Finally Feeling Like Home

Finding out your teaching assignment 2 days before the start of the school year is challenging.  There is so much to plan and prepare.  Most teachers like to have a decent looking classroom to welcome the new batch of students.
Switching schools 6 weeks into the school year has been a trying experience as well.  It feels like I've been playing catch up since August.  There are always so many things to accomplish and so little time to execute.
That last 6 weeks at my current site has gone extremely well.  My students are still the sweet little kids I met on the first day.  I've gotten to know about their little personalities.  I have one student that is very hyperactive. I debated for days whether or not this student should sit by himself.  This is one of those kids who is really smart, I mean he has a lot of common sense.  He is also one of those kids who thinks everything is easy but scores a consistent 20% in all areas.  My challenge has been to have him focus on himself instead of being so preoccupied with the other students.  This kid, let's call him Lee, is the teacher assistant I never requested nor wanted.  When I speak to students in the class, he commonly chimes in, "Yeah, I told you!" "I can't believe you don't know that" "Oooh."  Lee's comments can occasionally change the dynamics in the classroom.  The rest of the students are more adept at reacting to his mini outbursts, but Lee can still disrupt the flow of the lesson.
 This is the first year I actually had to separate a student from the vast majority of the class.  Lee sits near my teacher station with no students sitting near him and the likelihood of a student going near him is 5%.  Lee has been able to focus so much better.  His class outbursts have stopped completely.  I even gave Lee a chance to choose his seat but he wanted to stay where he was.
I'm still trying to understand what makes Lee tick.  Walking in line with the rest of the class usually poses problems so Lee is usually my walking partner.  This is what I've learned about him so far...
Lee is extremely competitive, he likes to be first.  When I ask him why he is running in the building, his response is that he wants to get to the line first.  Lee likes to be in control of things.  He constantly bosses his peers around.  Strangely enough, his peers appear to respect his authority.  This leads me to his leadership skills.  One day I asked Lee what he wanted to be when he grew up, here is our conversation:
Lee: I want to be the President so I can make everyone my slave, except my friends.
Me: What about about me?
Lee: And you too.
Me: Why would people want to vote for you if you will make them your slave?
Lee: Well, I'll lie to them and tell them that I will give everyone $1,000 to vote for me.  When I'm President they'll be my slave.
I may have a little politician on my hands.  Lee and I have this conversation frequently and I'm not sure how I can open his mind to another plan while he's President.  Never the less, I am so happy to have met Lee and I look forward to our little conversations.