Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

What Helped Me Today

What helped you today? Week Five for Welcome to My Reality.

I am looking at this from the point of view of a fresh start, in a sense.

What helped today was trying out our new schedule that we revamped last week. I have been having some concern with staff turning the student's snack time into a social venue that goes far too long. Cutting into our very necessary gym class. I have one staff who starts just as snack time hits and she is already sitting down to coffee and chatting when she has only just got here. Being diplomatic, I needed to address this situation without necessarily singling her out, but also getting myself into a stronger leadership role. Sure I am the temporary teacher filling in for the teacher who usually holds this class, but until she comes back, I am in charge and responsible for educating this wonderful group of students.

What helped, was adjusting the schedule to allow the students to do their 'heavy' academic work first thing in the morning. I use that term loosely because my students can not write their names. A few can recognize their name in print and one can type it on the computer, but we are not talking regular curriculum at all. We are highly sensory in nature. Each lesson pulls as many sensory aspects into it as possible. Students also work towards goals in the areas of communication - where we use signs and PIC symbols; literacy and numeracy; physical skills - physiotherapy programs; social skills development; daily living skills and community participation. Can you tell I am in report card mode?!

Once this 'heavy' academic work is completed, the students have snack and then go off to gym where we focus on their physiotherapy programs and social play skills. Today, because of our changes, the students got their full thirty minutes in gym class unlike the ten minutes they were getting when my staff was lagging.

After gym they get to go outside. Today is not too cold but I am expecting, with wind chills of -35 degrees Celsius for tomorrow morning, they may not be going out then.

Once we are organized and back inside, I teach during circle time. This involves sensory activities, stories and songs that follow along with our current theme which is winter. The students were all engaged today, and except for one EA slipping off to take a phone call!!!! it went very well. I may have to address the cell phone use in the class as I am finding it is driving me loopy. But enough of that for here and now.

The time after circle is to do activities pertaining to circle - like a craft or cooking activity that ties into our theme. Today was simply getting the students into their programing - time for computer, light boards, reading to other students, physiotherapy that has not been done yet. One student goes for integration time in a Kindergarten class. The students made the transition quite well.

After half an hour, we break for lunch. We use to have lunch far too close to snack and that was leaving a lot of open time. I find this new schedule breaks things up a bit and that is good for these students.

While they eat lunch, I go for my own lunch. I like this change as well, because I was finding I would go and I would miss things - many times my staff would start a craft I had planned. My lesson that went along with it was no longer plausible because they were well under way and sometimes way off what I had initially expected. Letting go of that control is difficult for teachers, but in a class, where you need to manage a staff it is almost a good idea - just to keep your sanity.

When I say manage a staff - I will paint a clearer picture for you. I have only 6 students. Three of those students require full time nurses. I also have three full time Educational Assistants and one half time Educational Assistant that run the programming I put in place. Then there is me. Six Students and 8 staff - can you say we are a little adult heavy! This is why staff management is so important.

The changes we have made as a team to the schedule will hopefully alleviate some of the issues I am disturbed by, but if need be, we will change it up again.

The last hour of our day together is individual programming and part of that is social games and interaction. Before we know it, it's time to get ready for home and by two twenty all my students are gone.

Now I sit here working at the school to get some more report cards done - because if I go home, I am bound to take a nap.

Have a good evening.


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