Only One Threw a Chair
“Hi Jess. SpecialEdDirector is downstairs, and she and I would like to talk to you.”
These are not words you want to hear from the principal of the school where you work. Going to the principal is still scary, even as an adult.
“Now?” I asked.
“Yes, now.”
So thus began a journey.
The first journey was the one we took down the stairs. Complete silence, except for the sound of my heart about to pound out of my chest, and the running monologue inside my head, Oh my god, did I do something wrong? Are they going to reprimand me? Are they going to FIRE me?! And then, as we round the bottom of the staircase, he says, “Wasn’t it a beautiful weekend?” And I think If you are about to fire me, please don’t try to make small talk about the weather, but I say, “Yes, it really was.”
I walk into his office, and there sits SED. “Hi Jess. How is life treating you?” “It’s okay… I think…”
“Well here’s the thing…”
And it turns out that I’m not getting fired. It turns out that the class of students with behavioral disorders is exceeding the legal limit of students, and so they need to create a second class, and they want me to teach it.
“This will make or break you,” SED says. “If you can handle this, you can handle any class ever thrown at you.”
A little more discussion goes on, and apparently they are moving me into a room across from the existing BD (behavioral disorders) class, and giving another special ed teacher my position as a 3rd grade inclusion teacher. From discussions I have had with others since Monday (when this discussion took place), they think I am “the one for the job,” and I guess they have their reasons for putting me down there and giving OtherTeacher my position instead of just giving OtherTeacher the BD class. But still.
“Are you okay with this?” SED asks. “Are you going to go home and cry?”
And I could truthfully say that it didn’t matter what they told me, because when you think you are about to get fired, and it turns out all they are doing is giving you a new class (even if they are the bad kids), you don’t go home and cry.
So at the end of yesterday (Tuesday), I had some time to go and observe the existing BD class. I was kind of surprised. For the most part, they were a little antsy, (as any kids would be at the end of the day) but pretty well behaved. Seems the behavior plan they have put into place with these kids is really working.
And only one threw a chair.
I think this is where the real journey begins.
These are not words you want to hear from the principal of the school where you work. Going to the principal is still scary, even as an adult.
“Now?” I asked.
“Yes, now.”
So thus began a journey.
The first journey was the one we took down the stairs. Complete silence, except for the sound of my heart about to pound out of my chest, and the running monologue inside my head, Oh my god, did I do something wrong? Are they going to reprimand me? Are they going to FIRE me?! And then, as we round the bottom of the staircase, he says, “Wasn’t it a beautiful weekend?” And I think If you are about to fire me, please don’t try to make small talk about the weather, but I say, “Yes, it really was.”
I walk into his office, and there sits SED. “Hi Jess. How is life treating you?” “It’s okay… I think…”
“Well here’s the thing…”
And it turns out that I’m not getting fired. It turns out that the class of students with behavioral disorders is exceeding the legal limit of students, and so they need to create a second class, and they want me to teach it.
“This will make or break you,” SED says. “If you can handle this, you can handle any class ever thrown at you.”
A little more discussion goes on, and apparently they are moving me into a room across from the existing BD (behavioral disorders) class, and giving another special ed teacher my position as a 3rd grade inclusion teacher. From discussions I have had with others since Monday (when this discussion took place), they think I am “the one for the job,” and I guess they have their reasons for putting me down there and giving OtherTeacher my position instead of just giving OtherTeacher the BD class. But still.
“Are you okay with this?” SED asks. “Are you going to go home and cry?”
And I could truthfully say that it didn’t matter what they told me, because when you think you are about to get fired, and it turns out all they are doing is giving you a new class (even if they are the bad kids), you don’t go home and cry.
So at the end of yesterday (Tuesday), I had some time to go and observe the existing BD class. I was kind of surprised. For the most part, they were a little antsy, (as any kids would be at the end of the day) but pretty well behaved. Seems the behavior plan they have put into place with these kids is really working.
And only one threw a chair.
I think this is where the real journey begins.
posted by Jess at 4:56 PM
2 Comments:
Yay for you J! I'm so proud. and kudos on the bruises above. But I've never been above telling all about my frequent falling down. --Winter and icy conditions are coming...--
Yay! Your very own classroom! Way to go, teach. :o)
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