Just a picture.

Thursday was group picture day at school. Each teacher gets a photo of his/her class, and pictures are taken of each club, group, etc. All of these photos will be in the yearbook in May.
I have 43 kiddos on my caseload at the elementary school, yet I only see 2 to 4 kiddos at a time. Even though 43 sounds like alot, it doesn't seem that big because I see the kids throughout the week. So, even though I have a roster, I don't have a 'class'.

I was sitting in the lounge talking with a 1st grade teacher, and she suggested a 'speech class' picture.....at I shot her down right away....you can't put a picture of all the Speech IEP kids in the yearbook! That has to be illegal in some way, shape or form. But, then- we had a great idea: why not just a picture for me? Why not just take a photo for only me to keep?

So, after lunch, the lovely office ladies called for "all speech kids to report to the art room". As I walked down the hall, some of the kiddos ran past me, all excited & talking amongst themselves. (and totally against the rules- no running in school- duh!)

I walked into the art room and I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of children. All the kiddos were looking around at each other. I overheard some of the kids talking. A 3rd grader said to her friend, "Did you know Mrs. K helps this many kids?" And then, I realized again, how amazing my job is. Tears came to my eyes. It was absolutely wonderful to see all my kiddos in once place. Of course my kindergartners were terrified, and some of my lower kids had no clue what was going on & had trouble following the photographers instructions, but it was great. After the picture taking was over, at least 20 of my kiddos gave me a hug on their way back to class.

The photographer took 3 serious pictures and 1 silly picture. I hope at least 1 of the 4 turned out. Even if the pictures are terrible, I'm just so glad that I was able to see all my kiddos at once.

And, once the picture is printed, I'll always have a picture of my 1st year as a Speech Pathologist.