Election Day

Like many Americans across the country, I too exercised my civic right to vote. I have never claimed a political affiliation. I am the type that looks at each candidate and chooses based on how they align with my beliefs and standards. I chose my candidate and should he not win tonight I will not rant and rave. I will just be glad it is finally over. I am tired of the political mudslinging on tv, the phone calls at all hours of the day, and the door to door campaiging asking me who I am voting for. That is for me to know and only me to know. I should not have to tell you why I am not voting one way or the other if I tell you I am undecided. Whomever wins today is going to have a tough road ahead of him. Personally, I would not want to be the one taking over in a situation like the one we find ourselves in. What happens when he is not able to do everything promised during his campaign? My opinion is that things are going to get worse for us before they get better. The way I see it, it is a no win situation. If the Dems get elected and things go bad you'll have the grand ole party screaming "Told you so. Wouldn't have happened if McCain had been in office." and vice versa. It doesn't matter who takes office. Republican or Democrat, we need to come together as a unified front. Instead of "I can do this and that" how about "We can do this and that." Because, as you know, there is no "I" in team. And isn't that what we are? A team? The United States of America?
So, as a teacher I felt it was my duty to assist in my students understanding of the Democratic Process. Therefore we have been learning about it and following the campaigning. Today they exercised their civic rights by voting in a Mock Election. I had a ballot, a ballot box, and a voting booth. We opened the polls and explained how long they had to go to the booth and vote. Once they had voted they were to go over to one of the poll workers, my assistant Dona, and get their sticker. Dona took duct tape and made little stickers that resembled the ones you get. Once everyone had voted, the polls closed and the votes were tallied. We even had a learning experience with that. You must remember that I teacher high school students with severe cognitive disabilities. There is never a dull moment to be had. I am at the white board tallying the votes when I discover two things. One: everyone had said they had voted and received a sticker but I was one ballot short. I made 8 ballots. I have seven students. I had 2 blank ballots that hadn't been used. The second: I had a "Hanging Chad". One student did not follow directions. Instead of filling in one of the boxes next to the candidate's picture, he/she had circled both names. It took a little detective work to figure out which one hadn't voted and once we did we made him. The "Hanging Chad" was easy. You work with a group of kids long enough and you recognize things about their work. The circles made around the names were very distinctive. As soon as I saw the ballot I knew who had done it. Her m.o. is to just put circles around everything when she is unclear of the directions instead of asking for clarification. Dona and I decided that her vote wouldn't count. Were it to have been a real election, that is what would have happened. That is what I truly call a teachable moment. Did it phase her? Not really.

A fall Sunday

Time changed last night. We fell back an hour. I like the extra hour of sleep but I absolutely hate what it means. It means that winter is on the way and with that nightfall arriving between 5-5:30 in the evening. I hate that. I am a sunshine girl. But, there really isn't much I can do about it. Life goes on.
Had a very enjoyable day today. Met my sister and nephew half way and we had lunch and went shopping. Hunter is growing up so fast. School is going well. He got his first grade card on friday and it was an improvement from the mid-term. This time he only had one N. Of course it was for self-control. But he is learning how to behave and both the teacher and principal feel that he does not need meds at this time to control that issue. What a relief. He can say the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Pledge of Allegiance. He has difficulty with understanding the "th" blend. He'll get it.
My friends are having their annual Christmas Cookie Exchange party the last weekend of the month. I just RSVPed that I would be there. Since I have recently had my other hand operated on I am going to make something easy that Hunter can help me with. I am going to make rice crispy treats and press them into molds and make cookie suckers. One of the guests is on a casein-glueten free diet so I did some research and found that rice is ok. The only thing I need to do differently is get some no-milk margarine. According to my research Fleischman's makes some. All I need to do is remember to get it when the time comes. I will just make them all that way. I can't wait to see how they turn out. I might have to make a practice batch here at home and take them to school. I think that could be something Melanie helps me with one afternoon after school.

life these days...

just seems to roll along. I am currently recuperating from my second surgery. Incisions are about the same size but thats where the similarities stop. I am having alot of swelling in my hand this time. Previously swelling was contained to my lower palm along the incision. This time my whole hand is swollen. This is making for a lot of stiffness in my fingers and tingling in my hand. The sterri strips came off before they should have so I ended up getting some at the store to put on it. It isn't closed up at all and is seeping. I called the doctor's office yesterday but haven't heard back. I don't see him until next Wednesday. Even though I am right handed I never realized how much I actually do do with my left. I guess I ama a little down in the dumps because I expected it to be similar to the first surgery. My neck is also bothering me greatly. I don't know if I slept wrong the other night or what but I am unable to turn my head in either direction very far. Driving is very tricky right now. What with the neck and hand, I hate making left turns. I went back to work yesterday. I originally was only going to take Monday off but when the alarm went off tuesday I just needed one more day. I forced myself yesterday because the ladies had the substitute teacher from hell. We used to be able to block people on the sub list but we can't anymore. Guess that means no more sick days for me. I got a new student last week. Very nice young man. He has severe CP and is in a wheel chair. We felt a sense of success yesterday when he was able to transfer with assistance from his wheelchair to the passenger seat of our van. He is such a social young man. He is getting along with the other kids so well. An end of an era is coming for me. I am in the process of transitioning the last of my original students from my first year at Canal Winchester into the sheltered work program through the county board of mental retardation. Vince and I both came to the high school in the fall of 2003. In June he will officially graduate after 6 years with me. He is going to be going to the workshop 2 days a week starting next week. By the end of the school year he will be increased to 4 days a week. I can't fathom what it is going to be like with out him. He is always at school. In the past 5 years he has probably been absent a total of 10 days if that. He is excited to start working but I don't think he understands he will eventually be leaving us. I also started a new after school job today. I am watching a 12 year old young lady with Autism from the middle school until 6:30 in the evening when her mom gets off work. She is a nice young lady. This will be good because she will eventually come to my classroom. It's the perfect second job.

a blog about nothing in particular

I'm thinking fall may have finally arrived. I got ready for work yesterday and headed out the door at my usual time of 6:45 am. Not to bad out. Around 11:00 I went out to get lunch for me and the ladies and was I surprised how chilly it had gotten. After that I could not get warm no matter what I did. Of course I later discovered that I was running a fever. I had to go for pre-op testing on Monday and had to do the obligstory peeing in the cup. Was I surprised to learn on Wednesday that I had a UTI. Great. Surgery is in a week and I have this to deal with. Then the symptoms really started to hit me. Luckily the doctor ordered an antibiotic and it should be gone by Monday. In fact I am feeling much better today. I am excitedly awaiting the arrival of my bubby and sister. They are coming down to spend the weekend with me. I haven't seen Hunter in about a month. Next Friday I am having the second round of surgery. The doctor will be releasing the nerves in my left arm this time. I cannot get over how well the right arm is healing. It is just about back to normal. The really good thing is how well the scar on my palm is fading. In another few weeks you will probably hardly be able to see it. I am happy to report that my dad is on the way to recovery also. He has battled with a hernia for many years and we finally wore down his resolve and forced him to see a doctor about it. He had surgury on September 29th. The doctor repaired a very large area. He thought there were 3 hernias. It turned out to be about 8. Luckily there was no damage to internal organs and his bleeding was kept to a minimum. He is anxiously awaiting November's arrival. And with that their trip to Florida for the winter. His sister and her husband are coming down for a week not too long after they get there. I am hoping to go down over my Christmas break. Providing I can find decent airfare. Well, I should probably finish cleaning up the kitchen. Laura will be here in a little while.

And the stupid criminal award goes to....

the man in Florida that tried to buy a meal at McDonalds with pot. Now tell me, how dumb is that? Do you have the munchies because you been partaking of said pot? Are you that wasted that you don't realize what you are using as monetary currency? Did you think the young kid taking your order might be interested in it? I just don't get it. At the end of the article it states that they weren't sure if he tried paying then with money or what he was trying to order. Big deal. He tried paying with illegal drugs. You've got to have a very low IQ to try to pull something like that off. Really now. And I work day after day to teach my students the proper way to pay for things. Even they know that money is the only thing that will get you anything. We don't use the barter system anymore. I'm not going to give you some beads in trade for a loaf of bread. Although with the state of our current economy we may be going back to that system.

How time flies

As I was perusing my friends' blogs I happened to see that my best friend had recently added a new post. It was short and to the point and took me back to high school. My best friend is married to her high school sweetheart. They have four wonderful children and he is currently serving tour of duty #2 in Iraq. She wrote that he had left for bootcamp 18 years ago yesterday, the same day we buried a good friend of ours. I had actually forgotten the anniversary this year. My mind has been a little occupied. I generally remember it because she died on my dad's birthday. I can't believe Nicole has been gone for 18 years now. Gone longer than she was alive. She was just 15 when she died. I had only known her a year, but in that time we got to be really good friends. Our lockers were right next to each other and we had first period spanish together where she sat in front of me. My one rebelious act in high school involved Nicole. she had been absent from school and Senorita Borkovich was hounding her for an excuse from her parents. She didn't have one so I did what any friend would do in that situation. I forged one for her. Everyone loved Nicki. She was very sweet. It came as a shock to us all when we heard the news. Another good friend of ours had been in the car with her and fortunately she survived. I was very shy during that time in my life and untrustworthy of people I didn't know. I had a difficult time in junior high and was afraid things were going to much the same for me in high school. I was cruelly picked on for what I believed to be my weight and my brains. When I met Nicole, I wasn't sure at first. I always felt that people had ulterior motives for being nice to me. It is something I still struggle with to this day. That's another blog. But I soon discovered that Nicole wasn't that way at all. She truelly was a genuine person. At the end of our freshman year she told us that she would be going to the public high school in the fall since her parents couldn't afford tuition. Sophomore year started and it was strange not to see Nicole at her locker next to me. Labor day Weekend came and went. We all arrived to school on Tuesday morning to be met with the shocking news that Nicole had been in a car accident and hadn't made it. Nicole had only been at the public high school for 4 days, but she left a mark on her classmates. Our entire class was released to go to the funeral as well as about a third of her class from Ross High School. I know how old I am and how long I have been out of school but sometimes it feels just like yesterday that I was roaming the halls of SJCC with my friends making sure we got to class on time. Now I walk the halls of CWHS making sure others are getting to class on time. I also look back and think of how things have changed. 1. we didn't have cell phones. 2. our school was not climate controlled. 3. Granted CWHS is bigger than SJCC, we didn't have 6 minutes in between classes. We had 3. 4. We were not allowed to carry book bags. We had to carry our books and if your classes were too far away from your locker you carried all that you would need. I then think of all the things Nicole never got to see. At least she didn't have to experience September 11th.
As I end this blog I say this, Nicole you were a wonderful friend to me when I needed it. You have been missed greatly. Knowing you are in heaven watching down on us eases my mind a little. May you rest in eternal peace.

Kids really do say the darndest things

I just love my job. Yes, I am being serious. I have the best group of students in the world. Since my population is 17 and older I have changed things a little bit as far as instruction goes. I am doing theme units based on social studies and science standards and incorporating language arts, reading and math into it. One program I use that I absolutely love is called News-2-You. It is a weekly newspaper geared towards students with disabillities. It has a different theme each week and has various reading levels to use. It comes with worksheets, a recipe, and communication boards to be used with your non-verbal students so that you do not have to constantly program their augmentative devices. Generally I will stretch out the theme for the week. This week however, we did most of it today what with Monday being a holiday and yesterday was an inservice day. I like building on the theme as we go along. This weeks article was about trains. I printed up packets for each of the students. We read the article aloud and worked on the worksheets that went along with it. As we were working on the packet we discovered that two of the pages were similar and one was to be done if you lived in Canada and the other the United States. We had the kids fill out both and we ended up developing a mini lesson on the differences and similarities of both countries. I love when things flow like this. I also showed a video from United Streaming on trains. One student asked how coal and wood made steam to run an engine. So, tomorrow we will be watching a video that talks about this. The other theme we have been working on is one titled "Beneath the waves". We are learning about animal life that lives under water. Each day we watch a video on a new animal, we discuss it and then I have a picture of it for them to color. the kids then cut out the animal and we put it up on the bulletin board we are making. As the afternoon was winding down, the kids were getting a little slap happy as was the staff. I have 6 students total, 4 boys and 2 girls. Although in the afternoon you would think they were all boys. They all think it is funny when they burp and believe me my girls can burp with the best of them. I am sitting with Brittany helping her cut her pictures out when she let out a burp and started giggling. I looked at her and said my standard, "what do you say?" She excused herself of course. A little bit later one of the boys started burping and Brittany pipes up with, "You need to excuse yourself. That is just disgusting." I did a double take and was like excuse me? Like you have room to talk. You just did the same thing a few minutes ago. Aren't you the pot calling the kettle black. Her response? She started to giggle again and went about finishing her work.
Every day that I spend with these kids just amazes me more and more. Some times I am so surprised with what they are able to do and remember. And the things they say just makes me laugh. I could have the worst night ever and dread going to work but as soon as those kids walk through the door, my whole mood changes.