The Very Bad Day...

Work has been challenging... to say the least. (M) has not been easy. The amount of meds he is taking is scary. But scarier is the look in his eyes that tells me he very much needs these meds. (hence, the reason I was told never to turn my back) He is so very low functioning. I have never dealt with such a huge discrepancy in the levels of my kids. For the most part, emotional disturbances deal with social functioning and behavior issues. Most of the time, my kids fall into the mid to high average range of intelligence. It's pretty textbook. But this kid is on, about, a first grade level, and he's 15. It's really very sad. But whatever, I know my job is to teach this kid on his level, modify where I can to challenge him without crossing the line to frustration, and still manage to challenge and teach 3 other grades to the rest of the kids that are on grade level.

So onto the bad part of the day. I had a meeting with the "big" boss today to find out about a new kid I will be getting the first week in October. Now, I never usually find out about new kids this far in advance, but there is a reason. The ankle bracelet doesn't come off until then. He's been arrested several times and his psychological report is far more interesting than (M's). He doesn't belong in a public situation. BUT, thanks to good old G.W.B. and his No unsuitable juvenile delinquent left behind law, I have to accept this child into my program until I can legally prove that we have done everything possible under the sun to help him, to no avail.

I am so not worthy... and starting to feel the burn of my own psyche. Thankfully I have huge amounts of unsolicited support from my administration, and they are getting me an extra set of adult hands to keep an eye on (M) while I tend to this new charge.
needless to say, I am not looking forward to the coming weeks.

And I'm also sad that tomorrow is T's last day. She starts her maternity leave and won't be back until April. I met the replacement yesterday, she seems very nice and all... but is very young, right out of college, never actually worked with this type of population and is quite idealistic. I hope she's ready!!

On a happy note... SURVIV*R CHINA!!! YAY!!! I'm so excited to watch, as this is one of my most favorite shows of the year.

~Have a good night all