I've been back at school now for a couple days and am really getting excited to see the kids on Monday. Our school,which was actually the temporary school for a new continuation high school in our town a few years ago, went through a beautification process over the summer. It went from "state penitentiary" style to something that actually resembles a school. We now have grass, trees, new ramps, A PARKING LOT, and 3 huge awnings covering the quad area! I've been at this site for 3 full years so this is really a huge blessing especially for the kids as you can tell from my sad pre-beautification picture here. Now lets talk about these changes. Special ed is under huge scrutiny right now at least in my district. There have been huge changes in those who are above us and we found out yesterday that there is also going to be huge changes for our classrooms. I've talked about the cooking changes that were implemented last year and that's still going to be an issue this year. The kids can only consume food that is provided by cafeteria staff or something they brought from home for their own consumption and all microwaves have been removed, so they can not heat any food they have brought. We will also have an additional day on campus (as opposed to going off campus) so I'm going to have to figure out how I am going to fill that time with the kids. Oh, and we may not be able to leave campus for up to 30 days! So technically that's an additional 8 hours a week I am going to have to figure out how to fill (in 3 days). They have also added more paperwork. We can't just "go" to Target now for CBI. We have to put in a request stating what we will be doing and how it obtains to their goals (2), Permission slips from parent and RTBA's for all staff for each outing will also be required. This will have to be done weekly. I was never one to take my kids to some store to walk around each week. We always had a purpose and usually a worksheet of some sort when doing CBI, but I think it will be helpful for others. We have also been given a "prep period" which we never had before! That will really help in getting all those things done that I used to stay after work to do.
I don't really mind changes, especially when they are needed, and the others I will adapt to. I am a kind of a "go with the flow kinda person" and hope these new changes will be in the best interest of all the kids and our program. Has there been many changes going on in your district? New rules you have to follow this year? I'm wondering if it's only us or if this is something happening all over. I would love to know.
Oops, I didn't see this post before I posted on your latest about adding cooking to your schedule. Although you wrote consume the food. Can they cook it and bring it home to eat? None of the changes you are mentioning are happening in my district and I live in Seattle. I take my middle schoolers out weekly and we go to stores and parks, etc. I usually have something we are doing, but when we go to the park, we are working on signs and safety skills such as crossing the street. In stores, we usually look for specific merchandise. As a matter of fact, we have used several that you have developed. I do just one field trip form at the beginning of the school year and it's good for the rest of the year. But I smell changes in the breeze, so it wouldn't surprise me if we saw similar changes in a couple of years. Good luck, glad you're getting a prep period!
ReplyDeleteHi Jannike (i pronounced it right this time), They took out the ovens in the kitchen we used as well! I am so used to leaving 4 days a week for two hours so i'm hoping they don't hold it to the 30 days, I think the kids are going to go stir crazy! We used to do the blanket field trip for too. This is going to be crazy the amount of paperwork we are going to use
ReplyDelete