End of the First Week in MB

It's been quite a week of climbing mountains to get this point where I feel about 90% in control of my assignment vs. starting at 10% last Friday.

I humbly accepted this new assignment looking at it like it would be a great professional experience for me. What I've learned this week is:

• I can be assertive.
  
• I can make telephone calls to parents who are upset (and projecting their anger on me) without having to practice or have a script. By yesterday, I was impulsively grabbing binders, files, and papers and marching straight over to the phone to make a phone call without thinking of exactly what to say -- and I wasn't wishing to get the parents' answering machine. I actually HOPED to talk to them (b/c I needed to set IEP dates like last week, when I wasn't even there yet. Stupid MM.).
  
• Not having a technologically advanced classroom phone sucks. We use an old skool phone which means no Caller ID and no light to indicate whether I received a voicemail. I thought this was pretty ironic considering how everything else was pretty up to technological standards.
• I can make phone calls unscripted and with 3 other adults listening in without getting all ADD and blushing out of nervousness.
  
• (So far) I can do damage control...well, much better than I had anticipated going into this war zone.
  
• At least half of these parents only care about titles and those extra letters after names which has become my next biggest dilemma to tackle. Maybe I'll be like this when I'm a parent, but for now, it blows to be on the receiving end. The parents aren't even giving my VTW associates a fair chance. It also becomes a potential legal mess, too.
• Everyone brings their A-game. It's crazy and intense.

The good news is that I'm moving through my "phases" much faster than I expected. I actually have part of a weekend to enjoy. Woohoo!

P.S. I saw some of my favorite kiddos on Tuesday and Wednesday (my 320 days in my old hood), and they are so mad at me for leaving! Haha! Well, not really mad. They just really don't like their new SLP. Stupid MM. I take some twisted pleasure in knowing that they really liked having me as their SLP more than her since she also bragged that middle school is her forte and she'll "make them talk."