Happy Friday!
I can't believe it is the first of the month already!  October flew by so quickly and I have a feeling November will be even faster. 

I am in a new position this year and while I love my time with the kids, I am feeling overwhelmed with all of the ESE paperwork and rules and scheduling and........LOL.
I am so lucky to have a great team and supportive administrator to work with, but I hate feeling unsure about what I am doing.  Yesterday, the staffing specialist and I were chatting.  Apparently, I am not doing lots of things the way I should be doing them.  Instead of chewing me out, she had already arranged for a training to help another teacher and I learn the correct way.  How lucky am I?  She kept reassuring me that I can't be expected to do what I wasn't shown.  I am really looking forward to being able to sit with a trainer for an entire day and pick her brain. :)

Anyway, after that conversation yesterday, I was feeling a little stressed.  Some days it is hard to remember why we do what we do.  Tonight though, I got a great reminder.  A student I worked with several years ago was at our Fall Festival with his parents.  He came up and asked if I remembered him. (Just the fact that he initiated a conversation and maintained eye contact was HUGE!).  We chatted for a few minutes and then his mom came over.  She shared that her son was in Advanced Reading this year and had an A for the first quarter.  Now, when I worked with him, he came to my Intensive Reading class from a self-contained ESE classroom for reading.  He struggled, but worked hard.  To see where he is today was so encouraging.  I told him that HE was the reason I loved my job.   He promised to let me know when he graduates from high school.  I promised him I'd be there.

Now, for the First Friday Freebie!  I love "I Have, Who Has" games.  I've created one that reviews words with the suffixes -er, -less, -ful, and -ly.  If you would like a copy, click on the picture below and it will take you to the download in my TPT store.


Happy Weekend!