Teaching has been super busy this school year, especially this semester. I have piles of paperwork that I have been working on every evening until bedtime. They want the special ed teachers to have larger caseloads and cover more programs each year. They are literally burying us. I enjoy teaching, but I am exhausted.

We are also seeing what we call the COVID kids that have had so many changes in their education in the last couple of years, causing more behavior. Others are behind what we usually see this time of year. There are also the kids that are very resilient and doing great. Teachers are also more stressed out with changing rules and locations of teaching. I have even called families for student behavior for the first time in years. This is after every strategy and bribery has failed repeatedly, and the last resort is to call home with a momentarily remorseful child.

At this point, it might be easier to list what I am not behind in since that list would be empty. I miss Robbie’s sense of humor because I am sure he could think of something funny to make me smile.