The Ying and Yang of Teaching: 7

So, I am six weeks into the new school year and here are some thoughts:

- We have all been bogged down with administering pre-tests and assessments of our students. I work in a data-driven district and the collection of data on each student is endless. The result has been very little teaching and a lot of probing. Ugh!

- I have a student living with Autism that has the most interesting abilities. One of his talents is being given a random date with a year, and being asked what day of the week it was, and what he did that day. His is able to recall the day of the week and activity within seconds. He has been able to recall as far back as 2006, when he was just six-years old.

- My caseload has doubled and I'm kinda freaking out. I have to spend the weekend revamping my master plan to do my thing with the children. This plan will change a few times over the school year, but teaching is a dynamic thing, it is never static.

- I adore all of the kids, even the challenging ones. I get so invested in them so quickly. My heart will break several times over the year. One of my kids already spent two-weeks locked up in prison. I will heal and get back at it.