That new school was a new challenge each year.
Year 2: I tried my best to do what my administration wanted me to do and teach to IEP goals. I don't think I did a good job at things that year. That was also the only year my numbers were low. I never had more than 9 students that year. However, that was the year that nearly all my injuries occurred as well. Yes, I did say injuries. That year I had a pinky nearly broken and punched in the mouth. Yes, it wasn't a lot but after that year it was never physical. I was also given a rude awakening to what behavior problems really meant. I started the year out with a set of boys that were neighbors. Not just normal neighbors but trailer park neighbors... so like 2 feet between porches neighbors. Oh boy did they feed off of each other when it came to behaviors. It was like they were the Bash Brothers from D2 (You know from the second Mighty Ducks movie?). One of those boys was the one that tried to break my finger. After that incident, I was finally able to get the district to see that he did not belong in my class, he belonged in a different program, and it wasn't just the teacher from the year prior. Within a week, I was revising the IEP and had several pages of just documentation (where I started to really learn that documentation is KEY). That IEP once held was requested to be looked at for a "Change of Placement" and two days later it was granted. Well, once he finally left I still had the other boy and he took it upon himself to misbehave for the both of them. He didn't return from Winter Break. We later found out it was because he moved. Well, after that... a new child began. Sometimes what they say of "If it's not one it's another" was very true for me that year. I was punched, kicked, called names, and oh yeah... punched in the mouth from him. When I say I've been called every name in the book... I mean it and it all occurred that year.
My teaching methods that year consisted of using the General Education textbooks but at the instructional grade levels of my students. So, I used the normal Reading Anthologies and normal Math curriculum. Since I only had 9 students, I was able to only have 2 groups for each level that year. I taught one while my Instructional Assistant taught the other. I was still learning that year how to "handle" him and teach. He was resistant to change so didn't really like me coming in there and didn't like how the administration was coming in and changing things. I didn't change too much that year because, well I wasn't completely sure what I was doing. It was only my second year teaching and it was my first year in a Self-Contained. He had been in that class for several years at that point and so I kind of just took what he said had been done in the past, put my spin on it, and did what I was told to do by my administration. That worked well enough for me that year. But that year only.
I made it through that year. Without even realizing it was starting to get extremely stressed out. But I survived. I stayed there because even with all the problems that I was presented that first year at that school; I loved it all.
Year 3: This year was completely different! I went from having no more than 9 students to having 16 students. I had a girl with CP, several returning from the year before, and a BUNCH of 3rd graders. Those 3rd graders were for the first time in a Self-Contained class. Getting them to understand that the work was now at their level and that they could achieve was a difficult task to overcome in those first few months. It didn't help that the district thought it was be wise to put a student that was on grade-level academically with extreme ADHD and behavior problems in my classroom. He was a MAJOR bully to my students. He wasn't a huge problem for me per-say but huge distraction. He required a lot of my attention and when he wasn't getting it caused problems with the other students. He stressed me out and made me cry often. The crying at that time wasn't anything but frustration and stress. The nice thing about that student was that he was an out-of-state transfer so it was easy to put him into the correct class. Between testing by the School Psych and my own we were able to prove he was on grade-level and then once again, I had a lot of present levels about his behavior. I had an early Christmas present that year from the District and he was placed in a different program. The rest of that year was nice. I don't remember having too many problems that year. If I did they were the normal problems that you would have in any classroom.
My teaching methods changed this year. After testing all the students that I had in my class, I realized that I couldn't have just two groups. I ended up with three. I knew something had to change but was having a hard time making those changes. Especially since the expectations had also changed. I was told that I was no longer able to use the Anthologies but the Leveled Readers that were from the publisher. I was also told that I could not have my assistant teach. He could support and work in small group on other things but not run a group like he had the year prior. Because I was having such a difficult time making those changes, I went to observe another teacher in the same program to see how she did things in her room. After seeing that and some additional help from the Instructional Coaches at the school I finally was able to make most of the changes that I wanted to make. From that point on the actual teaching wasn't all that difficult. I was given a good framework for my Small Group Lesson Plans. I had been shown and had some awesome help with getting where I wanted to be. Of course, like any teacher I still wanted to grow and make changes the following year. Most of the changes that I wanted to make were still that I couldn't figure out how I wanted to get my assistant to work with the kids the way I wanted him to and to be effective. I had thoughts and ideas of doing more like the teacher that I had observed do but couldn't figure out how to go about organizing it. I would continue to struggle with this over the next two years. It really wasn't a full problem with me and not being able to; it was more my assistant and his inability to change.
Once again, I survived. Once again, getting a little more stressed out without realizing it. Once again, I stayed. Little did I know what was to come in the next year. This was also the year that I started to notice how ineffective my assistant really was.
By the end of the year, he would spend time at his desk playing a computer game instead of working with the kids. After seeing this, one of the MASSIVE changes I made for the following year was to remove his desk from the classroom and put the computer as a student computer. He wasn't happy with it but by removing the desk, I was able to gain a kidney table which was more important to me and would benefit the students better. Maybe that was what then caused the continued the fall of his abilities.
