I've accessed my roll through the school software and see that I have 18 students in my first semester English 3 / 4 class. That's a healthy number for SPED kids. Not nearly as big as gen ed classes which I hear are running 35 and up -- but these are special needs kids and you get more than 20 of them in a room and it's tough on everybody, especially the teacher trying to meet individual, critical needs.
I'm still co-teaching with the same social studies teacher who this year is also head of my SLC (small learning community). I like working with him -- he's easy to get along with in a classroom setting. Not always so easy in person, but then neither am I.
My SPED community is fantastic. I love these folks. They are knowledgeable, aware, and caring. The school psych is beyond great.
So, though the summer is ending for me -- I have a fine job for the next year. I am one of the lucky ones. I earn enough, I'm respected in what I do, I find satisfaction in it, and I'm good at it. The only flaw in the ointment is that I'm still working on SPED certification and start three hours of grad school in mid-August.
I'll be probably not be very vocal on this blog for a week or so while I try and get acclimated. Then I'll be back with kid stories instead of dog tales.
2 comments:
18 is BIG for a sped class, that's for sure. We're looking at 40s in some of our classes and that's ridiculous. I think 30ish is a good number, but over 40 is insane. I'll look forward to kid stories now; you'll have to wait a few weeks for mine. :)
Hey, it was nice to find another local person commenting on my blog. I've added your blog to my Google Reader, so I'll be back.
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