Changes

The new school year started off with some new changes. A new principal is roaming the halls. The first day of school was interesting because it was the beginning of a new era. My former principal had been in my building for 15 years. She witnessed a lot, and put a lot of systems into place. The beginning of the day started with students arriving to school. Some were confused and were found roaming the hallways before the morning bell rang (a no-no in my building). Arrival was chaotic because buses arrived late and parents were meeting teachers outside and people had new responsibilities and duties. The day started a little later than usual, but it went as smoothly as possible.

I was stuck in my office all day, playing detective, trying to find records on new students. That's how I usually spend my first few days. It's really funny when I get to know a student through his/her paperwork, yet I never lay eyes on him/her until a few days later. We have 2 new sixth graders that require one-on-one aides. This is quite a switch for us, because one-on-one aides are not that common in our building. I will try to learn what I can about these new students. I'm already scheduling meetings for them so that we can meet the families and revise their IEPs as needed.

My new principal is moving us towards the technological age. I promise this will be its own posting. Look for Land of the Luddites, Part 2.

At the end of the day, we had a major problem. None of the teachers had bus lists. Usually the teachers would have these lists so that they could verify them before the end of the day. Our school dismisses at 3 PM. At about 2:58, teachers received bus lists so that they knew which buses their children ride. You would think that most of the children know which bus they ride, but maybe you haven't met the average kindergartner. The end of the day was very hectic and nerve-wracking and we only had one child get on the wrong bus. Not bad for the first day.

BBC

First Day

Another first day has come and gone. I asked my principal how first days affected her. She told me that she has nightmares about them. I haven't gotten to that point. My role on the first day is to be supportive, and since the first day is all about learning the rules and routines, I'm not needed as much. I spent the majority of my day working on scheduling meetings and tracking down information on new special ed students. Eleven new special ed students and I only have information on half of them. My school has so many new students, yet so many have left. There is a constant struggle with residency issues, and we suspect that there are still a few families that try to break the rules and send their children to school. The first few days are spent waiting for students to enroll because of late vacations, not being aware of when school started, or pending residency confirmations.

The day was uneventful, but my principal did pose an interesting question. As I passed by her office, she called me into her office. She asked, "What do you call those small bags that marijuana is sold in? (pause) Dime bags." She answered her own question. The odd thing was that she was busy typing something as she asked me the question. Now I'm wondering who she was typing this for. I simply remarked, "I'm not going to ask," and walked off.

BBC

First Day 2008-2009 - Positivity is the word of the day!

Guess who's back for another school year. After a nice summer vacation that evaporated like drops of water on hot asphalt, I'm back. Today was the first day of school and it marked my first time starting the year as the school psychologist. My former supervisor is now in her new position at the high school full-time and I'm on my own now. I'm happy. This fresh start also features new digs. Not only did I get a new office, but I got new carpet and new paint on the walls. That was cool, although the new carpet was giving me a headache today, and I don't get headaches often so that had to be the reason.

Anyway, the mantra for today and for the rest of the school year is positivity. At first I was starting to feel apprehensive about the upcoming year. I've got a lot of new players to work with in my school. I've got parents requesting PPTs before the school year even started and the pressure of being the only one started to get to me. I started to wonder if I could pull this off. Would I have any ideas or strategies to offer? Would any of them work? Then I realized that I was thinking about this in the wrong manner. I need to look at these possible situations and these new cases as opportunities to gain experience and add strategies and ideas to my repertoire.

For some reason the negative vibes from teachers were really affecting me today. I was told to pay attention to 1st grade today because there are some new children there and some former kindergarteners with behavioral histories. I used to think that the new students had it rough, because we would get all this information about them before they enrolled: the IEP, the reports, the discipline records, and we would have this profile of the kid before we even met him or her. Now I feel sorry for the children who are already in my school and move up a grade the following year, because they don't always get the chance to make a fresh start. This is especially true when they move from one "negative" teacher to another one the following year. There's this kid who's classic ADHD. The kid can't sit still to save his life, and he's on meds. His kindergarten teacher last year had a hard time adjusting her own attitude towards the student. Now she's contaminated the attitude of the student's new teacher. When the first grade teacher walked into the conference room to talk to the support staff, the first words out of mouth were, "I had to talk to him 5 times this morning." She already wants something implemented for him. So much for an adjustment period. I could feel the negative vibes coming from her end of the hallway, but I refuse to be drawn in. I need to maintain a positive outlook, for my sanity's sake.

BBC