State of Merin

Another month is gone, which means it’s time for another State of Merin post! October was super busy – lots of things going on at work, some of which I’m going to talk about in this post – and it’s hard to believe that it’s already November. The school year is just flying by! Of course, November means we finally get a day off of school – we haven’t had one since Labor Day, due to the late start to our school year – but I still have to make it through two more full weeks, plus the two days before our Thanksgiving Break. I’m like the Little Engine That Could: I think I can!

School thoughts first, just to get them out of the way. I got a new student last month, who is turning out to be quite the handful. He is low academically – missed lots of school during his Kindergarten year, so he’s missing some skills that you’d expect them to have in first grade – and has also been extremely talkative the past week or so, with lots of little off-task behaviors that are distracting not only to me but to some of his classmates, particularly those that sit near him. I spoke with mom today about it, and am hopeful that might help. We’ll see. One of my co-teachers is also out, so I’m having to help support the teacher covering her class, which is fine except that I’m still new to this first grade thing as well – this is only my second year teaching the grade level – so I feel like we’re all just fumbling along in some aspects. My kids are learning and showing growth, which is always the main goal, but it still definitely raises the stress level a little bit. Add to that various paperwork-type things that also have to be taken care of and it’s just busy, busy, busy at work.

Reading-wise, October was terrible, worse than September, which doesn’t shock me because, well, see the above paragraph. I am happy to report that I finally gave The Raven Boys another try – I’m listening to it on audiobook – and am really loving it, although I have a feeling things are about to get crazy since it’s almost done. I already have The Dream Thieves ready and waiting for me, though, so I’ll at least not have to wait the year that most everyone else did. I also have a couple of books out from the library which I’m looking forward to reading, so now I just have to find the time. Black Ice is going to be up first, which I’m planning on starting tomorrow. Hopefully I can get through it in a couple of days!

And that’s pretty much all I have going on right now: work, work, and more work, with a little bit of reading thrown in. I have an IEP today for one of my co-worker’s students – a classroom teacher has to be present, and since she’s out it falls to me – but it should be quick since they’re just releasing her from services and that never takes terribly long. Then it’s two more days until the weekend. Thank goodness we got to Fall Back last Sunday or I’d really be an exhausted mess!