This is Life

There are a million things that I want to say about what has been going on in my life for the past 2 weeks, but I thought I would just share a few thoughts.

Right now, I am standing in my classroom, brought to tears at the very apparent reality that I will have students in less than 48 hours.  I will be inclusion/co-teaching in 4 classes of math and science (about 100 students) and then I get to have one very special class of 4 students in my 7th grade English resource class.  As I start to decorate their room and add those special touches that I hope will make them feel loved and celebrated, I am overwhelmed by the fact that these are 4 students who have been overlooked and passed by fro so many years.  These are the students who have never been able to understand the material in a way that makes sense to them the same way it does to the majority of their peers.  I have been reading over their IEPs and falling in love with them before I even meet them.  I do not see these students as ones who are hopeless or stupid or not worth my time.  I do not think that it is a waste of space or time to fully decorate and plan for 1 class with only 4 students.  These students are worth celebrating.  They are deserving of the very best, of much more than I will ever be able to give them.  I hope and I pray that this classroom will be a safe place for them, one where they feel free to try new things, make mistakes, and share their thoughts and opinions.  I pray that this year makes all the difference.  I pray that these students would fall in love with learning.  I pray. and I hope. and I work.

I hope to post pics of my finished classroom and expand more on the reality of this life right now.  But now, I go back to work.

praying for decorating inspirations,
Emily