On June 8, 2017 our three year run together ended. Gnu was changing classrooms and I decided not to go with her. Rather than completely departing the school that I worked at for the last five years I spoke to the BigB about returning as a volunteer and she gladly welcomed me. In my volunteer role I was going to return to the same classroom for a couple hours a day to help my former scholars with the transition to a new teacher and a new instructional assistant. It was a pretty good arrangement. Gnu was off to what hopefully will be a better place, one where the childcare room is just a few doors down the hallway from her classroom. I got out of an arrangement where I was committed to a job for thirty five hours a week. And best of all, I got to return to this wonderful school, where I worked with so many wonderful teachers, but only for a couple hours a day without all of the stress of dealing with scholars who came into this world with so much baggage. I was feeling pretty good and then I sent the text message.
The text message was simple, "Can we get together for lunch so I can meet your son face to face." The response came back yes and we agreed on a day and time. It was on July 6th, the one month birthday of her son, when we sat down at the Metro Diner for lunch. This is the first time I'd seen Gnu since she went on maternity leave on May 25th. With the exception of having shorter hair she looked the same and her son was just so cute and sound asleep. The topics discussed bounced around from her new classroom to her old classroom and to adjusting to having son. Twice during the conversation Gnu mentioned to me that the assistant position that came with her new classroom was still open. Twice I avoided the topic. When we finished lunch and were out in the parking lot she again mentioned her open assistant position only this time a little more directly. "Schultz, I think your part time editor, part time consultant, and full time spouse would like it a whole lot better if you had a job that paid you money rather than just volunteering." Again, I did not respond.
As I was returning home from our lunch meeting it kept popping into my head that Gnu was getting pretty nervous about her new classroom and I couldn't blame her for doing so. When her new school years starts she will be the first teacher in her school to have a solely self contained special education classroom for scholars with special needs, one of which is scholars with emotional handicaps. That's a lot of pressure considering the school administration hired her to be their first teacher of record for these scholars and they were going to expect a lot out of her. I was back at home for over an hour when I sent Gnu an email message. The message (July 6th at 2:15pm) was brief, "what do I have to do to apply for the job?" The response (July 6th at 3:29pm) was, "nothing, I will just email the school." I must have caught her completely of guard as a short time later (July 6th at 3:30pm) I got an email from her, "just say the word and I'll email her now." My response back (July 6th at 3:44pm) was, "send the email. But you will owe me donuts. Lots of donuts." Gnu's response back to me (July 6th at 3:46pm), an email message that I still have today, said this. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy!! Sending the email now and I will give her your contact information." A few minutes later (July 6th at 4:00pm) I got an email message from Gnu, "Already heard back from her. She has your contact info so you should be hearing from her shortly. I can't believe we are doing this!! It will be great."
A little while later my part time editor, part time consultant and full time spouse walked into our living room and said to me, "who have you been texting that I kept hearing you cellphone ring." "They were email messages," I said. "I just told Gnu that I will take her open assistant position." My part time editor, part time consultant, and full time spouse looked at me and said, "are you sure you want to do this?" I handed her my iPad and said, "read the email messages from Gnu." When she finished, she put her hand on my shoulder and said, "you did the right thing. I'm proud of you."
Here are a few of the details as of today. In my old position, at a school that some people say is in a downward spiral, I worked thirty-five hours per week and was considered full time with benefits. In my new position, I still work thirty-five hours per week but I'm considered part time and not eligible for benefits. In my old position, at a school that some people say is in a downward spiral, I made $14.42 per hour. In my new position, at a school that has office suites and sports facilities that rival the Taj Mahal, I make $12.41 per hour. You are reading it correctly. I made $2.01 per hour more at a school that was constantly faced with financial challenges.
Let's see, what else. Gnu and I will start the school year with five scholars in grades ranging from first to third so far. I've seen the Individual Education Plans (IEP's) for two of the scholars and the IEP's read similar to the ones I read at my old classroom. Our classroom has a time out room for scholars that have serious anger outbursts and are at risk of hurting themselves or others but I'm already questioning it's usefulness. Why? First, the room doesn't have a door. Second, the room only has a half wall, one that I can easily look over. Third, if the scholar wants to burn off some steam by pounding his hands or in some cases his head on the wall, the scholar can't because the wall is concrete block with no padding. Our classroom has it's own restroom with a door. Note to self, check the door and see if it can be locked from the inside. If it can, that could be a big problem. Gnu will continue to occupy the front of the classroom and can occupy either her very nice desk that can actually be locked or a separate work table. I will continue to occupy the back of the room with a pretty decent table and best of all, a chair that has wheels. Last one and this might get a reaction from as far west as Utah or SpecEd30+ who resides in as far north as Michigan. Besides the classroom that Gnu and I will occupy there are only three other classrooms, all special education rooms. One classroom will have scholars in the fourth through sixth grade. A second classroom will have scholars that are in middle school. The third classroom will be occupied by scholars in high school. All four of these classrooms are in the same hallway and there are no general education classrooms in this building.
That's enough for today. Nope! One more item. Gnu and I are required to attend trauma training for two days. What we don't know is if this will be because the scholars are in trauma or Gnu and I are in trauma. I'll keep you posted.
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