I don't talk much about my job here. There's a lot of confidentiality issues involved in Special Education and it just seems better just to not talk about it at all than to try to edit myself.
But I want you to know I love what I do. I love the moment that bell rings and the kids bust into school. I love hearing those little voices saying, "Hi, Miss Kim", crossing the hall to give me a hug, or show me a treasure. I love teaching my reading group. They manage to make my laugh every day. Whether they're trying to convince Miss Theresa that "tox" is a word -- "You know, my mom tox on the phone" -- or just showing me their newest dance moves, they bring light into my day.
Probably the source of most of my headaches, too, but children are such joy bringers.
Next year, I'm changing jobs again. My son said to me, "Mom, are you ever going to keep the same job for more than one year?"
Two years ago, I moved from a school about 30 minutes away to a school 5 minutes away. The change in schools meant a change from teaching a mixed age (pre-K/Kindergarten) classroom for children with Autism to teaching a kindergarten special education classroom.
Last year, the district decided there would be no more stand alone kindergarten special education classrooms. Any kindergarten students needing special education support would receive that support in the regular kindergarten classroom. So I agreed to do that, and took on 1st grade as well. In the process, I made some great friends. You just can't go into someone's classroom for half a day and not end up forming some sort of relationship with them. Both of you have to be able to check your ego at the door, because you're going to see every goof, every misstep each of you make. And you're going to not worry about it because you're there for the kids. And honestly, being in regular kindergarten has been one of the best experiences of my life.
But.... our prekindergarten special education teacher is leaving. And pre-K, that's what I was trained to do. And although I love kindergarten, 1st grade has been a struggle. Because pre-K really is what I was trained to do, so 1st grade has really been a learning experience for me. We're doing great, but it's never been part of my comfort zone.
So I'm moving to pre-K next year. Very excited because it will be full inclusion next year, and I love inclusion. It works, and I'm going to make it work for my students. There's a great team already started in pre-K and I can't wait to join them.
But I'm really going to miss my current team. I'm really sad just typing this. For all I know, they'll scatter too. And hey, there's always text messaging. I just know I'm never going to have as great a year as I did this year. I'm going to have fun, but it will never be the same.
So no real point to all this. Just felt the need -- with 7 days left in the school year -- to update my blog readers with what is really a huge part of my life that I rarely mention here. And getting kind of melancholy about it all.
