Busy as all heck!

I have seven or 8 half done posts which I was thinking "Oh, when I am too busy to post I can schedule one of those."  They weren't finished, so it didn't happen lol!

The biggest thing to happen this week, aside from the lovely news at parents evening, was that I had my final assessment for this course that I've been on, (Tuesday) and then an observation by the head.

Observation by the head.  In the past those words have struck fear into my soul. (Slightly over dramatic, but if you are a teacher, you'll know the feeling.)  This time they didn't.

I didn't even mind when she said that the Literacy Co-ordinator would be joining us as she'd been my mentor during the course.

They came, they saw, they chatted to my children, and they left after an hour.

After school I went down to get my feedback.

To explain, there are four categories of teacher.  Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, Good, Outstanding.  You can be one with elements of the next one up or down.

Before the accident I was Satisfactory, with lots of elements of Good.  I was a fag-paper away.
After the accident, I was satisfactory, with unspoken elements of Unsatisfactory.  Nobody mentioned them overtly, nobody said they were there, but we all knew.  I was offered help in certain areas, I was offered 'courses' that I'd done before, to try and refocus me.  Nothing worked, and everyone accepted it would just take time.

My class was chosen carefully, playing to my strengths of teaching special needs children who wouldn't make as much progress as the others anyway.

This years class was chosen carefully, leaving several of my previous children in my class, placing in there children who needed tender loving care, who needed supporting and nurturing.

And this year, that was a problem when I had to leave them for 2 days a week.  1 day for the course, 1 half day for PPA, and 1 half day for meetings with my mentor.  For 6 weeks, I consoled them, calmed them, and  told them exactly what I had been doing.  In return they supported me, tried to support the more emotional children who panic easily when there is change, and worked through it all with me.

This week, we had our reward.

This week, I got a Good.

A Good, heading towards Outstanding.  Oh yes indeed we did!

WE - my children this year.
WE - my colleagues and staff who supported me and cared for my son during the worst time of our lives.
WE - J and the AC who have put up with an untidy house and dodgy meals thrown together and random questions.

I am back in the game.  I am back on the path.

I stood in front of my children on Friday, and I thought "Yep, I can do this - I have the piece of paper to prove it!"