Meet the Teacher

Last night was Meet The Teacher night at our fabulous school that we love. I always look forward to this night- it's just so exciting seeing old friends and meeting new friends! The grandparents went with us and Alan met us there. Kylie was a little nervous and Riley was so excited that he could hardly stand it!

We walked in to meet Kylie's teacher and she had her arms stretched out to Kylie and said, "I was so happy when I found out you were in my class!" Kylie said, "Really?" and gave her a big hug. Mrs. C was a second grade teacher last year and was moved up to 3rd grade. So, Kylie knew who she was and vice versa.

Unfortunately, Mrs. C just had twins and will have a sub for the first 6 weeks. BIG sigh! Again? Seriously? We went through this in Kindergarten- only worse! We did, however, meet the sub, Mrs. W- (smart move on the school for having her there) and she seemed really nice. So, I refrained from going to the Principal and demanding that my child be in a room where consistency is key. If I didn't like Mrs. C so much......:)

Then we went to the Autism Classroom to see Riley's teacher and the aides and he was less than happy. Riley has been wanting to start back to school ever since the 2nd week of summer. He was so excited yesterday that he could hardly wait until the door's opened. But something was going on with him. I tried to get him to unpack his supplies from his backpack but that was NOT happening.

So, we decided to go and see his homeroom teacher, Mrs. B. His teacher was hand-picked by the Autism teacher and we have heard great things. They all want Riley to go to his 2nd grade classroom during the day and be included as much as he can be. He already goes to Specials with them (and the help of an aide) and they are really pushing for him to be a part of his class more this year. We are really excited about this and hope that Riley will watch his peers and mimic them as well as learn from them. I just don't want him to be a distraction to the class.

As soon as we walked in and meet Mrs. B- I knew that she was the one! She was so excited and I could tell that she genuinely wanted Riley to become a part of her class. We took him to his desk with his name on it and you could tell he was proud. I sat at the next desk and talked to him about how this was HIS desk and this is where he would be learning. Then I asked him if he wanted to put his supplies in his desk. He opened his backpack and unloaded his supplies with no fuss.

Could this be a turning point in his learning process? Could he have seen Kylie get her own desk and want the same thing? Sometimes I don't give that little guy enough credit. A sense of ownership and belonging may be just what he needs to be successful this year. We are extremely anxious to find out how well he does and what other ideas he will reveal to us in the coming months.

Alan always takes the day off of work so we can take the kids to school on their first day. I was thinking that I didn't need for him to do that this year because I wouldn't cry. He took off anyway and I can't promise that with all these changes I won't become emotional. I'm lucky that my husband is a great father and a wonderful comfort to me. :)

I do have something to look forward to on Tuesday. I get to go learn about some software that I have been dying to experiment with. It will help me make my own designs instead of borrowing them from someone else and/or altering them. I have been wanting to do that for a while and I think it is the next step towards becoming a true graphic designer. I am also updating my resume (what a process!) and will hopefully have a job in the next month or two. I may not get my dream job at first but I will be working hard on getting it within the next year.

Exciting times ahead for our family!! Let the school bell ring early Monday morning!!