Initiation Over

I've been at the job one month now and things have settled into somewhat of a routine. Mondays are days for paperwork, new evals, IEP meetings (although we do them in the middle of the day at lunch, too) and meetings with our assistants to talk about what needs to be done in the classroom/for curriculum.

My assistants and I have become a cohesive unit and I owe that to their years of experience and willingness to allow me to make changes and for me to somehow see what works best for all of us, staff and kids, as a 'family.' I'm learning more about their personal lives and, of course, that builds those relationships that ESD touts and Greg Crosby teaches.

For this first month, I have been blessed with very few students, though all but two need 1:1 assistance. Most are on the ASD spectrum. I think I already talked about how many families are in the military and can often ask for stations where special services are available. (Of course, I don't consider Tacoma very close, but the military does.)

My mentor has been at OHSD for about 2 years, but has had experience with the same systems elsewhere. She's young and fiery fast; grew up in a military family, as well as married a career military man. She's cute and reminds me of Christina, the SLP I worked with a few years ago, when our offices were in the Willamette Building.

I applaud all those who taught me about oral-motor work, OT strategies, PT strategies and of course speech/language work. I've had to use it all here. I could really use MB to help with some swallowing stuff. I have a couple kids who eat only babyfood at home, so snacks are difficult. I put out crunchy snacks and they either lick off the spice/sugar or cry and smack their hands on their heads because it is nothing they want. They have tongues that are so big and just hang in the bottoms of their mouths. Drinking with a straw is difficult. Of course, there are no special straws here, more like stirrers, so that's my next purchase. The SLP here went to a conference recently that showed new research saying that bubbles, whistles and all that oral/motor work was bunk, that drill work on sounds was the only way to get kids to speak...well, I don't agree, so I'm doing what I know.

I desperately need helpers like JW and JF to make me some weighted pillows. Those kinds of things seem to be hard to come by here. I have one weighted vest (I need 3) and one small weighted blanket that none of my kids will use. I finally found a medicine ball. Playground balls are even hard to find. Of course, the OT materials, like large therapy balls, are in the 'OT room' in the main building. We do have a very knowledgeable COTA who comes to our classroom 1x/wk and lets us use the OT room regularly. I begin my afternoon class there for twenty minutes. One child slams his knees over and over into a ball pool or jumps out of the swing into it; one child, who is vision impaired, plays with shape sorters: we have to encourage him to climb and jump...which he likes once he gets started. He is so funny! He has good music abilities and constantly hums the songs he knows in rhythm to the activity he does! Another is obsessed with cars and trucks; so we put them on top of the climber and, after much freaking out, will climb up to get them.

That's my afternoon class at this point.

The morning class of 5 students is beginning to gel into a group. I have two kids in that group with moderate/severe autism. The boy I'm really concerned about; but the girl has it in her if we can just bring it out. They are both precious, nonverbal, tantrumy, funny and challenging. The other three kids in the class: one has difficulty with speech and problems in the social/emotional range (the child's mom had to go to Afghanistan for a tour during his second year and now has a hard time bonding); another has high functioning ASD, but is so afraid of bathrooming!. The third is a little guy with multiple problems, nonverbal, seizures, limited mobility, misshapen body, large head. In skills he reminds me a lot of our dear LW-R, but is only 1/2 his size. He has a bit more voluntary arm movement. I've convinced the SLP we need to have a good communication system in place for him for next year when he is school age.

I received, with a great sigh of relief, my first paycheck on Friday, so I don't have to live on credit anymore....just pay it off. Gulp! The pie-in-the-sky salary I was offered is a bust and I am very, very disappointed. I still haven't signed a contract, but we've pretty much finished our negotiations. I don't think I want to make a big stink out of it. Whether I have the opportunity to stay next year remains to be seen. Then I will decide if I really want to stay or try something else.

The teacher who is on leave fell in her workout gym and seriously fractured her wrist. She has had to cancel her first two trips abroad for extra surgeries to correct all her broken bones. I think this teacher has a great lawsuit if she wanted to take it. Evidently the gym was busy, so they put out an extra, new stepper without attaching its rubber, stabilizing feet. When this teacher stepped on it, it flew out from under her and she fell, injuring her wrist. SO! Lawsuit? What do you think?
She came to visit her friends at school after having been home from her first surgery and made the comment, "If I'd been working, I'd at least have been getting paid!" I guess she's never been in a hospital before and never had serious injury, so this has really been extra traumatic for her.

Last weekend and the week before I was pretty 'homesick', but that has passed. I drove off the island to the mall (Target and Fred Meyer) and felt like I got a bit of 'home'. It's okay. You can laugh at that! >smile<

Lilo-cat has settled in as well and loves to run up and down the hall. Her favorite game is chasing the bugs who fly in from my open windows (no screens in this dump). She's caught flies! She sits for hours watching the roly-poly bugs (sometimes called potato bugs) crawl across the floor......I seem to have an infestation of them. She seems much more content with less traffic going by. There is a gravel driveway next to my apartment and she sometimes starts at pickups going by on it, but has even gotten used to that. Sounds from the apartment above us still make her quizzical, but overall, we are settling in.

Life is good. I'm healthy at this point and enjoying the work. I am thankful for all the wonderful experiences and knowledge you've all shared with me in helping me reach this point!

A funny note: Last week, we had a family from TX come to 'check out' our school, as they may move here. The school psych (also new to the school, but not the area) asked me to answer their questions! I thought it strange I would be asked! I knew very little, but blathered on and on and did a 'tour' of the classrooms. Come to find out, the school psych was ill and about to go home.....no wonder! He just grabbed the first person he saw!

I've gotten a local symphony brochure: only $140 for a season ticket in the box seats (5 concerts)! So I think I'll sign up. Not for the box seats. The balcony will be fine, but it will be a good time out. Our school's PT plays in the symphony.

The school does some community work as well and has made a beautiful (I've heard) mural that has been installed at a local state park. The 'unveiling' celebration is today and all are invited, so I may check that out this afternoon. It's nice that those things are happening. I have to do a 'professional' project as well and have found that the local bird store installs bird feeders and food for free and we can watch the birds and identify them. I think it would be a great matching activity (birds to their pictures) for the children, so I'm looking into it further. I have to figure out what paperwork I need to do the proposal!!!!!

I have to admit that having class four days a week is keeping me on my toes for developing new curriculum. At this point, the children minimally sit for circle, so I can rely on some old standbys, but keeping up with new art projects is a pain. I'm glad one of my assistants is into that and has lots of ideas we can use. I like the art, but am more into the process than the product. Since my assistants have minimal prep time, I don't want them spending it on projects that are mostly teacher prepped and assembled.

I really like being in one spot. Our little classroom team make the room 'ours' and the consistency of the kids coming 4 days a week for 2.5hr/day is very helpful toward mastery of concepts and routines. Of course, bad habits are also more instilled, so it takes energy to weed those out. All in all, I'm enjoying my work here. The work with the kids is the same, the setting is different. I'm enjoying the different setting, and that's the reason I made the change. Working with the kids will always be my soul work!

If anyone is reading this, please pass on the website and make a comment so I know to continue or not. Thanks!

The Rubber Meets the Road

Well, this was my first week of teaching and believe me, it had its ups and downs. Monday we did child find screening (using the DIAL-3) and then a meeting to schedule the 10 or so evals that came from that screening. Yikes! I went home with a headache just thinking about it all!

Tuesday was the first day of class, and I did not have time on Monday to even talk with my assistants and get all the details laid out for that first day. But on we went! My morning class had 4 children in attendance (which increases by 3 next week!) It went okay for a first day with a new teacher and new room arrangement, etc. The afternoon class was, well...hell! In 45 minutes I'd run through our entire planned program and still had 1 hour and 45 More minutes to go! Somehow we made it through. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I have one Runner (with a capital 'R'!) and since I am the only able bodied one in the classroom to run, I had to catch this kid. There are 4 doors in my classroom, one on each side that go outside, and two that connect to the middle room. This is NOT GOOD for children who like to escape! I have another child who is visuall impaired but just wanders about, having no boundaries. One of the children did not have any reasonable receptive language for following directions ( I asked him to put his bowl in the sink and he put it on the floor next to the table.) The fourth child is a soc-em pistol, adopted from foster care. He's manipulative and craves attention with an attitude! I bonded to him pretty fast! At least I can verbally communicate with him! Even if he does stick out his bottom lip, lift up his nose and turn his face away from me when I give him directions!

Well, after that day, I realized I needed to do some fast rearrangement of class schedules and organize what the assistants needed to do to set up class for am and pm and for clean up. Their day is 6 1/2 hours, with their two 15 minute breaks and 1/2 hour lunch. They take their breaks and lunch in one lump in the middle of the day, so they have 1/2 hour work time between am and pm classes. They arrive in the morning 1/2 hour before classes begin and high-tail it out of there as soon as the kids leave on the bus at 3:30. So! A schedule was needed so that our classroom could be maintained while I do paperwork (and help a bit with classroom setup/cleanup!) and not have to stay all night long!

Wednesday went much better with the new schedule. Thursday and Friday were increasingly better as we melded as a classroom staff team and the kids got used to our transitions/activities. The SLP and her assistants are putting together Boardmaker pictures for me, so that will help, but I don't have them yet! With that and Julie D's help, I think I'll be able to put together what I need to teach the children. My sense is that last year, the classroom was run with a goal of peace and quiet, rather than addressing the children's issues. These kids are lower than many of ours by the time they are preschool age. So I guess having the birth-5 is advantageous in that way. The system here is advantageous in bringing consistency and repetition to learning concepts in the 4 days/wk program.

I'm quite exhausted at the end of each day, but have found that rather than staying at the school until I'm about to keel over from hunger or eating really unhealthy snacks while I try to concentrate on paperwork, I can drive or walk home (I measured it and the school is only .3 miles from my apartment!), eat a healthy supper, take a walk, and then go back and work a couple hours. It centers me much more.

The politics are just as heavy. I thought I'd be able to ignore them by coming on new....at least for one year! but that doesn't seem to be happening. I've been asking questions about why they don't have a vision specialist in the district/area when there are 3 blind/visually impaired children in preschool/K alone. Another question I've asked is why there is no autism specialist when Oak Harbor is a military-family mecca for families with children on the ASD spectrum, since they can get special services in Seattle. Of course, you already know the answer....... NO $$$$$! I guess I'm just fed up with the system. Our priorities as a nation are so skewed!

And for those of you who I glibly told the verbal salary offer to: What a pipedream! Reality hit when they sent me my contract to sign this week. I'm actually going to make LESS than I would have made at ESD this year!. Considering I had big moving expenses, I'm certainly not going to be getting OUT of debt, which was a goal I had for myself this year!

I can't complain about everything. I still like the small town feel; the fresh sea air, the sea breezes, the misty rain, and the gorgeous sunshine that warms us in the afternoons when the morning mist has burned off. We have had milder temperatures and less rain than all of you. I really haven't needed a coat yet, but have donned my vests (would you know me without my vests?)

Soon, I hope to take a picture of my classroom to send along. I'm still putting some finishing touches on it and this weekend plan to prepare an IEP (meeting is on Monday....I've known the kid for four days! and working the new computer program is challenging!) and organize the office area. I've just been piling up the paper and need to organize children's files, other info I've received.

It is different to be a part of a whole school. There are requirements, like attending part of every staff meeting, taking daily attendance (oops! I think I forgot to do that this afternoon!) and picking up my school mail, reading the bulletin board in the staff room to stay abreast of school happenings (I missed a training because I hadn't read that board for the day!). It just adds another layer of responsibility/accountability to the whole picture of sped preschool. I haven't decided if it is good or bad. I see some advantages and some disadvantages. The main advantage I see at this point, is that we Are a part of the larger school so that the K transition might be easier. Also, the consistency of receiving instruction 4/days/week has got to have a positive impact. The disadvantages are from a philosophical point of view. Early childhood intervention is more preventative, I believe, while, school-age (which I am a part of) special education is more of a 'failure' based approach. In other words, the children have to fail before they start receiving services. And I really despise that and have had to deal with it during our child find activities.

Well, it really is late and my brain is pretty well fried for the week. Have a good weekend, all! Since tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, I plan to take advantage of some outdoor walking and deep breathing! Hope you can do the same!

I Get By With a 'Lot' of Help From My Friends

Here I am at the end of week two. I've finally got internet connection from home and, boy, I feel like I'm a part of the world community again!


Last weekend, Labor Day Holiday weekend, my friend, Cindy, came to visit, help me unpack and visit some of the hiking points on the island. She is a real taskmaster, let me tell you! We worked 'our buns off' and got SO MUCH accomplished! It would have all taken me months to finish what we did in one very long day. I would never have actually rearranged the furniture or even begun to tackle the back bedroom without her prodding me along. Thanks, Cindy! My apartment has evolved into a decent little home now. I still have things to finish unpacking, but the big stuff is in place, curtains are hung, pictures are on the wall, the kitchen is functioning and my bedroom is shaping up. I can even walk in a path through the maze of boxes in the 2nd bedroom and have placed several of my preschool boxes on shelves. In another few weeks, I should actually have that second bedroom into a sort of storage/office/guest bedroom arrangement. I had cleaned and unpacked my little bathroom first. It was pretty scuzzy and I scoured it out. The oak backsplash around the sink was all dirty and water worn, so I sanded it down and put a new coat of oak finish on it. Tuesday, the 'fix-it' guy is coming to recaulk the tub/shower unit and fix a couple other things like two broken burners on the stove, clear out the drains, etc. Its cheap apartment living, what can I say? If I stay here longer than this year, I'll be looking for a nicer place to live, but for now this is comfortable and close to everything. I actually have a good lead on a nice little 'mother-in-law' house just outside of OH. I really hope it will be just right for me!

In about 1/2 mile I can be on the main street of town and at the water's edge on a walking path. If I go the other direction, my school is only about 3/4 mile (my plan is to walk to work once in awhile). I haven't been able to do it so far, as I've been carting a lot of stuff to the classroom, but on Monday I WILL walk to work. We are doing child find (giving the Dial-3) at the United Methodist church which is two blocks from my place! The post office is only about 1/2 mile down a side street. I do drive to the grocery store, as it is probably 3-4 miles to the closest, my favorite one. The Market Place has a whole section of vegetarian/vegan products. They aren't as inexpensive as Trader Joe's, but it certainly is a blessing! Bob's Red Mill grains, nuts and things are also available. He's everywhere! :o)

Even though Cindy and I worked really hard last weekend, we played hard, too. We went to Ft. Eby State Park and hiked the Bluff trail, looking over the Juan De Fuca straight and watching some paragliders practicing. There really wasn't enough wind to glide. I've been trying to figure out where they land, if they are able to turn and come back to the bluff, or what. I can't imagine they'd glide across the channel or land in the water. I'll figure it out on another hike. then we drove part way down the Island to Greenbank Farms. I understand they have Pie to die for! It was closed when we got there, but it is a beautiful compound.

The weather has been absolutely perfect at about 72-80 degrees the first week and cooling somewhat after that. Today was the first day we had rain. And I'm actually sitting here with my door open a crack, but wearing long pants and a sweatshirt. It is definitely fall, as there is cool cloudiness, almost mist, in the early mornings and then it burns off into that muted early fall sunshine in the afternoons. By the way, have you been able to see the moon this week? Oh my, it was a huge, golden, orange orb Friday night and a bright white light reflecting in the water on Thursday night. I sat for a few minutes in the park at water's edge to observe it and calm my soul after my long week. It is so wonderful to step outside, smell the fresh sea air and have the memories of 'camping' flit through my mind. (We used to camp at the coast a lot and the air here smells similarly.)

I am in a steep learning curve at school, as I learn how everything operates in their system. I had a day's training of their IEPOnline system. I haven't actually done an IEP on it yet, but will have to next week. Many of the preschool sped team are new this year: SLP, OT, school Psych and me. On the preschool team, we have 3 teachers (3 classrooms), two part-time SLPs, two OTs who rotate throughout the district (they are short OTs if anyone is interested! and Because of the OT shortage, two COTAs were hired, new.) There are two assistants for each teacher, the SLP has two assistants. The psych also cares for one other elementary besides the one the preschool is in, I think, but mostly his time is dedicated to the preschool. The SLP also has Head Start, whose building is next to the elementary.

There is a sort of 'preschool wing' at the elementary. Think of a large rectangle with a classroom on each end, and the middle is a large space divided into bathrooms at one end, kitchen/gross motor room with two small offices on the other end of that middle area. The two, small offices are for the SLP and Psych. The teachers all have a corner of their classrooms for their 'offices'. Thanks to my team's experience in rearranging classrooms (I'm talking CMC, here), I was able to make a decent space for myself and my IAs that blocks off that area from the play area. We do have our own classroom computer and printer. We hold meetings right in the classroom or one of the small offices. It's not grand, but seems so workable and stable. The school district website is set up so that, if need be, we can do paperwork from home using our own computers.

I can't express how it has been to actually have a classroom to call 'mine'. (The old OC team would shudder at the term 'my'!) To decorate and set it up has been challenging, exciting and exhausting. Trying to make all my things fit in my apartment, then going to a classroom and having to do the same there is just mind boggling. I was never too good at those little puzzles that you push the pieces around until the picture is complete....what are they called? But that's what I've felt I've been doing for two weeks in two Big areas of my life!

I've gone to my church last weekend and this weekend. Its a very small group and I really miss my Bible study group that I'd been a part of in Portland for the last 1 1/2 years. There's really not anything like that here. I'm hoping to find a group, or start one later on. I have no energy to stretch any more to new ventures, right now.

I met my families and their children on Friday. It will be a challenging group, but fun. It is quite a multicultural group. There are as many black children as white and the cultures are varied. Many are Navy families who come and go at the whim of the US government. It is sad for the children and moms/dads, as they just build trust and a program for their child and off they go. I'm just beginning to grapple with that aspect.

I suppose the most deeply moving thing that has happened is that this is a community and school district who really honors their teachers and respects them. Relaying to shopkeepers, acquaintances that I have moved here to teach brings smiles and congratulations and a wish that I'll stay a long time. It is a friendly community and small town. Right now, I love the 'feel' of it. On Friday, I received a gift pack from the Chamber of Commerce which contained a lot of really nice stuff plus the usual coupons, etc. There was a measuring tape (which our classroom needed!), a clipboard, ruler, solar calculator (a nice big one!), candy (yum), a granola bar, a water bottle, a rubber-banded bunch of pens and pencils from various stores/agencies, samples of lotion, etc.

Well, I'm going to walk to the PO before it gets dark and see if I have any mail. I ordered some Headliner from Fabric Depot and haven't received it yet. Class starts on Tuesday, so I really need it for my circle time area! Email and let me know how you all are doing. Even though I enjoy my new team, here, I miss all of you!

If any of you see Julie D, ask her if she got my email about my needing some of the aug com picture/song sets she'd made up for us. I really don't want to reinvent the wheel! :o)

Mardy, Marlene: How are your sons?

Have a nice weekend, all.

What I Did Last Summer...with pix!

No, its not the latest in the psychothrillers, but it is Moving!

In June I visited my kids to help them pack for a cross-country move. I really liked the town they were moving from, so, on a whim, checked the internet for local jobs listings. Lo, and Behold! I found one, decided to apply, was interviewed and accepted the job! From beginning of the process to my hauling stuff into a new apartment was a total of 9 weeks. Okay, scoff if you want, movers and shakers of the world. I had lived in one place for 34 years and now I was moving...ON MY OWN....to start in a new place at the ripe old age of 57! Without God's guidance and the dear, dear sacrifices of many friends, I would not have made it. But here I am! There are many stories to tell and a few pictures of the process. The pictures will be added when I am duly 'hooked' to the internet at home. Right now I am using my classroom's computer to start relaying the adventure.





My dear former team members gave all they could to get me finished packed, loaded and driven and even unpacked into my 'new' place. Upon reflection I am left with a conflict of emotions: (1) They love me so much, they did all that for ME! (2) Wow! They really wanted me out of there FAST!... You choose.

We had a packing, loading party one evening: results of that were:
-no time for a garge sale, so three days of 'free: take me away' junk in the driveway
-two half-eaten pizzas left of 4;
-2 bottles of wine given away (if I ever wanted to drink, believe me, this would have been the time!)
-2 liters of soda given away;
-one final call to 1-800-GOT JUNK?
-several large and small 'mystery' boxes...which I still have not unpacked;
-having to pack the last of the stuff in Karen and Ron's Astro van and my car since a 16 ft. truck wasn't big enough to hold my lifetime's collection of, (may I say it?)crap.
-one neighbor's borrowed stool to retrieve my cat from her hiding in the top kitchen cupboard so I could crate her for the trip
-wearing only flip-flops on my feet for three days while driving and unpacking. Oh, I did find 1 pink slipper as a supplement for the next three days. While most would not find that unusual, I remember being told as a child (when flip-flops were labeled "thongs") that I was Never to drive in them and to wear supportive shoes when doing manual labor. I did both in my flip-flops this summer.


The week before the move my friend Cindy and I traveled to OH (the new town) to find a place for me to live, etc. At the end of the trip, about 1 1/2 miles from my home, the car overheated, which resulted in having it towed to the fix-it shop and a new radiator and thermostat replaced.

My dear daughter came to help me pack and two days before I left for the big move, we took a short break for a Piece of Cake. Someone in the parking lot(does anyone do the right thing anymore, leaving their info in an accident like this?) knocked my driver's side mirror off and I had to have that replaced. Thankfully it all was resolved in a timely manner, though not without much worry and fretting.

Upon arrival at OH, I was so exhausted. I knew, also, that Karen and Ron, who had the willingness to drive the truck and van through nighttime Seattle construction traffic, were exhausted. HOW, I wondered, would we ever have the energy to get all that stuff unpacked? I ached and groaned just thinking about it. Having unsuccessfully tried to get some Navy friends to help, I just stuck out my credit card and called Mayflower for two hunks to come unload the truck. It was great. I was really in my element, supervising, pointing, and commanding, "Put that box, there, no there, no, could you move that couch one more time over to this wall, please? What's that? Oh, another mystery box? It goes in the second bedroom."
Then Ron had to take their van to the fix-it shop as it was making worrisome noises. I loaned my car to them while they waited for the van to be fixed.

My cat, Lilo? She hid in the closet for 3 days before venturing out. I even had to put her food in the bedroom to get her to eat. She did finally venture to the bathroom nearby where her litter box was located. Unfortunately I was not able to hide and recover. Monday demanded me at my new job. Whew!