I’m Ready for a Change

Today is the last day of Semester 1 at the High School I work at. The semester has flown by. It doesn’t seem possible that it’s coming to an end. For those of us who work with students who have special needs its a chance to rejuvenate while our kids have a little holiday and we help out with exams. When classes resume next week everyone will have a brand new schedule. I like having a change.

Most of the students I work with are autistic. They don’t welcome change as much as I do. In fact mostly they resist it. Some will insist on going back to the classes they have now. It will be confusing when their class and teacher isn’t there. It’s a very chaotic time. There may be some behavioural issues because the staff changes and new people will be working with them. It’s a total upheaval in their lives. 

Within a week or so after the new semester starts things will settle down and it will be more routine. Soon they won’t even remember this semester and will happily follow the new schedule. It’s the transition times that are troublesome but once they learn it’s different then things will be great. 

Second semester always seems to go faster than this semester. There are the same number of school days but there are many more breaks. We get a long weekend in a couple of weeks for Family Day. A month after that we get a week off for March Break. Easter Weekend is a 4 day weekend and in May we get another long weekend. Once the nice weather is here the days are more pleasant. Soon it will be summer holiday.

11 thoughts on “I’m Ready for a Change”

  2. I find that the period between New Year’s and Spring Break is an optimum teaching time- with only the minor ripple of Valentine’s Day to distract students. As a mildly autistic person, I can identify with the transition being a bit rough, though I have pushed myself to face change, over the years.

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  5. I commend you on your much needed and not always appreciated dedicated work with autistic kids. Teachers need to find their niche. For me, I did my best work with the male prison population. For almost 13 years I taught GED classes at a privatized prison here in Conneaut, OH. I was totally blown away by their intelligent (for the most part) and creative approaches to learning. I thought I was just plain stupid when it came to math until Mr. Lynn, a lifer, taught me the science of math. Thanks to him, today I am competent at math all the way thru algebra! Students are amazing, aren’t they!!

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