HOW TO BE A RESOURCE SPECIALIST

YIKES! the beginning of the school year! Being a resource specialist requires a lot of planning and organizing, but the beginning of the year is also a time to observe, wait, listen, and watch. While I would like to have my schedule set in stone, and start organizing activities, and teaching, it cannot happen right off the bat.
The goal is to help the kids be successful in their general education class. That may look quite different for each child. I have spent this week

• Listening to parents, and gathering information about preferred activities
• Scheduling paraeducators with new children on the autism spectrum
• Listening to teachers voice concerns over new programs
• Scheduling all my IEP's for the year
• Giving an ice cream party for kids who filled their summer reading chart
• Listening to children tell what's in their "Me Box"
• Checking from Kindergarten to 6th grade to see how everyone is settling in(including teachers)
• Attending Writer's Workshop inservice
• Listening to specialists brainstorming ideas for behavior issues
• Completing Interim placement forms for new students
• Listening to the sound of the lunchroom buzzing with the excitement, as well as the frustrations of a new school year.......

Did I say listening?

As I get more and more experienced in this  job, I think I am finally realizing that at the beginning of the year, it will not all come together neatly and quickly in the first week or two. I have to get a feel for all the class communities, new staff and kids, and slowly form my schedule and get ready to dive into the new school year. I will leave the kids in their math classes for the First 20 Days to learn the fabulous games and routines, even though their work will have to be modified. I will watch a new student throughout the day before tweaking a behavior chart to fit her personality and the teacher's style. And I will listen. To teachers, to parents, to children.....

And enjoy the best job in town!