This month at school has been hard so far and it's not promising to get any easier. Of course teaching in December is normally stressful due to the "holiday high" that comes on right after Thanksgiving break, but this year is different.
Last year my room was the only self contained classroom. This year there were so many kindergarten kids with classifications (10 boys) that the district created a seperate self contained class for them. The original intent was for both of the classes to collaborate, however that failed to happen because the kindergarten teacher tried to handle things on her own. Over the last few months we've watched as her students became more and more uncontrollable despite our attempts to intervene. A little over a week ago we had a turning point. One of the kindergarten boys, L., ran up to the teacher, pushed her down, pulled her hair, and tried to choke her. She broke down in sobs - the entire class watching the whole incident. She asked for help.
This was both good and bad. We have completely rearranged our morning routine to accomodate the kindergarten class. I spent two days last week restraining L. when he got out of hand. L. has severe anger issues due to living with an alcoholic mother and a drug dealing father. Over the course of the last week we have seen tremendous improvement in his behavior. Unfortunately the students I generally work with have regressed because of the routine change and the fact that our attention isn't solely focused on them. J., who had been saying "eat" and improving in his behavior has stopped this verbal communication and has been attacking us assistants as well as the other students by biting and scratching us. The other students have been very whiny and clingy. To top it off most of the kids are sick with some form of a cold.
We're all hoping that this stage will end when we return from Christmas break. Until then, if you think of it, please pray that we'll have the energy, endurance, and patience to deal with these new issues.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
One more thing,
it'll only take a moment;
Hold on, one minute
just let me do one more thing.
One more thing turns into two
then three
now four.
How many more
before I sit and rest;
release my concerns to you,
quiet my mind,
hear You speak to me?
You wait patiently
watching me run to and fro.
Longing for me to stop,
turn to You
sit in Your presence.
it'll only take a moment;
Hold on, one minute
just let me do one more thing.
One more thing turns into two
then three
now four.
How many more
before I sit and rest;
release my concerns to you,
quiet my mind,
hear You speak to me?
You wait patiently
watching me run to and fro.
Longing for me to stop,
turn to You
sit in Your presence.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Importance of Words
Lately, I've been thinking alot about words. When I'm writing poetry I pay extra attention to the words I use. I double, and even triple check emails I write to make sure my words are spelled correctly and make sense. When speaking to children I try to be mindful of the words I use, especially when disciplining them, so that they don't feel like failures.
Why is it then that I allow negative and destructive words to be spoken by me about who I am? A few weeks ago I was having an issue with my car insurance company. To make a long story short I owed them a large sum of money because I hadn't been paying my bills. The payments were supposed to have come directly out of my paycheck, but they hadn't. I was frustrated with the situation and kept berating myself by saying "I'm not good with finances". It was pointed out to me that if I kept speaking that lie over myself that it would come true and be part of who I am.
The truth is that I am pretty good with finances. I don't make alot of money, but I usually pay my bills on time and am disciplined in how I spend it. That's not to say that there aren't times when I spend my money unwisely or been so busy that I forget to pay my car insurance. That doesn't make me a failure at finances though. The same is true with anything else in life. There are times when I'm really organized and have my apartment spotless, say the right thing at the right time, drive the speedlimit and follow all other driving laws, make it ontime to work, and have extreme patience with people and situations. There are many other times, however, when my life seems chaotic and there's a ton of clutter everywhere in my apartment, my bed wasn't made, I'm late to work, I say the wrong thing, I don't exactly follow all of the driving rules, and my patience is wearing thin or nonexistent. Occasionally that happens all in one day. :-(
It is at those times when I'm not quite living up to my self-imposed expectations that I struggle with negative self-talk. The danger comes when those negative thoughts take over the truth. The truth is that although I will never get it all right every single minute of the day, God loves me and delights in me. My goal through this coming month is to remember that every time I believe I've messed something up instead of dwelling on my negative self talk.
“You are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you.” Isaiah 43:4
Why is it then that I allow negative and destructive words to be spoken by me about who I am? A few weeks ago I was having an issue with my car insurance company. To make a long story short I owed them a large sum of money because I hadn't been paying my bills. The payments were supposed to have come directly out of my paycheck, but they hadn't. I was frustrated with the situation and kept berating myself by saying "I'm not good with finances". It was pointed out to me that if I kept speaking that lie over myself that it would come true and be part of who I am.
The truth is that I am pretty good with finances. I don't make alot of money, but I usually pay my bills on time and am disciplined in how I spend it. That's not to say that there aren't times when I spend my money unwisely or been so busy that I forget to pay my car insurance. That doesn't make me a failure at finances though. The same is true with anything else in life. There are times when I'm really organized and have my apartment spotless, say the right thing at the right time, drive the speedlimit and follow all other driving laws, make it ontime to work, and have extreme patience with people and situations. There are many other times, however, when my life seems chaotic and there's a ton of clutter everywhere in my apartment, my bed wasn't made, I'm late to work, I say the wrong thing, I don't exactly follow all of the driving rules, and my patience is wearing thin or nonexistent. Occasionally that happens all in one day. :-(
It is at those times when I'm not quite living up to my self-imposed expectations that I struggle with negative self-talk. The danger comes when those negative thoughts take over the truth. The truth is that although I will never get it all right every single minute of the day, God loves me and delights in me. My goal through this coming month is to remember that every time I believe I've messed something up instead of dwelling on my negative self talk.
“You are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you.” Isaiah 43:4
Monday, November 7, 2011
October blessings
I realize it's already November, but I thought I'd share some of the things I've been very thankful for during the month of October.
Migraines: I've set a new record in days without a migraine. I reached 26 days this month, which makes this the first month in about 4 years that I've only had one migraine! God was also merciful to me during that migraine by 1) allowing it to happen at night, after work. I didn't have to call out or work while sick and it gave me a couple extra hours of sleep and 2) I only needed half of an imitrex to make it go away.
Financial Provision: This was the fourth month in a row in which I've been able to pay all of my rent on time, as well as all of my bills. God has also worked it out for Jeremy's parents to give me back my original wages. When I first started watching Jeremy two years ago I was paid primarily by Jawanio. Jawanio only allowed me to work with Jeremy 12 hours a week, so his parents agreed to pay me $15/hr for each hour I went over the allotted time. When Jawanio stopped paying me to watch Jeremy his parents lowered their private rate to $12/hr. They saw it as a compromise since Jawanio had been paying me a lower rate. During the summer however, I was watching two boys and training a puppy. After a rather uncomfortable discussion, his parents agreed to pay me the original $15/hr for the summer only. In September they decreased the rate again reasoning that I was only taking care of Jeremy. I have to admit that there were many days in which I had both the boys for an hour or so and I felt take advantage of. I was unsure as to how much longer to continue working for the family when Jeremy's mom came to me and said she had been feeling guilty about how much they had been paying me and said that starting that week my rate would return to the $15/hr.
Heat: My living situation is far from perfect, but my landlady did turn on the heat finally. I still use my space heater more than I'd like, but at least there isn't a draft like I had in my old place. Sometimes the apartment actually gets quite warm without the space heater. My landlady has also stopped complaining about me leaving the stairwell light on while I'm gone during the night. Most of the time the light remains lit while I'm gone. In the past, the light would "accidently" get turned off by her because she felt I was being inconsiderate of her electric bill.
Family Health: After undergoing a stress test, my dad's cardiologist declared that he doesn't need heart surgery right now. He needs to watch his diet, start exercising, and have his heart monitored for further valve deterioration. My grandmother also returned home from the hospital after suffering from a TIA (mini-stroke). Other than trying to get rid of bronchitis she seems to be back to her previous health.
There are many more things I'm thankful for, but these four top my list for now.
Migraines: I've set a new record in days without a migraine. I reached 26 days this month, which makes this the first month in about 4 years that I've only had one migraine! God was also merciful to me during that migraine by 1) allowing it to happen at night, after work. I didn't have to call out or work while sick and it gave me a couple extra hours of sleep and 2) I only needed half of an imitrex to make it go away.
Financial Provision: This was the fourth month in a row in which I've been able to pay all of my rent on time, as well as all of my bills. God has also worked it out for Jeremy's parents to give me back my original wages. When I first started watching Jeremy two years ago I was paid primarily by Jawanio. Jawanio only allowed me to work with Jeremy 12 hours a week, so his parents agreed to pay me $15/hr for each hour I went over the allotted time. When Jawanio stopped paying me to watch Jeremy his parents lowered their private rate to $12/hr. They saw it as a compromise since Jawanio had been paying me a lower rate. During the summer however, I was watching two boys and training a puppy. After a rather uncomfortable discussion, his parents agreed to pay me the original $15/hr for the summer only. In September they decreased the rate again reasoning that I was only taking care of Jeremy. I have to admit that there were many days in which I had both the boys for an hour or so and I felt take advantage of. I was unsure as to how much longer to continue working for the family when Jeremy's mom came to me and said she had been feeling guilty about how much they had been paying me and said that starting that week my rate would return to the $15/hr.
Heat: My living situation is far from perfect, but my landlady did turn on the heat finally. I still use my space heater more than I'd like, but at least there isn't a draft like I had in my old place. Sometimes the apartment actually gets quite warm without the space heater. My landlady has also stopped complaining about me leaving the stairwell light on while I'm gone during the night. Most of the time the light remains lit while I'm gone. In the past, the light would "accidently" get turned off by her because she felt I was being inconsiderate of her electric bill.
Family Health: After undergoing a stress test, my dad's cardiologist declared that he doesn't need heart surgery right now. He needs to watch his diet, start exercising, and have his heart monitored for further valve deterioration. My grandmother also returned home from the hospital after suffering from a TIA (mini-stroke). Other than trying to get rid of bronchitis she seems to be back to her previous health.
There are many more things I'm thankful for, but these four top my list for now.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
This is one of my students. For the sake of this post I'll call him "J". J is almost 9 years old and doesn't speak. He makes various sounds and gestures to get what he wants. On the first day of school last year, J greeted me by biting me on the arm leaving a very nice dental impression. I spent the rest of the school year learning how to keep him from biting or scratching both me and the other students. Sometimes you'd know he was in a bad mood and other times he would lash out for no apparant reason. By the end of the year J and I were great friends :).
J has made incredible progress since then. He hasn't bitten or scratched anyone. Even when he's been extremely frustrated, J has been able to keep himself under control and not lash out. Instead, he loves to hug and sniff you....don't ask me why, he just does. This year we are determined to help J communicate better. Most mornings one of us works one on one with him in order to get him to mimic the sounds we make. Some examples are the "m", "p", "t", and "e" sounds. Last week the teacher was able to get him to combine the "e" and "t" sounds to form the word eat. Immediately after he was able to say it we gave him one of his favorite treats - an oreo cookie. His eyes lit up and he said the word "eat" again. He still gestures and makes sounds, but he has been consistently saying the word "eat" for the past week of so. This is huge!!! He even says it without being prompted. Every time he says it we give him some type of food reward. We're now working on getting him to consistently say the "m" sound for when he wants milk and the "b" sound for when he wants to use the bathroom.
If you think of it, please pray that God will continue to loosen J's vocal chords, giving him further ability to speak and that He would provide us the ability to teach J other sounds /words as well. He does have a speech therapist, but she doesn't seem to be helping him much. I'm not trained in speech therapy at all so I find myself getting frustrated at times with my limited ability to help him.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
What I've been up to lately
I haven't been writing too much about my life lately. For anyone interested, here are some "snapshots" of my life.
Job: I'm back working at the elementary school with 1st-3rd grade autistic/special needs children. It's basically the same class as last year. I work with the same teacher and assistants. For the most part it's been a very smooth transition back and I've actually been able to see some growth in the students. A separate kindergarten autistic/special needs class has been added to the school. We go to lunch and gym with them. Gym days are by far the more exhausting of my days as the kids give me quite a workout!
I continue to babysit Jeremy in the afternoons. He's made so much progress since I began working with him 2 years ago! He's now in the 4th grade and loves school. He still doesn't love hw, but will do half of it while I'm there without having a temper tantrum. He's moved on from going to social group and occupational therapy to tennis and counseling. He used to throw really bad temper tantrums when going out places, especially OT. These days he's very willing to come with me and can handle the ride without the aide of his ds or ipod. He's also become more independent and flexible when it comes to plans changing. The hardest part of my evening is when his brother (who just started kindergarten) comes home. That's when I have to make sure both of them are playing nicely or separated until dinnertime.
Health: Generally I've been in pretty good health. This week probably isn't the best example since I had two migraines and a stomach bug that landed me in bed for 36 hours. Aside from that my migraines have been very minimal and I've had enough energy to handle my very busy days.
Dating Life: No complaints :). We're reaching the 7 month mark. Most of our time is spent hanging out and watching a movie or talking over coffee at the end of the day. My favorite times are when he cooks me dinner.
Family: My dad retired at the end of June. It's a good thing too because due to the stress he needs his mitral valve replaced. This month he'll have a stress test and then the doctors and my parents will figure out when his surgery will be. Right now they're on a cruise and then they'll be visiting my aunt and uncle in Texas.
Free Time: Hmmm...what's that? :) When I do have some time to myself I'm usually out for a walk, talking on the phone with friends, or visiting with friends. Oh...and cleaning :p. Not usually my favorite thing to do, but I love the end result!
Job: I'm back working at the elementary school with 1st-3rd grade autistic/special needs children. It's basically the same class as last year. I work with the same teacher and assistants. For the most part it's been a very smooth transition back and I've actually been able to see some growth in the students. A separate kindergarten autistic/special needs class has been added to the school. We go to lunch and gym with them. Gym days are by far the more exhausting of my days as the kids give me quite a workout!
I continue to babysit Jeremy in the afternoons. He's made so much progress since I began working with him 2 years ago! He's now in the 4th grade and loves school. He still doesn't love hw, but will do half of it while I'm there without having a temper tantrum. He's moved on from going to social group and occupational therapy to tennis and counseling. He used to throw really bad temper tantrums when going out places, especially OT. These days he's very willing to come with me and can handle the ride without the aide of his ds or ipod. He's also become more independent and flexible when it comes to plans changing. The hardest part of my evening is when his brother (who just started kindergarten) comes home. That's when I have to make sure both of them are playing nicely or separated until dinnertime.
Health: Generally I've been in pretty good health. This week probably isn't the best example since I had two migraines and a stomach bug that landed me in bed for 36 hours. Aside from that my migraines have been very minimal and I've had enough energy to handle my very busy days.
Dating Life: No complaints :). We're reaching the 7 month mark. Most of our time is spent hanging out and watching a movie or talking over coffee at the end of the day. My favorite times are when he cooks me dinner.
Family: My dad retired at the end of June. It's a good thing too because due to the stress he needs his mitral valve replaced. This month he'll have a stress test and then the doctors and my parents will figure out when his surgery will be. Right now they're on a cruise and then they'll be visiting my aunt and uncle in Texas.
Free Time: Hmmm...what's that? :) When I do have some time to myself I'm usually out for a walk, talking on the phone with friends, or visiting with friends. Oh...and cleaning :p. Not usually my favorite thing to do, but I love the end result!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)