometimes specific classes. The big picture: it's beyond a nightmare and heads for that place with lots of fire & brimstone.
Yet, I accept it - last year, I had 4 paraprofessionals working with my caseload of 8 students and it managed to work itself out. Granted, I was revising and recycling schedules daily because very little remained the same from day to day (although sometimes I lucked out that the schedule from last Tuesday would work for this Friday - hence "recycling") and I celebrated if the day finished and the schedule was followed without an error being found, which was rare. I even managed to make sure the paras got in their breaks! (Don't ask if I got mine - you really don't want to know.)
This year, a brand new teacher joined the staff - her first year teaching! - and between the two of us, we have 7 paraprofessionals to work with 15 students in 12 classrooms over all grades K-5, a few students needing a body with them all day. I volunteered (willingly!) to take on scheduling of these paras, knowing all too well there's headaches and papercuts coming, especially since discovering in the supporting paperwork that I'm still 2 paras short of what we're supposed to have. (I also thought it would be nice for the new teacher to not have to deal with that for her first year - she's not complaining.) The master schedule is now spread out on the table, 2 sheets wide by 2 sheets long and is very blank as I sift through the myriad of classroom schedules, lunch schedules and specialist schedules to simplify it. The point is: It's not easy. It's not close to being done at the moment, but I'm working on it with a positive attitude. It can be done. It will be done - it might not be 100% perfect, but the students will be safe and sound, paras will have work to do and I'll be revising as I go along. That's the nature of the monster called scheduling.
A couple of my co-workers spent time this afternoon being very negative about scheduling and I just about lost it. Their scheduling involved pulling which students from what rooms at which times to work on specific skills that they struggle with. Yes, it is another monster, but I reached my limit of sentences involving the word "can't" from them. Such as "I can't do this." Such as "It can't be done." Such as "We can't see this working." ENOUGH! Just start somewhere and try!
I'm done ranting now . . . thank you for reading. . .
theemmer gets on a plane tomorrow. That brings back memories of her first time on an airplane . . . I was there and I don't think she'll ever let me forget it!
In the mid-90's, I was in college in Boston and after the winter/Christmas break, I flew back and she flew out with me for a few days. As usual at that time in my life, I had worked 40+ hours (i.e. whatever I could get) over the 3-week break and I know I had worked a 16-hour shift in the 24-36 hours prior to the flight taking off, so I was tired when I finally got on the plane. The next thing I remember is waking up and we're airborne - I can't remember if she woke me up or if I woke up on my own. Either way, she wasn't a happy person. I was sitting next to the window and had fallen asleep before takeoff; a complete stranger (a woman slightly older than us at the time) on the aisle had also fallen asleep, so she was stuck between two people completely oblivious to the fact that this big metal thing was racing down the runway and getting airborne. . . ah, memories.
Here's to a good, safe flight, hon!