Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Day 11: Just One of Those Days

Today was one of those days.  Not that everything went horribly wrong, but just enough things happened to make things interesting.

First, I called a student by the wrong name in an e-mail to a parent.  Here's the deal:  Every year, without fail, I inevitably call two students by the wrong name.  It's always students of the same gender that look alike.  I had just read an e-mail from each of the parents regarding last night's Back to School Night; the e-mails happened to come in right after each other.  One parent asked about sending in birthday treats.  I responded about the treats and sent the message.  It wasn't until about five minutes later when I realized I had replied to the mom with the wrong name in the e-mail!  Not a good impression, I'm sure.

Next, I had recess duty.  During my recess, one of the aides broke up a pushing incident between two boys and sent them my way.  I talked to both boys and sent them on their way; they had been tussling over a ball.  Normally, I would have had them owe time and talked to them after.  I didn't on this occasion because one of the students was one of our new intensive learning support students.  One of the problems with the new program is the fact that the younger kids don't always understand that the children with special needs, especially those with developmental delays, may not be able to control their impulses or understand the consequences of their actions.  One way our grade has tried to counter this in the past is to have one of the local centers come in and do a program to provide general knowledge on the topic of special needs.  The program for our grade level is coming next week.  Hopefully after that, there won't be as much misunderstanding.

Also during my recess, one of the girls fell on the other end of the playground and her arm landed in an awkward position.  Needless to say, there was some screaming (on her part, not mine) until the aides got her in to see the nurse.  She was sent home wearing a splint on her arm.  Not a good sign there, either.

Following that incident, I had to send a message to a set of parents regarding the behavior of their child.  S/he's a bit of a talker and s/he's a wiggle worm.  We will be working on that this year!  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better one for him/her.

Tomorrow is another day.  Can't wait to see what it brings.

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