Who are you and why are you here?

The first day of the school year is always a bit hectic. In that sense, it's just like every day of subbing--you go somewhere and hope it all works out for the best.

First, I missed my bus--it went flying by as I stood across the street from the stop waiting to cross (doh!). Fortunately, catching the next one still gets me there on time, so it's not an emergency situation--just a minor nuisance (the later ones are more crowded, that's why I like to catch the earlier one).

I waltzed over to get some coffee (definitely needed the boost) and went in to dump my stuff off before the buses arrived (since I'm doing a one-on-one EA position this year, I have to go retrieve my student from the bus and bring him inside).

We were concerned the buses would come too early, but actually the opposite happened, and they were all late, so we stood out there for awhile, and I got to meet all the kids in my class as they trickled in. Then my student arrived. Of course, he didn't know me from Adam, so convincing him to get off the bus and go inside with me was a bit dicey (can't blame him there) but after years of subbing, I'm used to being the stranger in the room and can roll with it. It took longer than it should have, but I got him inside and ready for the day.

Most of the rest of the first day was spent getting to know the kids and figuring out the basic routine (which of course will change completely in two weeks when kids start going to off-campus jobs). Since there's 14 students (a couple of whom I already know from working at their previous schools), it didn't take too long to get the names down. Plus, they're such characters, that they're quite memorable.

These first few days are going to be all about figuring each other out. My student, a completely non-verbal boy with Autism, has to get used to me (a stranger), and I have to get used to him. From what I can tell so far, he's pretty mellow, and easy-going, and doesn't seem to have a lot of behaviors (yes!). I have to learn how to "read" him, since he can't tell me what he needs or wants. (Fortunately, I've spent enough time around people whose languages I couldn't speak, that I'm actually pretty comfortable with it). I also have to figure out where he's at with his skill levels--I'm suspecting there's been some "loss" over the summer (even with ESY). I'm going to spend a lot of time simply observing him so that I can figure him out, so that things will go as smoothly as possible.