I can't think of a single topic to blog about.
Today was a weird day. I only have one of my rural students on Tuesdays and Fridays, and this is the third day I haven't had him because of delays. He is in preschool, so it won't really hurt him, and his teacher does things similar to what I do with him anyway, but it opened up a big whole in my day, so I looked forward to getting to my office and doing some paperwork in preparation for a conference.
But it was not to be. I share my office with a speech pathologist and one of the school psychs. The psych shows up unannounced a lot, and when she wants to test, I can't use the office. So today, I took my mileage forms and went down to the teachers' lounge.
Which was set up for a Mardi Gras breakfast. All that food! Whatever you want to say about teachers, they sure do know how to eat. Maybe it is to relieve the stress. At my particular school, more than 50% of the sixth graders came in reading below grade level, and next year the projected numbers are more than 60%. Since NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, those numbers affect all disciplines, and they make everyone nervous.
We were talking about that in the lounge, about how different it is for teachers now. Statistics say that new teachers last for five years or less and leave the field because of the stress. It isn't that the "old" teachers don't have stress, I don't think. I think it is that we were raised in an environment where we were taught to suck it up and deal, and the younger teachers think they have more control than that. I hope they are right. It takes an idealist to be a teacher. You have to see the future when you are looking at the present, and sometimes the present doesn't look all that hot.
Around lunch I went to my next school, where I eat with my kindergarten student. I have another student at that school too. He is MI and has visual impairment as well. The MI teacher has both my boys, and we discussed the older one's conference, which will take place on Thursday. He is going on to middle school where he will go to a resource room for Reading and Math. The rest of the time he will be "out there" with the rest of the kids. He can only read at the first or second grade level, so his teacher feels that there is no reason to order large print books for him. He couldn't read them anyway. But can he understand sixth grade concepts? What will we do, find his textbook on tape? Put his textbook on tape? I don't even think it is available, and it is a state-wide adoption.
The other student had forkable food and was able to passably use a fork, although he could not supply its name when I showed it to him. He will be six this month, and it is nice to see him make progess in his own way. I actually heard him use the word match in the proper context! I think that is a tribute to the genuine love he receives from his service providers (counting me, there are ten).
On to tracking with my CP student. He has spastic quadriplegic CP and lacks a lot of muscle control, the muscles in his eyes included. His eyes alternately suppress, which means that they go in and out of focus. Can you imagine trying to read that way? He is a dear little boy, and I don't know if what we are doing helps him, but he needs all the help he can get.
Finally, I tried out the new doc. He treated me like a person, and I think my husband will actually go to him, so that is a step in the right direction. I like it when doctors explain things. I've always been weird that way, I guess. I like to be treated as if I have a brain. Doesn't everybody?
My husband and I walked at the mall, and now I am on to my final responsibility, which is this blog. I am beginning to really appreciate it. If I look at my day in print, I think maybe I accomplished something after all!
Today was a weird day. I only have one of my rural students on Tuesdays and Fridays, and this is the third day I haven't had him because of delays. He is in preschool, so it won't really hurt him, and his teacher does things similar to what I do with him anyway, but it opened up a big whole in my day, so I looked forward to getting to my office and doing some paperwork in preparation for a conference.
But it was not to be. I share my office with a speech pathologist and one of the school psychs. The psych shows up unannounced a lot, and when she wants to test, I can't use the office. So today, I took my mileage forms and went down to the teachers' lounge.
Which was set up for a Mardi Gras breakfast. All that food! Whatever you want to say about teachers, they sure do know how to eat. Maybe it is to relieve the stress. At my particular school, more than 50% of the sixth graders came in reading below grade level, and next year the projected numbers are more than 60%. Since NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, those numbers affect all disciplines, and they make everyone nervous.
We were talking about that in the lounge, about how different it is for teachers now. Statistics say that new teachers last for five years or less and leave the field because of the stress. It isn't that the "old" teachers don't have stress, I don't think. I think it is that we were raised in an environment where we were taught to suck it up and deal, and the younger teachers think they have more control than that. I hope they are right. It takes an idealist to be a teacher. You have to see the future when you are looking at the present, and sometimes the present doesn't look all that hot.
Around lunch I went to my next school, where I eat with my kindergarten student. I have another student at that school too. He is MI and has visual impairment as well. The MI teacher has both my boys, and we discussed the older one's conference, which will take place on Thursday. He is going on to middle school where he will go to a resource room for Reading and Math. The rest of the time he will be "out there" with the rest of the kids. He can only read at the first or second grade level, so his teacher feels that there is no reason to order large print books for him. He couldn't read them anyway. But can he understand sixth grade concepts? What will we do, find his textbook on tape? Put his textbook on tape? I don't even think it is available, and it is a state-wide adoption.
The other student had forkable food and was able to passably use a fork, although he could not supply its name when I showed it to him. He will be six this month, and it is nice to see him make progess in his own way. I actually heard him use the word match in the proper context! I think that is a tribute to the genuine love he receives from his service providers (counting me, there are ten).
On to tracking with my CP student. He has spastic quadriplegic CP and lacks a lot of muscle control, the muscles in his eyes included. His eyes alternately suppress, which means that they go in and out of focus. Can you imagine trying to read that way? He is a dear little boy, and I don't know if what we are doing helps him, but he needs all the help he can get.
Finally, I tried out the new doc. He treated me like a person, and I think my husband will actually go to him, so that is a step in the right direction. I like it when doctors explain things. I've always been weird that way, I guess. I like to be treated as if I have a brain. Doesn't everybody?
My husband and I walked at the mall, and now I am on to my final responsibility, which is this blog. I am beginning to really appreciate it. If I look at my day in print, I think maybe I accomplished something after all!
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