Back to School

On Monday the staff and faculty of the school district went back to work. At least I get to ease back into work, rather than starting SAISD, SACB, and Seminary all on the same day! I'm at a new campus (Central High School in stead of Lake View) but I'll hardly ever be on campus. I will spend the first two class periods on a job-site with a special needs student, then I'll spend the rest of the day at Howard College with Ashley. I'm excited to be with her again. It will be interesting to see how things play out though because she is going to be much more independent and I will have lots of sitting time while I'm there. I won't be IN her college classes with her, but will be outside the classroom incase she needs any personal assistance. They have a note-taker all set up for her and she will be expected to everything else on her own.  Then after class we'll spend the rest of the afternoon studying, applying for jobs (until she gets a job, at which time I can "help" her with that), doing recreational/leisure activities in the community, etc. She may say, "I want to go to this study group" or "I'm going to go hang out with some friends in the cafeteria and then take TRANSA home." All of this is encouraged, so the less I have to do, the better. That worries me just a little because I know I'm going to feel guilty just sitting there, not being useful, but I have to remember that IS my job. After we assess how things are going and she feels comfortable with less assistance I might be pulled some of the time to help with other students on job sites.  As much as I'm dreading being bored, I think I will be able to get a lot of lesson planning done (for Modern, Jazz, Seminary, and for my Outreach Grant)! I guess that's a bonus.

Well, I'm supposed to be here for about 45 more minutes, but I am an aide which means I have no classroom to set up, no rolls to prepare, etc. I have done all the work that everyone has asked my help with and now I'm going to find a way to kill 30 more minutes and then meander over to my car :)  So I guess this post could be re-titled, "The Pros and Cons of Being an Aide". Pros - not as much to do. Cons - not as much to do. Interesting.