wow!

Did I mention that our principal is leaving! He got a district level administrative job in the district one city over. I am really happy for him, but I am wandering how it will work for us with a temporary administrator and then a new hire half way through the year. We will see!

Student 18

Student 18 came into my room this year with an IEP for Speech issues as well as for some RSP needs. It became very clear from the first day forward that he had some real issues with hyperactivity and inability to focus. As the year has progressed a bit I have seen that he has some problems with social interaction as well and as of late has been hitting other kids, throwing dirt at them and even spitting in their faces. I have felt really supported by the Psychologist and the rest of the team of people that she has notified of the issue. I have gotten some fidgets from one of the occupational therapists as well as a cushion seat for him to sit on. The RSP teacher and speech teacher is really wanting to help as well. The question I have been struggling with is how to best deal with his moving body which seems to be much of the source of the trouble he is having. When a kid is angry you can teach them how to work with that anger when it comes up. When they are defiant you can put boundaries around them for them to see what they can and cannot do. With this child, it seems that much of his trouble is coming not from mental choices, but from his need to move. As I am writing this I guess I am realizing that there is a line between his moving and the things that his body is doing and then what he does with it. At some point he is making the choice to throw, hit, or stick out his tongue. I guess I will have to have a two fold approach with him. I will need to do some things to focus on his moving and keeping his hands and body occupied and then I will have to have a second set of interventions to focus on his choices with other students. The second set will be harder as I don't see him being as mature to really be able to see what he is doing. I might need to spend a lot of time up front with him simply helping him understand what he is even doing and how it is being received by the other students. We have been drawing pictures/ cartoons some already, I guess I will go down that route to help him gain some perspective. It is tougher when a kid has a hard time even understanding what they are doing.

Student 12

Well, we are into a new school year. I can't believe that this is my 12th year teaching. Where has the time gone? One of my old students came by and is now in high school. I had him in second grade! What is going on here? I am starting to feel a little old. Ahhh.. oh well, on to the business at hand.

Student 12 has been having more tantrums lately. Today we were playing dodgeball and he had won the previous game, but then was hit casually by a ball that he did not see. He paused for a second and then burst into tears complaining that the ball had hurt his foot. Tears flowed incredibly quick. His face was soaked in less than a minute. There were two other events today that were of a similar nature. It is obvious to me that he seems to have very little coping mechanism for his emotion when things do not go his way. The question is what can I give him in terms of tools to deal with this kind of disconnect between his feelings and the resolution to the problem. I think I need to start first by reinforcing his crying as NOT the means to a resolution. I want him to use his words to express what he is feeling and then seek a resolution. Uugggg…. Criers are harder to deal with than most.