i'm a helper

Y'all. I have a confession.

I like being a school helper. 

From pretty much day 1 in kindergarten, if you needed a paper passer/pencil sharpener/buddy to a sad kid/general all-around brown-noser... I was your girl!

That being said, I was obviously bound and determined to become a teacher from day uno of school (and now, I LOVE working with the "bad" kids children who have challenging behavior and am a teensy, tiny, little bit annoyed by the suck ups... maybe opposites attract?), but I think I really didn't know what teacher was going to mean in my life.

In my current job, I am a teacher of students, first and foremost. My little pumpkins in the morning pretty much light up my life, one kick/punch/screaming fit in the hallway at a time. I couldn't imagine being at school and not spending the first part of my day with those precious nuggets, because I tell you what: when I walk in the room from being at yet another mid-morning ARD and one of my guys (on the spectrum, generally hates being around people, etc.) drops his favorite toy and walks all the way across the room to grab me in a bear hug, I melt. When I get 10 solid seconds of work on a file folder task out of another handsome young gent... even though I spent a full minute spinning him in an office chair (p.s. get with me about propriosensory behavior interventions. I am ON the bandwagon, baby!)...I am tickled to death. I love working with students pretty much more than anything I do all day at school.

Because I am a grown-up LOL I unfortunately have a laundry list of other tasks I am assigned to. (I say unfortunately, but honestly... I kind of like it because teaching adults how to help children in their class is a lot more efficient than trying and failing to get to every single kiddo every single day on my own). I work with gen ed teachers a lot to help them understand differentiation, modification, accommodation, data taking and assessment, proper documentation, etc. I work with my paraprofessionals a lot to help them understand why the heck our kids can't say their own name, but can tell you exactly what they want by putting a picture in your palm.

I have been delighted to start a new kind of teaching gig- one I definitely wasn't planning on... For the last few months, I have been getting more and more emails from people in response to my NAILED IT series, asking for help learning how to navigate the interview process. I recently had a great conversation with a young lady and I think her questions are super valid- check back on Thursday to get a peek into our conversation!

P.S. I promisepromisePROMISE I will start talking about teaching things more and interview things less one day. (: