Little Fish In A Big Pond

With most of the unpacking done and almost everything in its place, it was inevitable that the day I started my job would come. I found the school with ease and walked in to 100 new and eager faces looking around with the same look of question marks that I felt. After a big welcome to the district-I join 22,000 students and over 1200 employees, all of the new Special Ed hires were escorted to a very hot computer lab to be introduced to writing IEP's in the state of Washington. For anyone who can understand and appreciate Pennsylvania IEP's, be glad that they are the ones that you are filling out. I have to erase some of what I learned in PA, give new names to old terms, and learn the new lingo for goal writing all the while clicking away with the mouse as it is much more "clicker" no-friendly. I know it will become easier with time but for now my mind is just going in circles. My placement is going to be at an elementary school and a preschool (yay something familiar!:-) When I found out my placement, people surrounding me kept talking about how I was "up on the plateau." I still am not sure what they meant but if a plateau in their dictionary means nice houses in a suburban neighborhood in a school that is just 10 years old then yes I am on a plateau. I got a brief (and confusing) tour by a very nice kindergarten teacher but have not yet met the principle or special ed teachers-both of which should be very helpful to me! I had a change to review a number of files and it looks as though I'll have a nice variety of children (along with some challenges). I feel as though I'm starting from square one and that the last 3 years have been erased from my experience as everything feels so different. Of course there was the topic of what to do with difficult parents and I was able to easily relate (and relive my nightmare) with my experience in that area. We continue to have our orientation schedule jam packed with things to do all next week before returning to our respective schools. I'm sure I'll just be a walking question mark by next week. My commute continues to be unpredictable with a beautiful view and 25 minutes in the car in the morning traveling across Lake Washington. The afternoon is completely different with traffic galore and the nightmare of crossing lanes to get to my exit in time while being patient with the carpoolers (or noncarpoolers as I've seen many people abuse that privilege). It has taken me up to an hour to get home but with everything so new I haven't even minded. I'm sure once the novelty wears off I'll feel differently. Both at work and on the road I feel like a little fish in a very big pond (with a great view:-)
xo
Nicole