Busy Week, IEPs and Pen Pals

Well I made it through my first week of high school. It was fun and I really enjoy this school and the staff I work with. Somethings that are different from first grade:

• I am not the tallest person in the building or the only one with facial hair
• Ear bud head phones will cause this generation to go deaf, I think these kids were born like the picture left.
• Long hair for guys is very popular (thought I saw 2 girls kiss in the hallway)
• They are not motivated by stickers or high fives but food and "jean days"

Being a special ed teacher with a case load of about 17 students I have a lot of meetings to attend. 6 in my first week and already 4 scheduled for this week. Mostly they are IEP re-evaluations and I have to do a lot to prepare the student and the agenda for the meeting.

Harborside Academy is an all inclusive school so every student I have on my case load is in a regular class. This can be difficult for them because they need differentiated instruction that the teacher does not always offer, that is where my job comes in. I am in the room to help explain or present something to a student in a way they can understand. I have always been good at this and it seems to come natural to me. I have also had the chance to collaborate with different teachers about me planning and teaching lessons which I am really excited about. Mr. Mengel a teacher who went to Carthage and I are preparing some World history lessons on the Holocaust. It it great to work with him because he is a 2nd year teacher and really fun, he also knows a boat load on the subject because he went on a J-term trip to Germany with a focus on the Holocaust. I teach my first high school lesson on Wednesday about a German children's book that was very derogatory towards the Jews.

Mrs. Underwood the English teacher I work with was selected for jury duty so the periods I am in that class I will be in charge. The first few days we are finalizing Renaissance art papers. The students are also working on sophomore passage which is like a half-way point evaluation in high school. The student must pass in order to move onto 11th grade at Harborside.

I have been emailing back and forth with room 105 (my first graders), we have become pen pals. It is great to hear from them and I miss them a lot. Its hard to write G rated stories about high schoolers for the student but I find some fun things to share with them. I will have to prepare a mid-week recap of some of the funny and appropriate stories from high school. If you want the inappropriate ones you have my number. Enjoy the beautiful weather!