Thanksgiving Break and Weather

Because of bad weather predictions over mountain passes, I decided not to visit my daughter and drove, instead to Portland to see friends. Sorry I didn't get to call or visit with more of you. Time was short!

I had a long trip down, as it was bumper-to-bumper traffic most of the way, but the trip was worth it, to reconnect and feel 'home' again. I did some shopping and visited. It was great to eat T-day dinner with Barb, visit with Claire and hear about Cindy's Peru trip. Then it was time to hit the road again, and with more ferocious weather in the forecast, I left a bit early (9 a.m.) Sunday morning, expecting really heavy traffic and bad weather. The traffic turned out to be light and the weather not bad at all. It started snowing just as I turned off I5 to go to the island and continued snowing all the way. The snow was just starting to stick to the road and made it slushy. I arrived home in thick falling snow and made haste to unpack and settle in, including preparing for another power outage, as I don't trust it here. Thankfully there was no power outage.

In spite of 4 inches of snow the next morning, we had school, with only a 1 hour delay start. Monday is our preschool day for meetings, evals, etc., so we did not have kids, except for our evals which went on as planned. We only had one cancel of the three for that day. My assistants and I planned curriculum for December and redecorated the classroom a bit. We made ready for class today.

Thankfully, the school district is closed today. Hooray! It is really icey, as the sun came out in the middle of the day yesterday just enough to melt a bit on the roads and then the temp dropped into the 20's F last night. I'm so glad school cancelled. I feel quite cozy looking at all the snowy trees glistening in the sunshine from my warm living room, watching my kitty curled up in her favorite spot by the window and smelling the yam I have baking. All good things!

Here are some pictures of the snow, which as I've been told, is very Rare, here.

A Wild Week

This week has been difficult, to say the least. I took Tuesday off and had a lovely day, but didn't get accomplished even half of what I anicipated. Then Wednesday came, Oh, Wednesday.

There was a really bad storm that brewed. Was it that day we heard the news of a strong earthquake off the tip of Japan and they expected the whole west coast to receive the butt end with a tsunami? It was supposed to be only a 6 ft wave, but still.......I live on an island!! Thankfully I do live on one of the highest parts of it. So, I calmed my phobia of drowning and went on with my day. As the day progressed, true to the weather forecaster's predictions, a humongous storm developed. The winds took one's breath away and the gusts were enough to have difficulty standing up to.....literally. Trees came down over the island, blocking roads and at noon, the power went out at the school as my assistants and I ate our lunches. The bus driver came in about 20 minutes later and said, "I'm off to pick up your kids, are you having class this afternoon?" Well, I assumed that the principal would cancel classes, so I did run out to ask her....she was directing children into the cafeteria to eat....by lantern. She said, 'We're going on with our schedule." I was shocked to say the least. So I reported the news to the preschool staff and bus driver. Okay, I thought. What will we do...........I've got to keep to the regular class schedule so the kids will stay as calm as possible (I'm talking about special ed kids here - preschoolers - some nonverbal, some who shriek at ear piercing levels at the slightest mention of any change, and some who become like little leeches, clinging to the nearest familiar adult, and some who become violent to anyone and anything because they don't understand why anything is different.

So we went on with class. We have one large window in the room and we moved any barriers that blocked even a fraction of the light from that window, so we could pretty much see around the room.( There was no fear of it shattering for any storm reason.) After an hour, the emergency light in the center of the room went off, so it was darker. Each of us had a flashlight (I had my cell phone in one pocket and my own flashlight I'd brought from home in the other). As we did our songs and stories at circle time, I shone the flashlight on each picture or manipulative...it was interesting to watch the kids respond to that 'focused' effort. We did not take the kids to the bathroom to change diapers, as there is no window or light in there and we weren't about to change diapers without light. For those for whom it was absolutely necessary, we changed them in the classroom. So kids went home pretty soaked 2.5 hours later, but safe. I felt calm, with growing anxiety about the kids, during that time, expecting families to come pick up their kids or for the school to decide to close. It never happened. We finished class and sent the kids home on their buses. It was obvious the bus drivers were stressed. Several roads were closed with trees across them and the stoplights were out. Staff left for home right after the kids, as we needed to get home, check to make sure our homes were safe and set up for a long night without electricity......you know, candles, lanterns, emergency food, emergency radio, etc.

I did all that and realized my little old radio I use for emergencies didn't have very good batteries and I didn't know if the loose ones in my kitchen 'junk' drawer worked, so I decided to drive to Walmart to see if it was open and I could get some new batteries.........ridiculous, I know. What I did see was that the entire town for as far as I could see was black. The only lights were from cars on the road. Walmart was closed, but the nearby Albertson's parking lot was full and a line of people with carts was around the building as they checked out manually. Safeway was the same....they are only a few blocks from each other. So I just drove home (the whole trip took, oh, maybe 10-15 minutes). Come to find out the batteries in my junk drawer did work. I think I had to drive around a bit just to convince myself I was okay.

I lit all my candles, heated a can of chili on my emergency camp stove with the little fuel pellets (yes, I know, open flame in the house) and had supper. Then I cozied myself on the couch under a blanket with a book.......unfortunately, the light wasn't that good to read by (I'm having a harder time seeing in the dark as I get older), so I used a flashlight, one that you shake to keep going, to read by, as well. After an hour of that, I was bored....book wasn't that interesting and I was getting cold, even through my blanket. With the people upstairs' cigarette smoke seeping through the walls (there isn't supposed to be inside smoking here!) and all my 'scented' candles lit, I had to take an allergy pill. Then at 7 p.m. I put an extra quilt on my bed, socks on my tootsies and snuggled in. I was tired from the day's excitement, anyway. Lilo stayed close by my side the entire time. I noticed there were lights on at the police station a block away...they were lit up like a carnival, it seemed..

I found out Thursday that most of the island was without power, as a main transformer blew. We had no phones either. I guess the main station for the phone service is located at our school, so of course the school was without phones. We did have walkie-talkies in each room for emergencies....but I'd forgotten that, thus the cell phone in my pocket. I couldn't even find a radio station that kept me abreast of what was happening.

We had a short staff meeting first thing Thursday morning and it was then that I decided for sure that this place is absolutely, NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The principal wanted us to summarize what went right and what was negative about the experience.They never even mentioned the fact that maybe they should have Closed the school? They talked about how we needed to keep the kids here because it is a designated 'safe' place (their homes aren't?) And it would have been chaos having parents come in to take their children home or have the buses drop off children not knowing if parents were home. Well, even the Navy Base here closed! Those parents were told the schools were closed too, so those parents came to pick up their kids! Do you think there's a good flow of communication here? AAARRGGGHHHH! And where was the school superintendent in all this? I never did hear anything about his decision making! Is he actually Here?

Then the principal and staff of older students talked about how some of their older students were scared to go to the bathroom because of no lights, but the flashlights were a good idea. Some parent brought in a few electric-battery operated lanterns. Then the emergency lights in the classrooms were mentioned that they were a big help.......until they, too, went out! The principal says, "Well, I doubt if the school board will approve buying any more of those, as they are expensive, but maybe we could get a bunch of battery powered lanterns and keep them in the bathrooms." Of course, then was brought up, you guessed it, that some of the emergency flashlights did not work as the batteries were dead. Who would buy replacement batteries? No money for that either. Can you believe this? Of course, they thought they'd ask the PTA, but weren't sure about that. There is some sort of funds reserved for emergency/safety, so they would look into that as well.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Until teachers stop working overtime for free and buying needed classroom supplies with their own money and doing labor for free, nothing will change for the better with our school systems!

Then, and I think this tops it all, one staff member brought up that instead of having the students take their gym time in the gym, that they should stay in their classrooms during these emergencies; as when the 1st and 2nd graders were in there, there was danger of the windows blowing out and, (get this), the staff member said the first and second graders were being, and I quote, "Disrespectful" to the teachers by not listening to them to stay away from the windows. Okay, so they are punishing the first and second graders because the teachers can't 'get no respect"? AAARRRRGGGGHHHH! What is wrong with this picture?

This whole meeting became, not a meeting to care for the kids, but how the teachers could best 'control' the situation. Now, granted, we teachers need to be in control of adult situations so the children will be safe, but really, folks, if the children need to stay in the classrooms, let's come up with a better reason why.

Needless to say, when I arrived back at the preschool wing after that staff meeting and shared with other preschool staff there what had been said, I was livid. I think having to hold the stress in the previous day and night finally got to me and I just needed a punching bag to let it all out! Unfortunately, I retold the events of that meeting with more emotion and emotionally laden words than I probably should have!

Thursday was a sunny day, though cold (and windy, as always), but so different from the day before, like nature was trying to make up for her temper tantrum. We took the kids OUTSIDE for play and it was a great relief! Then that night, I went with three other staff to a teleconference at our ESD, about an hour away, off the island, We had to go around work trucks who were still trying to remove debris and trees from the road. During the storm the ferries closed and even the one bridge to the island was closed for a short while, as it is on a high point and a vehicle could be blown off in the high winds (we're talking 50-90 mph gusts, here!)

I couldn't get done with Friday soon enough. My emotions were ragged throughout the day and in the middle of the morning I just about lost it in the middle of class. It seemed like every kid was whining, crying, pulling at me and fighting. We were all suffering from the stress of the storm!

Thanksgiving is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is Not Just Work

Okay, I've settled in enough to actually be spending more time at home. That leaves me with a bit of an empty feeling as I haven't made friends well enough to just call someone and say 'Want to go....?" I do have an invite to my director's home for a sped movie and supper this evening. It makes me a little nervous. Since it is a small town, I'm supposing that friends are often with those you work, but I also wonder about the political implications of this. I know that she and I are both single, midlife women and this is only her second year here. We will see.

School life is into a routine. Deadlines arise for paperwork. Our first 'report cards' are due by Thanksgiving. I have to input info into IEPonline and then figure out some form of it to send home to parents, rather than a complete copy of the IEP with the added progress notes. Its a different system; yet the same.

Seems lots of people are having accidents lately. One assistant fell and gave herself a good whiplash, a teacher slipped down some steps and gave herself a concussion. One assistant's brother died suddenly. The principal's parent died. Our SLP slipped at home and pulled ligaments in her leg/foot. The new OT chased a child and pulled her calf muscle badly. I tell you we are the walking/working wounded. So far, thankfully, I have been able to stay upright and fairly healthy.

Not much else to tell. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break, as I haven't had any time off, except for this last Friday, Veteran's day. Most businesses were closed here, so I couldn't do some of the errands I had planned. I needed the veg-out time, anyway.

Work is work. It is time to live life outside of work....I'm talking to myself here.
Have a good week!

My First Field Trip

Tuesday, the first day of our school week with kids, was a field trip to this small farm with pumpkins galore that had mostly frozen from harsh frost the two previous nights. Many pumpkins had been laboriously made into jack-o-lanterns, forming a path through the farm. We walked by a pen of about 8 stinky turkeys, 3-4 half-Siamese cats and many kittens in a crate, smelly, noisy geese penned with one duck and one hen (I'm wondering if the 'loners' were from 'Joey' on "Friends"...made me laugh in the middle of insanity to think of it, anyway.) There was another pen of peacocks, pea-hens and half grown chicks, another of 3 pigs (black, brown and whitish-pink.."The Three Little Pigs"?) and a field of cows behind an electric fence that had been supposedly made 'safe' by putting a line of hay bales in front of it. Do you know how fast a 3-5 year-old can get over a hay bale? The cows were fed the half-frozen pumpkins and Mr. Pumpkin fed them corn-on-the-cob around which they wrapped their long, long tongues......and some people think cow tongue is a delicacy! >Shudder< Gross!

Thankfully, the sun was shining and the cold weather of the previous two days made the paths hard (frozen) with no muddy potholes that kids might have found fun. It was a beautiful crisp fall day for a field trip, despite all my fears and reservations about taking my group on this field trip. I think the best pictures of kids are taken around bright orange pumpkins in the fall. Maybe its the golden glow of the sun and air or something. Of course, I forgot my camera, but the other teacher had one and took some excellent pictures of my kids...thankfully! If I had taken the pictures, they probably wouldn't have been so good! As much as I try, I am not a good photographer!

We were directed by the owners of this operation, known as Mr and Mrs. Pumpkin. They had orange hunter-type jumpsuits on and the man had orange hair that looked like it had gotten electrocuted in the electric fence. (In the middle of his head was a large green stem poking out!). I'm surprised the kids weren't more afraid of the duo.

Okay, there were 3 special education teachers, 2 assistants per teacher/class and two-three parents. In the morning I had eight students of the 24 total from all three classes. Of those, I'd say about 3 of mine were able to process what was even happening. One kept running back to the geese pen and imitating the honking.....only words he's said! Anyone heard of 'goose therapy'? One kept running back to the cat crate to pinch the cats...I wanted to pinch Him! Another just whined and threw himself on the ground whenever we stopped to listen to a story from the Pumpkins. We could never let go of this one as he would run off just for the joy of running. Another is visually impaired and couldn't really see the animals unless he was up close....thus no fear of electric fences! He just hummed his little tune as he wandered around, stumbling over pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Thank goodness 'the screamer's' mom came with us and so we had no trouble with her!) We had to help them all find the few pumpkins that had not frozen. Of course, none of the kids brought money from home (as asked) to get a pumpkin, but Mr. Pumpkin set them up by saying, "Okay, go find yourself a good pumpkin!" So guess who ended up paying for the pumpkins? At $2 per small, orange globe, they weren't cheap! Then we sat on hay bales to eat a snack we'd brought for the kids. We had their favorites: goldfish crackers and gummy bears (the current M&M motivators), juice boxes or small water bottles.

Of course we also had to push one child's wheelchair around this set up; he doesn't like to be outside, as the bright sunshine hurts his eyes (He had a stroller rooftop to handle this) and if we stopped, he just wanted to 'go', as he enjoyed the movement over the bumpy ground. Add to that the limitations of my assistants: One has morbid obesity, knees ready for replacement and a bird phobia [remember geese, duck, hen, turkeys, peacocks, pea-hens?] The second suffers from lymphodema, so she can't run or get on her knees. Is it any wonder I couldn't sleep the night before and forgot to take the camera or have the kids wash their hands with the carefully packed Purell before snack? Yikes!

Remember, I have one class in the morning, and another in the afternoon, so we returned to the school, let the kids run on the playground for 15 minutes, then loaded them all on the buses to go home. We staff ate lunch, gathered our courage and repeated the process all over again with the afternoon classes. Believe me, by the time we returned to the school that afternoon, we were all exhausted physically and mentally and emotionally.

Now as I have been taught and actually enjoy, I reflected on the experience. The first thought that entered my mind was selfish: Who thought of field trips for these kids, anyway? And, What in the world was the educational relevance and why should I have to go through all that, worrying about all those kids perhaps being injured, bee-stung, bit, scratched, having seizures, etc?

To minimize the children's stress, I pre-made picture schedules of the event, took those schedules with us on the trip and repeatedly showed them to kids who were fearful or 'stuck'. I had to take two backpacks: one with snacks and the other Full of first aid equipment, blood-borne pathogen kit, diaper changing supplies and emergency information on each child. A few kids were able to process the experience, but only a minority.

Then I calmed down to think about it from another view: If I were the parent of a child with special needs, I'd still go to the Pumpkin Patch, so I could let my child have at least the stimulation of participating in community activities and giving him/her the same opportunities other children have. And really, we don't know for sure how much the kids were able to retain for happy memories.

Okay that was Tuesday. On Wednesday the school day was off kilter as we'd had that field trip the day before and kids were all unruly and out of sync and, of course, (1) assistant called in 'sick' as her knees hurt too much.

On Thursday, I think the stress of it all had caught up with me and I just wanted to velcro each child to a chair, put my hands over my own ears and rock in the fetal position! I was tired of listening to the perpetual high, ear-piercing screams, listening to the whines, keeping one child from continually stripping off his clothes, trying to keep calm, quieting those whose ears are overly sensitive to sound and chasing after the runners. All this while trying to do the daily learning activities. Thankfully, in our little classroom, my assistants can function well so they were good help. But it rained that day and we couldn't take the kids outside to work off some of their energy, breathe deeply, and, frankly, to give us teachers a breath of fresh air. Even though there are problems with the playground, it is basically enclosed and fairly safe for the kids to run and play 'free'. I know there are learning activities outside, too, but not that day!

I called Cindy Thursday night to wish her well on her Peru trip. I think she was actually feeling positive about it and wanting to get going. But she relayed the horrible news about James Barnes. My heart aches for their whole family. Could someone send me their home address so I can send a card? They are writing in their blog, so I am commenting there. Let me know, too, of anything you guys do as a group. I'd like to help out.

I've been very glad for this weekend of rest. Yesterday was really rainy and I took advantage of it, napping and reading and watching 'Free Willie" on TV. It actually reminded me of the kids we get in our classroom, it that we put so much of our heart and soul work into trying to help them be 'free' to be their best selves. Then like Willie (Keiko, for real) , our hard years of work seems very disappointing and rather worthless, just as Keiko didn't make it out of his 'self-contained classroom.' It's sad. Janet always said: "For this one (at least for this moment, sic) it makes a difference."

Today is the calm before another windy/rain storm and I took advantage of the break and took a walk along the water. I breathed deeply of that fresh sea air. It was very interesting to see the low tide and all the seaweed that actually covered the shore so that it looked like green grass. Then there were lots of pieces of driftwood that had floated out into the bay from the high waves and tide, I guess. I'm going to try to go down to the shore during the next storm and see it first hand. The herons were close to the water's edge, very close to the walking path, looking for breakfast. There were lots of other shore birds and the local kingfisher was there too. No eagles today, but I had my first view of the local pair last weekend on pilings in the bay. I'd heard a lot about them from others. I love my nature ramblings here!

Okay, I've got to get busy for another week. I'd love to hear from any of you!