The Mid-Year Funk

I am really in search of some inspiration and uplift right now. It's January 26th...about the same time last year I found myself in the mid-year funk.

We've had so many changes in our district recently...and for me...added classes on top of now having to give an assessment test....has me feeling really funky right now. I'm sure these changes are all for the good of the children (or at least I can hope) and I'm trying hard to avoid the negative Nancy's who paint the doom-and-gloom murals during happy hour or in passing at the grocery store. But it's often very hard to overlook their, sometimes, very valid points and even harder not to let it get the best of me.

How do you get through the mid-year funk?

Party Planning Lesson: Creating the Seven-Layer Dip

I'm so sad to say that one of my darling students is flying the coop and moving on to brighter places in the world with her family.

The silver lining (we must always find a silver lining) is now we get to plan a party! I gathered up my "party committee" of students and staff and we voted to have light finger foods and a cake at the going away party.

We've honestly never hosted a party that didn't include a huge meal, as crazy as that sounds, so menu planning was somewhat of a new animal to tackle. One of the suggestions was "dips."

Oh how I love you Pinterest!

We ended up with a recipe from none other than "The Girl Who Ate Everything" (She's fabulous by the way)!

Individual Seven Layer Dip

My students had a BLAST with this...the concept of layering really perked their interest and the assembly line we had going was more than comical. The girls had the giggles, I had the giggles...it was just a great little lesson.

I especially appreciated the fact that one student said, "Now people can't double dip!" What a fantastic point to make! Maybe I'll start doing individual cups, for eveything that can be dipped, at home! (wink)

So this fun little creation will be making a very pretty appearance at our "Bon Voyage" party in two weeks. Pictures will follow the party!

Funday Friday: Bob Bullock Texas State History...IMAX

Photo from the Bob Bullock Website



It's a real world experience at it's best and nothing that I could possibly (want to) manufacture in a classroom setting.

Hello friends! I'm sorry for the delay in posts...getting back into the swing of things and starting STAAR Testing has been my top priority the past two weeks.

Last Friday we joined two area 18+ programs at the Bob Bullock State History Museum...for an IMAX movie. It was awesome to say the least. This is one of the huge perks to being a teacher in an 18+ program...the awesome outings selected by students. The highlight of course is taking a student who has never been outside of the county to the downtown area of Austin. Shock and awe doesn't describe it!

Here's a just a snippet of our many conversations:

Student: "What is that person doing against the wall?
Mrs. Virdell: "Sweetie, he's peeing. Look away"

It's LIFE...it changes...

One of the very first things I learned about being a Life Skills teacher is that you have to be flexible and understand an ever-changing schedule. I was leisurely expressing this concept to one of my teacher aides, who was coming into my program from general education, and she said it best:

"It's like a palm tree...if it doesn't sway, it will break...so we'll just be palm trees."

And now you know why I love her so! If only she would paint it on a piece of weathered wood and sell it on Esty. I'm certain it would be a hit with other special education teachers.

So being a palm tree...I had to re-apply that concept when I was told in November,
"Oh by the way...I know we are three months into the school year already, but on top of your job, you now have two HS Life Skills classes, twice a week that you will need to teach (and do paperwork on)."

Awesome.

You can probably guess that conversation is quickly followed up with,
"Oh by the way, you're also responsible for doing all the testing administrator training, teaching and End-of-Course testing all of the life skills juniors on US History and English III."

And we're swaying....

I know with the budget crisis hitting many of your schools (and let's be honest, you personally), there is a lot of swaying going on. Some days, everything blowing your way is much harder to deal with, but I'm certain that with a positive attitude...and remembering the love we all have for these children and of course  the almighty paycheck too...we will survive!

Ok...my Liebster Award nominations go to....

As mentioned a few post down...my Liebster awards go to....



This is one of my go-to blogs for many things. Rose-Marie highlights some very poignant aspects of educating and raising children with special needs.




This is one of my favorite blogs...and not just because she's from Texas. (wink) Andrea is a Special Education teacher who happily shares lots of wonderful ideas...and freebies!! You must check her out.



Karlie has one of the most fun blogs because it has a very personal aspect to it...in addition to the awesome freebies as well. I love to read about the ups and downs she endures...because let's be honest, as SpEd teachers, we sometimes feel like we are on a remote island!


AND I'm still working on the other two!! I promise to have them posted by Friday.

Tour of MFISD Transition Facility

My very first blogger award...woohoo!

As a fairly new blogger, I have been coming across so many great and resourceful blogs that are chock-full of fabulous awards. I've secretly pined for one and today...my new friend, Claire at Special Speckled Eggs nominated me for the prestigious Liebster Award!



 

I could not have received it without the nomination by Claire and if you haven't hopped over to her blog, you must check it out. She's got such a contagiously fun personality and great ideas for the elementary classroom!






So the rules of the award go as follows:

1. Show you appreciate the blogger who nominated you with a thank you shout out!
2. Nominate 5 other blogs, who have 200 followers or less, by leaving them a comment
3. Post the award on your blog
4. Keep up with the blogs you've given the award to...you never know when they are going to hit the blog world, big time!

So with that said...I am having the hardest time finding people without 200 followers because you're all so fabulous and have so large of a following, but in making those newbies like me extra special...I'm going to create an entirely seperate blog to highlight them whenever I find all of the ones I would like to use!

Thank you again for the nomination!

The new look

Quick question....has anyone else switched to the new interface of Blogger, via Google Chrome? I'm not opposed to change, but this new interface has me searching for everything!

From my prospective...knowing what's appropriate and inappropriate

One of the discussions I hear a lot in my 18+ circle is "How do you know what's appropriate and inappropriate?" It seems like a reasonably easy question, but it can be applied to so many things in this unique type of program and with this age group of students. I find myself asking this question a dozen or more times throughout the school year...every year...and the jury is out on if they are all the right answers.

When dealing with students age 18-22, there are a lot of things to take into consideration, that teachers in many other, younger, age groups don't have to deal with...such as...

1. Consuming alcohol:

One of my sweet and precious students asked last year, while having lunch at Chili's,"Can I order a Margarita?" To which I squealed in sheer horror, "No way!"

And then reality set in...the student asked because legally, he CAN drink.

This topic always provides teachable moments, but sometimes I have to really consider that, unlike high school students (under 21), these students are in fact of age and can purchase and consume legally. And sometimes, the teachable moment is for me!

So the lessons now are generally about responsible drinking, how much is too much, and the wrecks and effects of alcoholism.

It was, initially, very hard for me to allow myself to acknowledge their age and accept that it is a reality that must be taught, not avoided...and very appropriate for this age group. But accepting it and talking about it could be the seed planted that saves them from a very rocky path.


2. Interactions with other LIFE students:

How easy is it, when you want to get together with another group, to just pick up the phone and schedule some sort of group activity with another LIFE group in the same school district. So easy!
But is it truly appropriate?

Sometimes, my sweet and precious students tend to forget they are "of age" while other students in our district are not...and dating is not "ok" for, let's say, a 15-year-old and a 20-year-old. What gets me most is the parents of the older student questioning why isn't not acceptable and perplexed as to why the younger students parents are threatening a protective order. How easy it is to forget that the rules still apply to our students with disabilities as the general population.

I came to the realization very quickly, during my first year, that intermingling my adult students with those at the junior high and high school level is more inappropriate than appropriate, so we've had to scale back how much time and when it is acceptable, to not encourage these emotional relationships to develop. This probably lends its self to a good, old fashion lesson on stalking and harassment as well, I just haven't been able to figure out the gentlest way to present this lesson. Any ideas?

3. Technology and all its glory:

Technology is a very beautiful thing...or maybe a rotten thing...I haven't made up my mind just yet. Having technology and using technology for purposes intended is the beautiful aspect. Having technology and using technology to look at dirty websites, send nude photos and harass others is a rotten thing.

This year brought the adventure of dealing with some real-life issues...using technology...which provided some very rich teachable moments and the opportunity to teach very honest lessons for those not directly involved. If you don't have it worked into your lesson plans somewhere during the school year, it would behove you to add in "sexting" which will lend its self to "pornography" which could lend its self to "harassment" and "cyber bullying." Those are all very real topics that are becoming increasingly talked about in our society and issues all young adults are experiencing.
It's ugly, but it's real.

I know there are many more moments that will arise which will beckon the question, "Ok, appropriate or inappropriate," and I'm confident asking myself those questions and being reasonable with the answer will only make me a better educator to my students and steward of my society.

Monthly Income....desires vs. reality

This year, since 80% of  my students aging out, it was determined that there needed to be some definition in, the desires we've talked about for the past two years, versus the reality of what their monthly budget might look like post-program.

One student expressed in her ARD that she's interested in moving out on her own, into an apartment. She also would like a car to get her to and from work. We did a week of research on the apartments close to her job and called around to those apartments to gather information on availability, move-in costs, monthly costs and any misc. information we could think up (i.e. "Do you accept pets?") We also looked at vehicles and contacted our local State Farm office to get an insurance quote.

That Friday, my staff and I took the entire group and met with local realtor, Ashlee Clark of Keller-Williams, looking at the various types of rentals, just to we could gauge what the rental market in our area looks like.

Once the student (mentioned above) and I had gathered all of our information, we layed it out on the white board so we could really get a true look at the reality of her moving into an apartment, on her income. This is what it looked like:

This was a great way to really bring this student into a more realistic setting and provide real numbers instead of guesstimates. She was able to see how fast the small expenses add up and what type of apartment housing she could afford at her income level. This also helped us moved into a more open-minded position, to even start exploring group home options in our area, where she can live with little to no cost and also have support as needed.

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family! I can't believe we are already into 2012...where did time go?!

We are starting out this year, the final chapter of Transition for most all of my students, by really focusing on each students needs and fears in completing this program. For some three of my five, they have been a part of this program since the doors were opened three years ago, so the final semester is very bittersweet for them.

One of the things I'm trying to do this year is focus on the needs post-program, by offering some after school and additional services to them and their parents. Each student was given a letter to take home offering three opportunities for growth:

1. DayHab/Group Home Exploration
A scheduled visit for myself, the student and their parent(s)/guardian(s) to visit day habs center and group homes in and around our area. For some parents it's of interest, but they just aren't sure about what these services are and what is entailed for their adult child. A day-long visit, as seen with one student and parent last year, puts their imagination into new focus and mind at ease in knowing exactly what services are being offered and what the environment looks like on a daily basis.

2. Daily Home Living Skills...at home!
I appreciate getting feedback from parents more than anything about what works and what doesn't. One parent, who's child aged out last May, contacted me earlier in the year and said, "He can't do anything at home! I thought you said he could cook, clean and do laundry?!" It's true...this student was amazing at all of those things at school, but didn't have the proper transitioning of those skills to his natural environment at home...where mean old Mrs. Virdell wasn't hovering to inspect the quality. What he was lacking was the desire and experience with doing those same tasks in his own home.
So this year I'm offering to meet my student and their parent at home, after school hours, to help transition them into doing things in their natural environment, hoping it will help transfer those honed skills, learned here, to their own home.

3. College Visit
I have a few students who would do very well in a modified college setting and have expressed an interest in doing so. Austin Community College, in Austin, offers what's called VOCAT courses for adults with developmental disabilities. The courses vary in complexity and interests, but all offer a variety of skills levels that college experience. It is my hope that those who are interested will apply for and complete this really neat program and with a visit to the campus, I'm positive that the students and parents interested will be sold too.