The first week of school

I got students on Monday! Surprisingly things went pretty well. We did have one issue involving the bus. When it was time for the AM kids to get picked up there was no bus... We eventually (20 minutes later) realized that the bus had been parked further down and we couldn't see it. I definitely had to rack my brain to keep the students in order while we waited. I have 7 students in my morning class, 5 have IEP's and 2 peer models. 5 of the students are boys and 2 are girls. The girls in the morning are my only girls all day. My afternoon class consists of 6 boys. 4 have IEP's and again 2 are peer models. After 3 days it is beginning to look like the peer models have more behavior issues than the others. I'm learning a lot. A lot of delegating. I have students, paras and parents and this is the first time that I'm alone in working with them. I am most comfortable the students. Luckily I have a great principal who is helping me through it. I'm learning to be firm. Especially with parents and the times their child needs to be dropped off and picked up. So far things have gone ok.
On Tuesday we had an open house. Most of my parents came to see the room and meet me. I had a good time but also had a headache when it was all done. Half of my parent are primarily Spanish speaking and I am not. I do have a wonderful bilingual para that is great. She translates and transcribes for me. Unfortunately she is leaving my class to work in the office. I did get to sit in on the interviews for the new person. It was very different being on the other side of the interview. I think we found a good person but we'll see how everything turns out.
I've been getting to know the other newbies at Georgia Matthews fairly well. It's been fun hanging out and having friends! I've also met a lot of people at the dog park. McCarty and I visit the dog park 3-4 times a week. We have yet to meet a dog smaller than him. I think he has adjusted to his new routine quite well. We wake up usually around 6:45 and get ready for the day. For Mac this means laying in bed until I'm out of the shower and he goes outside. Then he finds his spot on the couch until I come home at lunch. He does move around a bit more in the afternoon (I can tell from the random flip flop in the middle of the room) but he's always on the couch again by the time I get home. We'll play or go the park and then relax. Right now at 9:45 he's sleeping on the couch again. He'll be out till we go to bed.
Hopefully things won't be as busy as the first few days of school and I'll keep this updated more frequently.