After attending the CEC Convention in San Diego, I was reminded how important it is to methodically plan my push-in time so it is extremely meaningful and targeted for our lower students. In the words of Marilyn Friend, I needed to move beyond the “shoulder tapper,” the “glorified aide,” or, my personal favorite, “the highly paid on-tasker.” I feel as though the inclusion specialist and/or paraprofessional are constantly running around putting band-aids on mistakes and calling that a service. The end of the year is rapidly approaching but it’s never too late to congregate and change up our collaboration strategy – especially if it will benefit our little ones.

So, that was the plan. We were going to make dinner. And collaborate. And adjust our schedule to benefit our babies.

 

But what ended up happening was a little different. We didn’t pull out computers. We pulled out wine glasses. We didn’t talk about schedules. We talked about spring break. And we didn’t talk about targeted instruction. We talked about funny moments that happened in the classroom over the past few days.

And, the funny part is, despite getting nothing on the agenda done, we were productive in our own way. I was, again, reminded how lucky I am to get to work with the best people. The kind of people that want to talk about work even hours after we leave school. The kind of people that spend their weekends thinking about how to arrange their classroom so that a student is able to access materials better. The kind of people that really just give a damn. They are the kind of people that I want to be around.

So, even though it wasn’t the most responsible thing to shove our work to the side and pick up the wine glasses instead, I am confident that when we start our new schedule next week, it will be targeted, individualized, and effective. Because I am working with the best of the best people. That will do anything and everything to ensure that our kids make growth and feel successful this year.

Our kids are lucky.

I’m even luckier.

Questions of the Day:

• What’s your favorite veggie to grill?
  I used to say corn. But asparagus is growing on me after last night.
• Do you celebrate Wine Wednesday?
  Duh.