Good luck. Something I heartily recommend is the use of a communication book, or similar, for each child. It needn't be onerous and the effort involved pays off HUGE dividends in reducing your own stress levels, gibing you time and vastly improving communication with others especially student families.
It may seem unnecessary with some kids - but you just don't know, until you cut it out (when the problems can really escalate).
How it works for us - modify this if you need to -
I got an exercise book, wrote on the cover, "difficult child 3's Communication Book - teachers, family, friends, please feel free to write in this book anything of interest, anything concerning you and anything you want shared." I had other pictures and things on the book too - decorate it as you or the child's family choose.
I put the book in a clear plastic sleeve (the kind you can get in packets, to cover exercise books).
I would then write in the book anything I felt the teacher needed to know, such as, "he's been difficult all morning, I'm not sure what is wrong. He took his medications on time so it's not that." It's giving the teacher a heads up. Or I might write, "He had night terrors last night, he's probably tired and short of sleep. He could be difficult for you, or maybe a bit more clingy."
The teacher then has some advance warning. If there's a problem she can check the book (although it's best to have a quick check of the books before class, if possible). The teacher may write, "He did well today, no problem. Seemed a bit tired but I didn't push him as hard as I might have - thanks for the info."
It saves a twice-daily parent-teacher conference on the classroom steps. Once we had this in place, I could go weeks without needing to have a quick word with the teacher, let alone a longer conference.
Another important rule with the book - it's not for the child. Therefore it's not the child's responsibility to collect the book or deliver the book. Preferably, the child shouldn't read the book although if you keep it a deep dark secret it will make them want to.
Something that helped in organisation strategies with the book - I actually kept the entries on the computer. I would type something on the end of his file, temporarily put in a page break so I could print out just that day's entry, then cut it out and stick it in the book. For a class of 6, you could do the same - keep your own diary on each one, you only need to write a line or two, if that, as an overview of the day. Towards the end of the school day you collect all the day's entries into one page and print it, sticking each strip into each child's book. You could use a different method other than a book, but keeping it all together, parents' comments as well as your own, in some sort of sequence for each child, means that you can look back trough the diary and sometimes see patterns of behaviour or stimuli which are causing a problem. For example, we found certain days were triggers for difficult child 3 - turned out to be one particular class where the kids were not so well supervised and the bullies could get to him (one kid would stick pins or other sharp things into difficult child 3 who would then get into trouble for making a fuss. He was never believed, although the incidents were witnessed by a relief teacher who was never believed either). We also noticed that difficult child 3's behaviour would get really bad, three days BEFORE coming down with a virus. It also helped us identify allergic reactions and drug reactions. Not a teacher's job, but knowing this stuff as fast as possible makes EVERYBODY'S job easier.
We had several times where difficult child 3's behaviour was going so well that they stopped reporting. They stopped reading the book. And things began to gradually go downhill. The reasons for this are complex, but are resolved/improved merely by better communication.
There were also times when the book would go missing - most of the time it was us, losing it at home. A couple of times it was the teacher, who had taken the book to read it and post her own note, but had just got too busy and then forgot she was the last one with it. At such times I just started another book, sequentially numbers so we could know (when the other book was found) in what order to manage them. Other times the books didn't get used were when the teachers tried to involve difficult child 3 in personal responsibility over taking the book here or there. NOT a good idea - this is too important to use as a teaching tool for personal responsibility. It's like taking a child to the specialist and expecting the child to have made sure you've brought the letter of referral.
If you set this up right, your biggest problem is going to be if parents are unwilling or apathetic about supporting this. If so, then make your own decision. But for those who are willing, you should find their children much easier to manage than you might have otherwise. It also makes it clear that family are a vital and active cog in the child's learning team.
I also had a rule that no offence should be taken by what got written down - he's my kid, I know there are times I want to choke him. I have to recognise that his teacher will have days like that too, and be sympathetic.
I didn't always agree with his teachers, nor did I always respect them as teachers. However, this made it easier for us to work as a team. I do know that one of those teachers at least, had for a long time requested that difficult child 3 not be assigned to her class. We had clashed when she taught easy child. Yet we managed to get on OK and even communicate effectively. She may have been the reason for his extreme anxiety to the point of vomiting every time he went to school - her method of teaching simply was not helpful for him. But she did try to do her best and she really did care about him. She just didn't want to change how she did things, for one student who wasn't coping. HE had to cope. HE had to adapt. And all this experience helped crystallise in our minds that he was never going to be a success in a mainstream setting, especially when we had little or no control over how his teachers handled him (even ignoring professional advice). With high school, there are a lot of teachers who interact with a student. All it takes is one of them to not be bothered to make the relevant adaptations for difficult child 3, and we have crisis. This particular teacher showed us that we had run out of options in the mainstream setting.
I suspect if we hadn't had the book's use well-entrenched, I would have been fighting tooth and nail with this teacher and by now would cross the street to avoid her. Instead, we still have a polite, friendly relationship. Even difficult child 3 will go up to her in public and start a conversation.
I have no idea whether this sort of thing is anywhere in your ED manual, or if it's top priority recommended, or somewhere in between. All I can say is, wherever it's been used, it's been brilliant. Not just difficult child 3 - other special needs kids I've known also.
Thank you for caring enough to make these enquiries. I hope you can keep your enthusiasm and not have the system beat it out of you.
Marg