Everything went well!
On my first morning, I was given a lanyard in school colors with keys to, among other things, the staff bathroom.
And a locker in the hall, like the kids. (Girlettes are chuffed--some are planning to go stay there overnight.)
Today I'm to be given a laptop--all teachers and students get one.
It's like I . . . WORK THERE.
I guess I do, and glad of it.
I hadn't been super worried about getting along with the students;
I was more worried about the Powers That Be--would they be okay?
They are! So far. Everyone was welcoming, and one young teacher's aide went out of her way to show me the ropes, saying she wished she'd had more guidance when she'd started.
Actually, I'm
receiving more on-the-job training than I'd expected, for which I'm
grateful. Maybe because they know I don't have experience?
At any rate, I am assigned to shadow other aides all this week.
The kids (young adults, some of them--but they are all young humans) were pretty great. I wish I could tell you stories about them, but they're not mine to share.
I'll have to figure out what's okay to share about work...
I can say that ninth grade English is reading Romeo & Juliet--which means I am too, and for the first time ever: I did Julius Caesar in high school, and Hamlet in college.
(This is a general-education "gen-ed" class that some special-ed students are taking--half the classes I'll help in are mixed like that.)
And they're writing sonnets! So, I am too.
I didn't get far, but I started one about girlette Jenny Baker's first day at school.
Useful to have a project for the one class, so far, that’s a blank.
At the end of yesterday, waiting to see the school buses load and depart, I asked one of my coworkers about how fast I should jump in and start to help.
"It's up to your comfort level, but you seem pretty comfortable already," he said with approval.
Nice to hear.
Being treated by staff with appreciation and respect was sort of shocking, after six years of being treated as disposable.
Even things like getting keys to classrooms---I never got keys or codes to anything at the store, though it would've been handy. After six years, I could have been running the place, but was kept in the dark.
It was really, really nice to be treated as someone needing and deserving to be in the know.
I was exhausted after work--all the input to process! Different rooms, different people, EVERY HOUR.
When I got home--(nice walk)--bink came over for tea, and then I went to bed at 7 p.m. and slept soundly for ten hours.
I'm glad this first week is only four-days:
Friday, teachers have something that aides don't, so I'm off.
I see already how much work teachers have. What a hard job. So, yeah, I don't want to be too judgmental of any teacher (or student!)--maybe I could be of some help bridging gaps?
My comfort with a wide range of humans definitely comes from working at the thrift store. Definitely. It was a school in human variation and crisis management, with no leadership:
I remember difficult situations when I made a conscious decision to step up, to step in.
Just try something! Could I make it worse?
I could have. (People did escalate.)
But usually I was able to make a connection with an upset person (if they weren't gone on drugs), and connection is key.
The other aides all said that: form relationships.
And that's already happening--talking to students about their interests.
Which reminds me, I was going to look up this video game: Brawl Stars.
Okay... It's an action role-playing game by Finnish game developer Supercell. Here's a brawler I heard mentioned: Fangirl Cony.
