First weeks of School!

Wow! 

The last two weeks have been exhausting and exhilarating!
I have started school! Today was the first day of week two with students. So far it has been challenging, but pretty good. I think next week I might actually make it home before 5:00! The kids are great, but it is indescribably difficult to juggle the schedules of 25 IEP students, making sure there is time for all related services (PT, AT, OT, SLS, etc.) and all their daily classroom activities. Plus, it seems like every day someone brings me a new student. I am just starting to get the hang of it, though! I am starting to feel much better about it all. And I love them all so it makes it all worth it. :)

Kathleen on the first day of school!

Here are some pictures of my classroom. Big thanks to Jason and my TA's who helped pull it all together. Obviously, my theme is a patriotic theme.

A few things have changed since I took the pictures. The rest of the wall space I expect will be filled up soon with tons of things my kiddos do and learning charts too! I love the school where I am teaching. Everyone there is very helpful and even the administrators are extremely approachable. I am so blessed that I landed a job at this school. I have a lot to learn from the wonderful people on my team! 

Meanwhile, Jason and I have had a great time exploring some more of Knoxville! 

Last weekend we went to "The Teacher Supply Depot." It is a WONDERFUL system that PTA does for Knox County School teachers! They take office supplies, donations, and gently used teacher items and 4 times a year they open the doors at 7 am and teachers line up to get in there and take everything they can carry. They even take big supplies- I got an office chair (SOO comfortable!) and an awesome cubby system for my classroom, along with tons of other things. 

We heard the good stuff goes early, so Jason (knowing that anything I get free won't come out of our budget) graciously woke up with me at 3:45 am to get in line at the school across the street. I was number 25!!!! That means I got to go in the very first group through!! It took about 3 hours. Then my incredible husband came back to pick me up and help me pack my stuff into the car. 

The line ahead--I loved the people we were near--other sped teachers!

The line after--a little before 7! When I left the depot with my goodies for my class, they were giving out the ticket for 225!

Afterward we headed downtown to go to the farmer's market in Market Square. We had a great time wandering around, enjoying the day. We love Market Square! Then we walked to the "Old City" to try some yummy cupcakes at a new cupcake store, Scrumps. They had a sampling as a debut! 

After the first week of school, we had  three wonderful guests- Jason's mom, dad, and brother Derek. Thanks for the visit! (Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of us showing them around.) - but it was a blast!