Teaching Autism K/1

SO. I wrote a while back about how I had NO IDEA what I would be teaching in the fall. Well, thankfully an amazing position opened up and I am now teaching a K/1 Autism classroom! So far I am loving it. It has it's challenges, like all classrooms do, but we're slowing getting there.

I had applied for an Autism grades 2-4 classroom with this district and some time had passed and I hadn't heard anything, so I thought I'd give them a call. I am so glad  I did! Seriously, if you're looking for jobs, follow up!

The position for the 2-4 classroom had been filled internally. Now there was an opening for a K/1 room. I knew I had applied to the district so I wasn't re-checking their open positions frequently enough to have noticed this availability. Their HR person asked if I'd be interested in interviewing for that position and I said yes, even more so!

2 hours following my interview they called to offer me the job. I was pumped and of course said yes!

I have 7 students on my caseload, 6 in my classroom all day, and 1 who is majority inclusion. Of the 6 with me all day, 1 is a pre-k kiddo, 2 are kindergarten, and 3 are first grade. I was so ready to do something at a different pace from pre-school after 6 years, so I'm loving that part!

And as always, there's LOADS of differentiation happening. We've been focusing mostly on just classroom routine and expectations. Each day gets a little bit better though. We've only been in school 9 days and I don't think my usual wine consumption has increased--yet.

I just wanted to bring you up to speed on my new position! I'm hoping this is going to get the creative juices flowing for some new classroom products/ideas/resources since I have a different age group this year! :)