(Photo courtesy of Round Rock ISD)

This is my own children's alma mater, Anderson Mill Elementary School, as well as my current place of employment.  I am wrapping up my third year as a special education teacher here at AME.  I do some inclusion support, but the majority of my experience on this campus has been in the resource room, working with scholars in small groups on their individual educational objectives.  I have spent time interning and subbing in the library, covered classes for bathroom breaks (we had a passel of expectant teachers in my wing one year!), and I've sponsored the Chess Club on Mondays during this past school year.  

Today, however, I was fortunate enough to substitute in a fifth grade classroom in the morning, and a first grade classroom in the afternoon, in order to give those teachers some much-needed time to use as they needed.  It was an eye-opening, exhausting, and educational experience!  

Eye-opening:  Seeing how scholars perform in the general ed classroom, and ways in which they are the same as and differ from my caseload.  I am reminded once again that my students' goals should be the same as their peers, even if they are met on timelines as individual as their learning difficulties.  Learning differences abound in the general ed environment, too, and I applaud the teachers who differentiate for classes with dozens of students to accommodate.

Exhausting:  Working with, and monitoring, a dozen or more students at one time keeps a teacher on her toes!  Fifth grade was involved in group activities much of the morning, and the temptation to socialize instead of solve word problems is tough for that age group, especially with eight days of school left.  On the bright side, I've never been told "Yes, ma'am" that often in one class period; it was refreshing!  In first grade, the scholars were so eager to read and write and share their learning, they were practically standing in line to present their work!

Educational:  It was evident that both teachers had routines and class environments that nurtured their scholars and made them feel safe at school.  The fifth graders allowed me to group them for their activities without complaint.  When they needed to switch classrooms for their big final project work, everyone knew where to go and what to do.  The first grade teacher had a lovely windchime that, when brushed against, immediately cued the scholars to clean up their current projects and scurry to the listening carpet.  They pointed out the helper charts in the room, did not hesitate to lead the partner-read chant, and thoroughly enjoyed sharing books with each other.

What a great, heartwarming experience to be had today, right outside my classroom door, in the school that's been part of my life for 14 years now!

...you have to teach it.  I have been reminded of this adage during these past two weeks of hosting an intern in my classroom, who, by the way, is just a smidgen away from being an awesome teacher.  (That smidgen is getting her own classroom and setting up her own routines and space, something that can only be experienced, not taught.)  I knew we had gone over a lot last week (see previous blog post), but it wasn't until she had to complete an assignment listing the responsibilities of a teacher beyond direct teach that I truly realized what she had seen during her short stay in my resource room.  She filled pages with notes on conducting assessments, maintaining the guided reading library, attending meetings of all kinds and at all levels, continuing professional development, after school duties and extracurricular activity sponsorship.  Any questions I had in my mind about why I sometimes felt scattered was answered in that one assignment.  The responsibilities of teachers these days is so much more than delivering lessons and guiding learning; that almost seems to be the tip of the iceberg, given the amount of behind-the-scenes work I and my colleagues are engaged in on a daily basis.  

I'm not sure why I am surprised, however.  During my MLS program, my cohort was asked to compile a similar list of librarian duties.  The responsibilities go far beyond collection maintenance and circulation.  And now that I've been made aware of all I do as a classroom teacher, I'm confident I'm up for the challenge in the library, as well.

Thanks to my wonderful intern for the reminder.  I hope she got just as much out of her time in my classroom as I did!

I wish I had a picture of my classroom door bird bombing last month, but unfortunately it didn't arrive in my inbox from the tablet-camera that took the picture.  The story is still fun:  I put the holiday du jour on my door each day, and on National Bird Drawing Day, Ms. Selby and her students took it upon themselves to draw birds on sticky notes and cover my door with their artwork.  What a fun way to end the day!  I did save the notes and taped them to construction paper for posterity.

Since then, I have been the lucky recipient of a Region XIII education intern in my resource room!  We just wrapped up week one of two, and it's been wonderful having an extra teacher for my students.  She is doing so well, and feels so comfortable teaching, that she's going to take over for an entire day next week.  I'm sharing as many resources with her as I can:  professional and children's book recommendations, websites, social bookmarking, my self-created open-ended reading and writing work for students, anchor charts, etc.  We've reviewed our electronic special education paperwork program, talked about developing PLAAFPs and IEPs, attended an SSI meeting and an ARD (with parent permission, of course), behavior plans and modifications...We've done a lot in one week already!

The picture above is of my coffee table, from last year.  The piles of books have changed titles, but they still remain.  We are a family of readers, and I'm already saving book recommendation emails to spur my summer reading into action.  Four more weeks, and I'll be basking in the sunshine of my backyard with book in hand, enjoying our summer break!