A Day in the Life of a Paraprofessional

I love my job. I love my kids and I love the teacher I work with. I am entertained everyday.

We have a school-wide behavior plan. If the kids are having a good day, we call it a "green day." If they're being a little naughty, it's called a "yellow day." If they have having a completely rotten day, its a "red day."

Yesterday, 5 boys in my class were on red. They were talking and talking and WOULD NOT stop no matter what we said or did. In our class, when you are on red you don't have any priveledges (ie. adult takes you to the bathroom, you don't get drink priveledges during class, etc.) The boys didn't care.

So, I got to teach those 5 boys how to clean a bathroom. It was hillarious. The best part was cleaning the girls' bathroom. The boys' bathrooms are so much yuckier than the girls', but just gong into the girl's bathroom was a problem. haha Eight year old boys are funny.

They did a good job cleaning. And they all had a better day today. No toilet cleaning.

Turkey Bowl

Every year (almost every year) we play football on Thansgiving morning. We had fun today! This is MY kind of football!
Jeff, Erick, Holly

Lorraine & Holly

Erick & Lorraine

Tom

Jeff & Erick

Reading

I've had the oppertunity to read a lot lately. It's been really nice not going to school this semester. I have read several series since August.

I started reading some mysteries by Iris Johansen. So far (and I am only on the second book of her series) I really like them. The books are companions, so you don't have to read them in order. Each book's main character is a kick-butt woman with an attitute. If you are into drama-mysteries and like to read about strong women, this is a series for you.

Social Thinking

This is a phrase I hear almost everyday, but that may be foreign to most.

Our culture is very social. There are social rules that make up our society. Part of having Austism is when that person's brain does not make the same social connections as a person who is "neurotypical".

This week I'm going to a Social Thinking conference. It is so weird to think of our culture in that way. Things like, "You have to start as a nobody to become a somebody" when teaching someone how to join a group that already as several members. She expounds upon this saying things like "You cannot join a group instantly talking, you have to look at the group and gradually focus your eyes to their faces. Then you have to wait for two people to talk before you can talk."

Who knew about these rules? Can you imagine having Autism, being thrown into a situation where you didn't know the social rules? Of course, most of us don't have that problem because our brain makes social connections easily. No wonder some of my kiddos don't know how to make friends.

I think it is amazing that our presenter, Michelle Garia Winner, can break down these "unspoken" social rules everyone is expected to understand in a way that we can teach them to our kids. Yay!

Cancer Sucks

My eyes have been opened in a way I wish they hadn't. I have been blessed to never had a close family member be diagnosed with a terminal illness - until June. My grandmother was diagnosed with state 4 breast cancer.

As you can imagine, it's been a difficult, emotional ride. She was taking a new oral chemo drug that made her really sick. She had to go to the hospital several times a week to get hydration IVs and had several chemical burns on her hands and feet. Then, the last week of August, while she was at an appointment at the Huntsman center she became unconscious and and to be resuscitated. Thank goodness she was at the hospital when that happened.

It's interesting how the Lord works. So, she had to spend several days in the hospital after her little "episode" as my family calls it. The only department that had an ICU bed available was the "Burn Unit" at the University Hospital. What a blessing that turned out to be. They were able to give her an ointment specifially made for the burn unit for the chemical burns. Yes, she hurt REALLY bad after having CPR performed on her, but in the end the relief she received from the oinment may just have been worth it.

The chemo was working despite how sick it made her. At the appointment she was supposed to be having instead of CPR, the results from a test shows some secondary lumps (tumors?) in her neck and liver were gone. She was taked off chemo so she could recoup from her experience.

She is back on chemo now, and they found some cancer that has spread to the skin on her chest. The area is too large for surgical removal, so she has to go in for 33 radiology treatments - every weekday until Christmas.

I know everyone has trials and family problems. I just needed to vent.

SL Trib

I have the greatest job in the whole world (at least for me). I love it. I work at Spectrum Academy, a charter school for kids with High-Functioning Autism. 

So, last Thursday some guy from the trib came to our school. He took a bunch of pictures, asked very few questions, and that was that. Well, guess who got into the newspaper... a picture of me doing vocabulary drills with one of my kids!   http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10813783 I'm in pic 2. The article isn't specifically about Spectrum, but about charter schools in Utah. (which, we just got approved to start making way for a "Spectrum" high school! yay!

Here's my 15 seconds of fame.

Throw-Up Shoes

So, I got these WAY cute brown sandals for my birthday! I love them! They are so practical and I wear them often.


A few weeks ago, I was wearing them to work (Spectrum Academy). I was helping some students heat their lunches up in microwaves, when another paraprofessional said, "Jack, you need to sit down." She was not standing near him, and when he didn't follow directions I walked over to him. I touched his back and said, "Jack, lets go sit down." He turned around and PUKED all over my shoes.

I got them all cleaned up and had been wearing them for about 2 weeks when we went over to my parents' house. I took them off (because I HATE wearing shoes). While we were eating dinner, my parents' cat PUKED all over them.

They're not my favorite shoes any more.