It's Time!

Well, it's official! As I signed my paperwork with my new school district, I am finally ready to start my new blog!

I decided I needed a new blog to chronicle my continuing adventures as a special education teacher. Please add my new blog and continue to follow me at The Write Combo!

I'm hoping to set up my TPT and Etsy shops this summer so continue to stay tuned for my teaching products on both sites.

Thank you to those of you who have followed this blog since my beginning days as a new teacher two years ago! I look forward to many more blog posts in the days to come!

To Be Continued...

So, I've been absent from the blogosphere for a while and haven't had the motivation to write or blog recently because of unforeseen events both in my work and personal life. And I'm not sure when my mojo is going to return to me.

But I hope it's soon...

Not a Morning Person

I love coffee. I really need it to start my days, as I am by no means a morning person. Starbucks should be delighted by my patronage; I spend about $30-35 at Starbucks every week on my almost daily Starbucks runs.

In an effort to save some money, I invested in a Keurig coffee machine this past September. I liked that I could have multiple cups of coffee at home, switching out the brews (flavors) as I deemed fit. I've found a variety of flavors that I've liked (Green Mountain's Caramel Vanilla Cream and Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice, and Starbuck's Blonde brew, among others).

I was recently shopping at Ralphs when I noticed that they had started producing their own k-cups with the Ralphs brand - which were a few bucks cheaper than the Starbucks and Green Mountain k-cups. It looked appealing, so I decided to give it a try.

The cappuccino turned out much better than the 7-11 cappuccinos I get some mornings on my way to work (which I think are MUCH better than any cup you can get at Starbucks or Coffee Bean). I'm glad that Ralphs is marketing their own k-cups now and at an affordable price for consumers.

This won't be my last box of this brew!

The Good and the Bad/Ugly

THE GOOD: I was sent an email earlier this afternoon that informed me that I had been selected to be one of Earthwatch's 2013 fellows. The program is taking place in Arizona toward the end of July and into early August and will be centered around climate change and caterpillars. (I know this may not sound interesting, but for a science geek like me, I'm very excited!) As part of the program, I will receive a $1,000 stipend for the trip and get to spend 11 days near Tucson, working in the field with other scientists and teachers. I applied for the program on a lark, not really thinking that I would get the opportunity to participate. I guess it just goes to show that filling out long, tedious applications might actually reap some reward!

Photo courtesy of earthwatch.org

THE BAD/UGLY: I have been out of work since Monday, when I went into the emergency clinic for a back injury I sustained at work last week (and that got progressively worse over the weekend). The doctor checked me out and after taking multiple x-rays, determined I had a thoracic sprain in my upper back. He issued some medications and gave me a back brace and an icepack. I had a follow-up appointment yesterday morning, and he told me that I would need some physical therapy. He also changed one of the medications I was taking and told me to up the frequency of which I was taking the muscle relaxers he had originally prescribed. So, I am out of work until next Wednesday when I will have my follow-up appointment after completing several physical therapy sessions.

As much as I sometimes complain about the challenges of teaching, I do miss being away from my classroom. I would rather be teaching my kindergarteners than stuck in bed or on the sofa with an injury. I just want to be back in my element. 

I'm crossing my fingers that the PT the doctor ordered lends to my recovery and return to work.

Holidaze Me

I am one of those teacher's that goes into a holidaze with the coming of each new month. During December, my classroom looked like the North Pole, complete with tons of lighted garland and a lighted, decorated Christmas tree. This month, it looks like cupid threw up. We have pink lights, two different types of heart garland, and tons of Valentine's Day crafts that we've put together, courtesy of Pinterest.

Here are just a few of the crafts my kiddos have done in the last week or two...

Valentine's Day was deemed "Grandparent's Day" at my school job...even though the national holiday was five months ago. We made cute gifts for our grandparents, nonetheless - we even laminated them for safe-keeping. 

I've already started collecting decorations for next month's St. Patrick's Day...and don't even get me started on the Pinterest March crafts that I've hoarded! Stay tuned...

The Resignation

I decided late this afternoon that I was going to quit my tutoring job.

I didn't need to work a part-time job; I've been comfortable just working my full-time teaching job. But I liked making the extra money, saving up for some fabulous trip abroad.

However, I realized that my part-time job was making me a crap graduate student and was affecting my weekend "recuperation time" from my teaching, which has taken a toll on me emotionally and psychologically - while also exposing me to a whole new batch of germs from sick tutoring clients (yuck!)

I needed my time back.

So, I resigned - via email. Not exactly professional, I know, but I could care less. I am so drained at this point that I needed to do what was right for me...not what professional courtesy dictates.

I spent this evening making dinner, watching a movie, and completing two weeks worth of homework - something I would not have had time to do if I was tutoring clients back-to-back all day.

I think resignation suits me just fine.

Out with the Old, In with the DUH...

Today I participated in a 6-hour training for the new IEP program our district is planning on rolling out on Monday. And all I can say is that the training itself was a waste of time and money.

To start off, I could have spent the day in my classroom actually doing something productive and catching up on the work that's stacked up because I was out sick for a week and a half and because I have an incompetent instructional aide (but that's another blog post altogether). Many of our district's special education teachers opted out of coming today - because this "voluntary" training violates our union contract in about 10 different ways. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to stay behind and work, I couldn't because I am not yet tenured with the district. And I am POSITIVE that our special education director would have seen my absence as non-compliance and not asked me to return next fall despite exemplary evaluations from my site administrator.

So, I was bitter about attending this whole training from the get-go.

On top of that, though, the district failed to offer any sort of waiver for those teachers who are tech-savvy and/or have advanced degrees in technology (like myself) that would allow for us to figure out the program on our own. By not doing so, the district is basically paying me to sit in a computer lab for 6 hours and chat on Facebook or pin new ideas on Pinterest. Now that's being fiscally conscientious!

I was hoping that this training would be beneficial. It wasn't. 

Every piece of information that was presented was something I could have figured out independently or by looking up in the program manual. It was a waste of time.

It really upsets me that with all these budget issues happening within the school districts, administrators and program directors aren't doing everything possible to save the district money. Like paying for one trainer instead of three and only training those teachers who feel they really need the training in order to be successful? There's an idea!

Or giving a 3-hour training instead of a 6-hour training, because, really...it could have been done in two.

Now while the technicalities of the training flat out sucked...I do like the new program that the district is using. It really streamlines the information and eliminates the amount of paperwork that is processed in special education. It is very user-friendly and will hopefully eliminate some of the errors the district has faced in the past with IEPs.

Germs are the Devil

So, one of the downfalls of being a kindergarten teacher? You're exposed to SO many yucky germs and are susceptible to getting sick. Case in point...

I was sick back in December and saw a doctor. She determined I had bronchitis and gave me a breathing treatment and a round of antibiotics for the ear infection that I had also incurred. After taking the medication, I thought I had gotten better and actually felt relatively decent through the holiday season.

However, last week (Wednesday, to be exact) I felt myself getting sick again. I managed to get myself through the rest of the week (and a formal observation that I had with my principal on Friday) but I didn't have the time over the weekend to nurse myself back to health - I was working at my part-time job - and I think that's what did me in.

I woke up Monday feeling terrible but decided to tough it out and go to work. Low and behold, I didn't make it past 9:30 that morning. I asked my principal to go home and I've been in bed or parked on my sofa ever since.

I went into the doctor on Tuesday and she sent me to the hospital to get chest x-rays, thinking that it could be pneumonia. On top of that, she gave me a steroidal shot to "kick start" my immune system along with another breathing treatment and an aggressive antibiotics and medication treatment - five different medications in all!

It's been horrible. I hate being sick and being away from my classroom and the kids. But I know this comes as a warning - that I need to slow and take care of myself and not work myself to death with two jobs and school. So my doctor gave me a medical leave of absence until next week so that I can fully recover.

Although I don't mind all the extra rest I've been getting, the antibiotics that I was put on are incredibly strong and make me sick to my stomach. I just want to be better already!

So forgive me if I have been lagging on the posts...I will try to get back into the swing of things soon. Till then...

Movie Review: Won't Back Down

As I was sitting at home this evening, lounging on my sofa in front of my TV, and relishing in the fact that I don’t have to tutor tomorrow, I decided to peruse the current Pay Per View listings. Low and behold, Won’t Back Down had an early release and since I’d heard mixed reviews about it, decided to see what it was about. (It’s a “teacher movie” and I’m a teacher…can you blame me?)

For those of you unfamiliar with the movie scene, Won’t Back Down was a movie that was released back in September that met disappointing box-office numbers and even worse reviews. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight and Mona Lisa Smile) and Viola Davis (The Help and Eat Pray Love), Wont’ Back Down tells the story of two determined parents that will fight against all odds to get their children the education they believe they deserve. Set at an inner city school in Pittsburg, the movie chronicles the challenges of Gyllenhaal’s character – a single mother, working two jobs in order to provide for her third grader – whose attempts to get her failing child into a different classroom and school fall on deft ears. Along the way she meets Davis’ character – a third grade teacher at her child’s elementary school – who is also searching for an alternative school choice for her young son. The two women band together in an effort to get both parents and teachers alike on board and ready to take on the teacher’s union and the dissenting school board.

Photo courtesy of Walden Media

The movie’s premise is based on parent trigger laws – laws that enable parents to change the administration and staffing of failing and under-performing schools and essentially “take over” the school in question. (Prior to this film, I knew very little about such laws but after reading more about them after watching this movie, found out that my home state, California, was the first state to pass such legislation back in 2010.)

Overall, I thought the movie was moving and I applauded the tenacity and drive of the two main characters. Fully aware that Walden Media’s major backer is a money man who’s pro-school reform, I thought the movie touched on some relevant topics that I, as a teacher, face on a daily basis – teacher union bureaucracy, the pitfalls of teacher tenure (i.e. protecting bad teachers), and parent/teacher collaboration…or lack thereof. Although the film wasn’t all “union bashing,” they made one point very clear: teacher unions are failing both the teachers they serve and the students and families that ultimately employ them (because without the families and students, teachers wouldn’t have jobs).

Photo courtesy of Walden Media

I just wish that more parents were like the two depicted in the film. I’m lucky if I get ¼ of my families in for Back to School Night or Open House…let alone a parent who wants to consistently volunteer and help out in my classroom. Many parents are uneducated – especially when it comes to special education – and they aren’t sure how to help their child, which does them a huge disservice when the student is not getting an education fit for them. And God forbid that the school district or administrators would actually give them information that might help them! Yet, I risk my job security when I attempt to do what is in the best interest of the child.

Schools are failing and, unfortunately, one teacher speaking her mind is not going to move mountains. Schools do need change – desperately – but it needs to be strategic, district-wide, explicit and it needs to start with the men and women who are in positions of leadership and power.

Ho, Ho, Holidays

Argh, so I know it's been a while since I last posted. Time has been getting away from me lately...quite a bit more than it already had been. As if working full-time as a teacher, taking two graduate courses at the university, and being involved in a plethora of activities on my work job campus (i.e. being Technology Facilitator, being on School Site Council and our Instructional Leadership Team, and being Waterford Coordinator) wasn't enough, I have gone back to tutoring part-time for a tutoring agency, working an additional 10-15 hours per week. Add to that the stresses, challenges and intricacies of being a special education teacher and you get an idea of what life has been like for me the last few weeks.

So to say that I have been busy would be quite the understatement. But I did want to post something - especially with the holidays coming up and all the hustle and bustle that brings with it!

Christmas is my most favorite holiday! Not only do I get two weeks off from the little "angels" I teach, but it also means that I get to spend some much needed time with my family. My mother's side of the family has a tradition of getting together every Christmas Eve and having a nice dinner. Our Christmas Eve is spent entertaining the younger kids, eating my mother's yummy meatballs and lasagna, and exchanging gifts with my mother, sister, and grandmother.

Here are some photos from Christmases past...

A Christmas gift from my mother, wrapped like a teacher's desk - ruler, post-its, apple and all!

My Christmas break this year will be spent doing a little less relaxing and a bit more working. Although I am off from work, my tutoring continues throughout break. Boo.

Anyway, I've been getting into the Christmas mood at work, as well. We started Christmas decorating in mid-November...before Thanksgiving even hit. Here are some photos of crafts and holiday decor that has been seen strewn all over my classroom...

I will try and post some of our Christmas crafts during the next week. My students are getting so excited about Christmas! We are doing a Secret Santa gift exchange and even having our PTA dad come in, dressed as Santa, for our Christmas party. I'm probably just as exited as my kiddos!

Until then friends!

Just a Reminder

Pointing Fingers

I know I haven't posted in almost 20 days and I'm sorry! With all the drama that's been going on in my classroom, I haven't had the time - and even less motivation - to talk about the things that are going right.

So, to give y'all a brief recap of the "challenges" (and that's putting it nicely!) I have been having in my classroom...I had a parent complain to my principal that my classroom staff and I - and the school as a whole - were not implementing and following her child's IEP or BSP. In short, she made some pretty hefty (and false) allegations about the classroom. She then proceeded to pull her child out of school and was requesting a non-public school (NPS) for her child because she felt the district was not doing an adequate enough job. 

We ended up having an IEP meeting with my administrator, the mother, an aunt, our school psychologist, the speech and language assistant, an advocate from the Regional Center, along with the special education director, program administrator, and myself. What usually is a one or two hour meeting turned into a four-hour ordeal - just to give you a scope of how long and tedious this meeting was.

To sum up the meeting, the aunt went on a wild, inappropriate tangent multiple times during the meeting and completely detracted the team from focusing on a resolution to the situation rather than just blaming someone (and when I say someone, I mean me). She even had the audacity to question my credentials as a special education teacher. 

And here's the kicker - the mother didn't even sign the amendment meeting paperwork. 

Now, I am - apart from my students' parents - my students' top advocate for the education they receive from our school district and for any additional services or resources that I think that the child may benefit from. However, a NPS - in this particular case - is not the answer...nor is a more restrictive environment. (To be honest, I don't think the mother even knows what a NPS is and how they are usually reserved for the more "severe" students.) 

The meeting really upset me because - despite what they thought they were trying to accomplish - the family is doing a disservice for the child by requesting services that are completely inappropriate for him and will detract from the progress he has already made in the two and a half months he has been in my classroom. I was also really upset about some of the family's disillusions about how I should run my classroom (i.e. the mother wants to monitor the books I read in class, eliminate time-out for all the students, and do away with my behavior clip chart) - but I can deal with some highly opinionated parental bullsh*t. 

Anyway, the meeting is over and while I should be spending my Thanksgiving week-off break celebrating with my family and indulging in some much needed time off, I get the stress and anxiety of wondering if the mother is going to decide to send her child back to school come Monday or not (and all the stress that entails). 

My heart really breaks for my student. Because ultimately his education is what's at risk here and the parent can't see past her misconceptions about what my classroom should be like (in her opinion) to realize that he's already in an environment that is nurturing, professional, and uniquely tailored to his individual needs as a student and a child. 

The Aftermath

I know, I know...I'm behind on my posting schedule but I swear I have a legitimate excuse. I've been up to my eyeballs busy with parent-teacher conferences, field trips, classroom Halloween party plans, and getting sick. 

Our kindergarten and transitional kindergarten (TK) classrooms have an annual Halloween parade and this year we actually had it on Halloween...rather than the Friday after or the Friday before. Most of my students showed up - I had one stay home because he does not celebrate it, and another student was sick. I loved seeing my students so excited at getting the opportunity to walk around and parade with their kindergarten peers. 

I even dressed up. Can you guess what I was? (I apologize for the picture quality - the picture was taken with a cell phone!) 

My class got to go over to one of my colleagues classroom's and spent an hour participating in Halloween activities; they kids were making popcorn hands, cereal necklaces and bracelets, decorating Halloween cookies, and making ghost pops. My aide also had a station where the general education students could make ghosts out of paper plates...and that turned out to be a hit.

After that, my students came back to our classroom and our parent volunteers showed up for our classroom pizza party. The students had fun eating pizza, enjoying Halloween treats, and grooving to the Halloween music we had playing on my iPhone. 

After our party, the parents decided to take their kids home (because we had a short dismissal day), and so I had no students by 1:00. My aides helped clean up the classroom and put away all the Halloween decorations we had strewn up. (I TOTALLY forgot to take pictures for y'all to see!) Here is just one of the things we had up...

For Halloween Night, I ended up staying home with a date and my dog. Not wanting to waste my Halloween spirit, I had my dog dress up and we took her for a walk for all to see. She was quite popular as a bee.

Since Halloween, I haven't had much down time. We had a field trip to the farm yesterday and although I am sick, I still went. (I didn't trust my kids on their first field trip with a substitute.) That probably was not the smartest thing for my health, as I woke up this morning feeling worse than I did yesterday.

However, I don't have much time to be sick - I've also been planning our class reunion, which is this coming week. I invited all our students from my class last year to come back to our school for a reunion and pizza party. I can't wait to see all my kiddos from last year and see how they are doing in their first grade classrooms! I have so much planning and prepping though before our reunion on Friday.

So, for now...I leave you with a picture from last Halloween and my older sister's Halloween party. Note my costume (I'm big on recycling) and my younger sister's make-up - I did it! Until next time...

My New Favorite Blog

While I was perusing educational blogs this afternoon before class, I stumbled across Miss Allison's Class blog and was blown away by some of the stuff she had up. It is rare that I find blogs that garner my attention, let alone special education blogs that pique my interest but Miss Allison's really did.

Not only does she have some AWESOME ideas and blog entries (taco recipes and a blog on paraprofessionals...sounds vaguely familiar!) but she also put together a resource packet that had my jaw on the floor as I was looking through it!

The majority of students coming into my classroom have speech and language impairments, but this year I have two students who are diagnosed with autism. And while I've worked with students with autism before in both the private and public sectors, I am at a loss at what to do with one of the students in particular, who seems to be having sensory issues.

Low and behold, I come across Miss Allison's blog and find that she has created an entire "must-have sensory supports" packet, including pictures (for us visual learners!) Hallelujah! I immediately printed it out and will be taking it into my classroom tomorrow!

If you're a special educator and want some great ideas, I suggest browsing Miss Allison's blog. The least you will come away with is a slow-cooker recipe for chili chicken tacos!

RtI

We began RtI this week at my school campus and although I'm a special education teacher, my class has the opportunity to participate in RtI with the other kindergarten classes. Each kindergarten teacher - including myself - takes a group of students to work with and sends some of our students out to the other classrooms.

While RtI is mandated for all kindergarten teachers, what we do for RtI is completely up to the individual teachers. We aren't necessarily doing "interventions" in the sense the special education community would think of interventions, but we do work in small groups with specialized instruction.

I like RtI because it gives my students the opportunity to mainstream into the general education classrooms. Of the seven students that are currently in my classroom, four of them go out into one of the other RtI groups...which I think is pretty darn good!

Being the "skilled special education teacher," I get to take and teach the "super low" group of students. I only have two of my students stay with me for the RtI rotation and have about 7-8 other students from the three general education classes.

For my RtI group, I'm working on very basic skills such as learning to write their name and letter recognition and sounds. Our activities include singing a couple of different ABC songs and an alphabet sounds song and usually completing some sort of hands-on activity or worksheet.

This week we are working on the letter "A" and I had the kiddos complete an activity where they used magazines to find different "As." They then cut and paste the "As" onto the worksheet I made for this activity. (So, they're working on fine motor and phonics - double whammy!) Here's what the worksheet looks like...if you want a copy click here.

Hope y'all like it! I will try to post my next activity for RtI, if I can remember. Have a wonderful weekend...TGIF!

A Tale of Instructional Aides

My classroom, like many other special education classrooms, can only run smoothly and efficiently when all components are working cooperatively and effectively together. This is especially true in regards to classroom staff.

I am very fortunate to have three aides working in my classroom - two of which who have been working in this particular classroom longer than I have. From my four years as instructional aide and from working with aides now in a supervising teacher role, I have come to the conclusion that they are an integral part of my classroom and in order for my classroom to run smoothly, so must my work with my staff.

Although I have one new aide this year, my two "veteran" aides are wonderful. They provide the support when I need it, take initiative without direction, and ensure that things go according to plan...even when they don't. They go above and beyond and I feel very blessed to have such wonderful co-workers.

However, everything wasn't always peaches and sunshine in my classroom. I started my first year teaching working with an aide who had worked in this classroom for several years. I was the sixth teacher in six years, and I could understand how the aide felt entitled to the room. However, she did not make my first few months of teaching easy. She tried to assert her opinion at every turn and told me point blank that "this was not how things were run last year." She was very confrontational and the tension in the room was palpable. Although she was great with the kids, her professionalism was seriously lacking and it made for a very difficult work environment. Needless to say she did not last the year in my classroom.

I'm always amazed at the different teacher-aide dynamics that I have witnessed while working in the public school system. When I started my first year, I wanted to make sure that my aides knew what was expected of them in my classroom and that I had the same high expectations for them as I hold my students accountable to. (Not such a difficult request, right? Apparently it was though.)

I never made demands of my aides that I didn't think they would be able to accept. I showed them respect and consideration and I tried to make them feel that their opinions were always valued. I wanted to make sure that my classroom support felt a sense of ownership for our classroom...because that was a huge thing for me when I worked as an aide.

I always try to be the best teacher I can be, not only for my students but also for the other adults in my classroom who are watching me. I hope that I'm proving to be an exceptional role model...someone that they can respect. Because really, without that you have nothing.

The Good and the Bad

I have been really bad about blogging lately, and I'm kind of ashamed to say that with all the craziness that has been my life lately, updating my blog hasn't been high on my priority list. (Sorry, faithful readers!)

However, I did have time this evening to work out some of the design kinks in my blog and to post an update. I don't know what Blogger's deal has been but they need to get their business together! I was checking their Known Issues site and found that I must not be the only one experiencing issues with HTML edits and proper saving of changes. It makes me cranky that my blog doesn't work right and isn't esthetically pleasing!

In other news, this past week has been CRAZY at work! I had a new student start during the last week of September and he's been really tough...and I mean REALLY tough. He's thrown a major tantrum every day that he's been in class. And these aren't your average, run-of-the-mill, crying and screaming tantrums...these are the "grand Mal" of tantrums! He throws himself on the floor, will kick and hit anyone in close proximity to him, he bites (he's already drawn blood from one of my aides), he spits on my staff and myself, he uses profanity (he's only four and he uses the f-word and "bit*h" - among others)...all while he screams at the top of his lungs.

Now, I've had students in my class before that have thrown tantrums and who have been behavioral challenges. This new kid surpasses all the rest. Although the child was absent from school on Friday, I had an anxiety attack over the weekend just thinking about coming back to work yesterday and having to go through this whole ordeal again. And I consider myself a pretty tough cookie when it comes to dealing with stuff like this! This new kid is really stressing me out. Argh! I'm trying not to think too much about it because then it's only going to stress me out more. (Trying to think happy thoughts here!!)

In other news, I have officially become a "new leader" with the teacher-student travel ambassador program that I applied for. I have several information meetings that I need to attend and help out at, but I'm glad to get the opportunity to meet other teacher leaders and get "face time" with the company. My supervisor also said that there is still room on two trips for next summer - one to London/France (and surrounding cities) and the other to Australia - and she's going to slip me into one of those spots. Yay! Something to look forward to at the end of this school year! I'm really excited and cannot wait to get started.

Anyway, I will try to update on a more regular basis...and include some new freebies! Until then, think happy thoughts!

Under Construction

I don't know what's going on with Blogger! It's not allowing me to update my background and HTML and the stupid background is NOT the one that's scripted in the coding.

I blame Blogger for this. Until I figure things out, please forgive the mess.

FREEBIE: Newsletter Template

Happy Saturday! I realized that I hadn't posted any freebies in a while (forgive me!), so I decided to kick off the weekend by posting a template for the classroom newsletter that I created for my classroom parents.

I'm a huge believer in reciprocal communication between myself and my students' parents, and a weekly classroom newsletter is one way I keep my parents in the loop with the many happenings of my classroom.

I try to keep the newsletter to one page and even translate my newsletters into Spanish for those Spanish-speaking families in my classroom because I want everyone to know what's going on.

Click here for the newsletter. Enjoy!

Education Fail

This December I will be done with the last two classes I need in order to clear my special education credential (I'm clearing my multiple subject credential through BTSA), and had every intention of applying for the master's program (in special education) for this coming spring. 

Yesterday I was given some fairly disappointing news - our university is not accepting master's applications for my particular degree for the spring semester. This is disappointing for several different reasons: (1) If I am not in school at least part-time, I will have to start paying back my student loans, and (2) I am only 3 classes away from getting my master's degree and just want to get done! 

I emailed my program coordinator at the university - half freaking out! - wanting to know what my options are. I'm supposed to go in to see her next week. 

I have no idea what I'm going to do if I can't take any classes at the university. I guess I can always take   a couple of bogus classes, but that means taking out additional student loans for classes I don't really need or want. 

There is an autism class I need to take by 2014 in order to get the autism authorization added to my special education credential, but the class is only offered during the morning hours and with working full-time this would be impossible. 

I hate that state budget cuts in education are affecting students the hardest and not the politicians that put them in place.