Inclusion

                    I just read Dave Hingsberger's latest blog and it struck me once again why it is important for our children to be taught inclusively as much as possible.  Sure, there are times when we think, "Wow, if we were in a self contained school, everyone would know how to help, everyone and everything would be more accessible to ourselves and our kids.".  That's not the point though, our community, schools should and can be accessible (thanks to an amazing Mom at my school, our playground is accessible and inclusionary).  Our students need to be out and about in the classes, hallways, cafeteria and with their peers.
     I truly believe this can be done with everyone getting the education necessary for their growth and enrichment while not sacrificing the emotional and social aspects of being one community. It will definitely take a paradigm (I love that word:) shift, but it is both necessary and doable.
     It's hard, when you grow up, to realize that sometimes you are just wrong.  Believe me, I have experienced it myself more times than I would like. But sometimes, we're just wrong.

 http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/

 By the way, this big boy in the picture comes to my classroom and plays with my students whenever he can.  He asks his mother and myself why some of the kids do things that he doesn't understand and we give him answers.  He accepts and moves on. His world view is much richer than mine was at  his age.

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One week, two days... but who's counting?

I have to say this was not one of my favorite school years and I am so looking forward to summer vacation.  But this picture really makes me happy!  Hopefully I will be able to spend more time with these two amazing little guys and it will put me into a better mood.

The End of the Year Rush!!!!

    Well here it comes, a little over 4 weeks until the last day of school.  Whew! (she dramatically wipes her forehead) :)  Two more IEP's, end of the year paperwork and cleaning up the classroom.  I am always happier once all of the paperwork is done.  Then I really feel like I can relax.
      Chris just got home from a week away in Texas for training while I stayed at home and broke another tooth :(.  Unfortunately this is the one with the root canal that I just finished paying for, fortunately, it looks like it can be saved :).  I hate anything painful in my mouth and have pretty much managed to avoid it, except for the removal of my wisdom teeth, but after 55 years of clenching from stress, some of them have finally had enough.  The silly thing is that I was just getting ready to be fitted for a mouth guard, but now I will have to put it off until the new crown is finished. Fun times.!!
     Weather around here has been very strange.  First it's cold, then it's hot and it continues to rain and rain.  And the pollen has been horrific. I feel as though I have had the world's longest cold.
      Today is Mother's Day.  I have phone calls from all 3 of my grown up children, even the one wandering the US, managed to find a phone to call me on :).  I am lucky to have them.  Maybe this summer I can actually get around to scanning some more of their pictures to my computer (yeah, yeah) and maybe we will finally get around to painting our bedroom.  Who knows, I have a whole long summer to look forward to, definitely one of the perks to being a teacher.

Me with my oldest and middle child.

Spring is Here, sorta...

Well, the weather around here doesn't exactly know what it is doing yet.  One day it a glorious 75 and last night there was a freeze warning and my husband very sweetly covered me head to toe in an extra blanket while I was trying to sleep in.  Thank heavens for him :)

I just came back last week from a wonderful conference in Atlanta, Georgia entitled, "The Young Child with Special Needs".  I love a good conference with knowledgeable and interesting speakers and this one had it in spades.  There were were developmental pediatricians, speech pathologists, nurses who specialize in particular areas of special needs and nutritionists.  There were questions and answer sessions.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and since my husband came with me we were able to spend the evenings going to various restaurants and just spending time in Atlanta.  It was a nice break.  My husband, Chris, decided to once again walk on the wild side and went zip lining.  I'm rather glad I was at the conference when that happened.  I was just as happy to see the film footage and not see it in person.

                                                                           (dinner at "The Spence")

                          

                                               

Now it's back to the real world where there are last minute IEP's to write, transition meetings to attend and the ups and downs that transpire in teaching the children I am happy to be teaching.  Of my 7 students, 5 will be transitioning on to various types of kindergarten classes, only two will stay in preschool another year.  I will miss the others, but it's time for them to be taught by other teachers who will see them as kindergarteners and not young preschoolers.

On the home front, our grandchildren are growing and thriving, thanks to their parents.  The youngest is a happy, chortling child with very expressive eyebrows and the eldest is pretending he is a pirate and causing an uproar in his preschool class by saying, "stinky diaper" and making all the children have to put their heads down on the table because of the ensuing giggles :)

Playing with Videos

Still on Spring Break, getting ready to go back for the last couple of months tomorrow.  Luckily, tomorrow is a teacher workday, which means we get to work on report cards.  This is helpful to me since most of my students needs to have input on their progress reports from at least 2 to 3 therapists besides what I need write.

Today, however, I spent some time working on making a video of our vacation.  I am definitely not the most creative person in the world, but with the programs that are available, it's almost easy :)




                    

Spring Vacation in the Cold

We just got back from a wonderful vacation in the UK.  We spent three days down in Cornwall with my mother-in-law, Jan.  And if someone ever tells you that it feels warm down in Cornwall in the Spring, they are probably lying :).  It's always a pleasure to spend time with Jan.  She is the most amazing woman, turning 70 and enjoying life, keeping busy and getting ready to take a trip to India.

We then spent two nights in Bath in a delightful manor house and went to the Thermae Spa.  We were able to enjoy the hot springs on the top of a building in freezing temps.  We had such a good time in Bath, our lodging was comfortable, beautiful and the food was great!

Lastly we spent a night at an amazing place called Oakley Court in Windsor.  It looked like a castle, sitting alongside the Thames.  It had been used for movies in the past such as the original Dracula and Rocky Horror Picture.  The grounds were beautiful and just like everywhere in this frigid countryside, the grass was green, the daffodils were blooming and the trees were beginning to blossom.  We also took a tour of Windsor Castle.  It is an amazing piece of history and I enjoyed actually seeing works from amazing works of art and an actual working castle.  I am not usually that interested in history, but this was so much better than I had imagined.

Both Chris and I needed this break from work.  It's been tough this year and we were both no feeling our best.  He had a crummy cold and I had to have a molar pulled out the day before we left.  Evidently I have been clenching my teeth so badly at night, I had split a tooth clear in half!  Thank goodness I have an amazing husband who plans the most wonderful vacations and who I love to spend time with.  No one has ever made me laugh the way he does.

And now I get to enjoy spending some time with my beautiful grandsons and their parents on Saturday for Easter.  I am a lucky woman.

Transitions, coughs, sneezes and fevers!

It's that time of year.  Time to decide what children will be having extended year services (services during the summer), transitioning students from preschool to kindergarten and in our case, the time of runny noses, coughing attacks and fevers.  The kids in my room are dropping like flies with the flu.  Unfortunately, they are contagious before they have the fever and are usually at school then, so we are all exposed to the flu.

I am not sure if some parents realize that there may be children in the classroom who can't afford to get illnesses like the flu :(.  Also, I wonder if they think about the quality of teaching their children will be receiving if some or all of the staff are sick at home!  Coming to school with a cold is understandable.  After all, a cold can last from 10 days to 2 weeks.  But viruses like the flu are different.  And then you need to consider the fact that a child with an illness is more susceptible to any other germs or viruses which may be lurking at school.  At the end of this school week, we only had 3 of our 7 students present.

My grandson, Jack, had the flu too :(.  That's to be expected when you start going to school (preschool) for the first time.  Better that than getting every illness in kindergarten!  Luckily little Max is entirely breast fed still and managed to miss the more serious symptoms.  He just keeps getting cuter and fatter :).