Spreading the Christmas Joy!

Christmas Break has been anything but a break at this point! ha-ha My break has consisted of laundry, lesson plans, and Alternate Assessment! I managed to catch some sort of stomach bug and completely slept through Saturday and half of Sunday. I am so blessed that I caught a bug instead of the flu! Count your blessings where you can get them! 

As a first year teacher I was quite excited to take my class on their FIRST FIELD TRIP OF THE YEAR!!!! We took our class to the local mall to meet Santa, shop, and catch some non-cafeteria food lunch! I think I was more excited than they were. Let me just explain the mount eruption that took over while we at the mall. Now don't get me wrong, I completely prepared myself for the stares of the rude and ignorant. (Ignorant is such an ugly word, but as I've said before I mean it strictly as someone who is completely uneducated on the subject of my angels). I knew there would be those who would stare and maybe those who would whisper as our class walked by, what I did not prepare myself for were the obnoxious comments people made IN FRONT OF THE CHILD I WAS PUSHING!!!!  While I won't get into the comments I heard because I will completely lose my mind and get angry all over again, what I will say is that these children are precious angels and the one "sad" thing about them is the fact that THEY CAN HEAR THE OBNOXIOUS COMMENT YOU ARE SAYING! The end my rant is over, but on a lighter note during our shopping I managed to find Santa Clause. This is the cream of the crop when it comes to Santa Clause guys. In my opinion, I'm pretty sure we had the real deal this year. He not only skipped part of his lunch break, took time to speak to, interact, and personally give love to each of our students, AND did not charge me a penny for taking the pictures! Please look carefully at these pictures and if you see this specific Santa, please tell him how was a true blessing to me and my class!

Please notice her finger! I died laughing! bahaha

Please notice this child pulling Santa's beard to make sure it's real bahahaha

LOOK AT THAT SMILE!!!!!

Here are some other pictures from our field trip!

Also! I got my five year license in the mail! SO long alternate route program! 

And believe it or not, I tried my hand at cooking this year! Well baking but here are a few pictures from our Christmas eve. From our family to yours have a VERY Blessed and Merry CHRISTmas!

 Me and the Hubbs!

Best wife award please and thank you :)

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Alternate assements trying to kill me!

     I have spent months looking and searching for teachers who have students like ours. I don't mean the people who work at group homes because while I'm sure they do an amazing job, they have no idea about the dreaded ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT!   If you have never had to deal with it, please count your stars and thank the God, Buddha, or tree hugging higher power in which you claim yourself too. I'm pretty sure it is the governments way to weeding out the weak teachers much like boot camp is for the military, only for teachers it lasts all year long instead of eight weeks.

    While I understand the government has to have a way to be able to "prove" that these sweet angels are as cognitively disabled as we say they are, testing them constantly on their grade level ability or inability just gets silly after a while. There are only so many ways to ask what the main idea of a paragraph on the continent of Antarctica is, and getting a response of pop tarts, a girl can take. (Yes, true story) I would love to know how other teachers "handle" the dreaded A squared testing. (a testing so evil I'd rather not say it more than once. It's kind of like the movie beetle juice.)

  On a lighter note our Halloween parade was a smashing success. Please see the pictures below :)

No our students do not have white block and blurry faces like in the movie the ring, I have a media release form but I'm still not real comfortable putting their faces out there. Thank you to a great friend (Ms. B. Liles) for covering my legal tail and blurring them for me.  I white outed the pictures I forgot to send her haha.

Our Fireman! He got to be pushed by two very friendly (and very handsome) firemen.

Our very fabulous DJ

Our WWE wrestling Diva

Cinderella

ARGGGGGG. Our Pirate

The Queen Bee!

Army Man! He was pushed by a wonderful man in the National Guard!

Following our Halloween parade around the school, a few weeks later we had our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner! We invited friends, family (my daddy even showed up), even past students to come and celebrate this wonderful holiday. And by celebrate I mean bring and eat a whole lot of food!

I couldn't get a chance to get the before picture but minus the Mandarin salad and the drinks, this was our meal after we were all done.

Given the majority of our students can't chew their food, we made a beef stew instead for the main course. I personally cooked the two pumpkin pies in the back. You can tell it was amazing since there is more pumpkin pie missing than the sweet potato to the left...minus the fact that I, myself ate 3 pieces. lol Anyone who knows me, knows I can NOT cook. Sooooooo the fact that I made 2 pumpkin pies FROM SCRATCH, I mean like I cut the pumpkin, boiled, and strained the stuff type of "made from scratch," should impress anyone. It was fabulous.

Now it is Christmas time and YAY for presents for the students! I , well I'll just admit it, I Catherine Hardy, am addicted to swiping my debit card at whatever merchandise vendor I can find with adorable and cutesy things I can buy for my students, classroom, and occasionally my animals.   So far my students have an amazing blanket I got on sale, and a book entitled "The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School." I am trying to resist getting much more, but geez Louise at all the good deals via Scholastic this year! My classroom library has literally tripled since I started the school year.

Now I must return to my desk and slave away before the baseline assessment of A squared testing is due and make sure all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed.  I like to view it as a video game. Complete round one by swimming underwater and collecting all of the magical materials you can find to fight off the baseline monster, head to the mystical dungeon of secondary land where you fight your way through obstacles by proving your strengths and strengthening your weaknesses, and finally heading to the magical castle of finals where you save the princess and get rewarded with a small vacation we like to call summer break before beginning all over again.

Until next time, please enjoy this marvelous picture of my husband and I eating at Dicks restaurant in Gatlinburg, TN celebrating my birthday :) Aren't we cute! He was very excited if you can't tell.

Care don't stare

We made the news!!! Click here to see!!!!!

We (two assistants, the teacher next door, and I) decided to do a special project for our students this year. On facebook the teacher next door posted this picture:

Who this little man is, I have no idea. When she posted this picture it instantly sent my mind into inspector gadget mode. I googled on 3 different devices and one time to find out more about these costumes and where or if I could buy some for my students. I was sadly disappointed when it appeared that these costumes were no where in sight to buy.

The next day I took this picture to school to show my assistant. She loved it and like I, asked where we could buy them. When I broke the bad news that I couldn't find anywhere to buy them, our amazing wheel chair tech from A&A home health, Frank Maxcy, told us he had a ton of boxes at the office that we were more than welcome to and he would deliver them as soon as he could. I looked at my assistant, she looked at me, and we decided to go for it. Worse case scenario they sucked and we would throw them away before anyone would notice ha-ha. I spoke with the teacher next door, whose facebook this project originally stemmed, and she was game for the challenge as well! We got a lot of picture examples of home made wheelchair costumes and asked the students which costume they would rather be. Now with our students this proved to be a challenge in itself. we took pictures two at a time and asked the children which costume would they rather be. Some could respond with shaking their head yes or no, using eye gaze to look at the one they wanted, turning their head at the one they wanted, or by touching the picture of the one they wanted. This way each costume got to be not only for the kids, but let the kids choose their own character. It let them know that they were in charge.

First we made a fire truck to test out the waters:

Then a horse so a boy could be a cowboy: 

 An army tank for a very special soldier

 And what gang of lads is complete without a pirate and pirate ship!

While my OCD ran a muck with non-straight lines and the lack of symmetry on both sides I decided to just let it go and focus on the students. We are still working on Cinderella's Carriage, A queen bee hive, and of course a DJ booth! ha-ha Are they the best in the world, no but they are good enough that the children have smiled every step of the way and that is all that matters. If people want a reason to stare we can give it to them lol.

My students are people too!

As most of you know my students are pulled from two surrounding counties to be in my classroom. The teacher next door and I have a total of ten children. All with multiple severe and profound disabilities. Two students in the class room can walk. Those are the only two out of ten. Our children are considered non-mobile and non-verbal.

A few weeks ago I was asked to attend a conference. This speaker was supposedly the best of the best and had taught everything in the book. I was so excited to FINALLY meet someone else besides myself and the teacher next door who taught our types of students. I was in for a rude awakening. During his speech I became more and more curious about his experience with multi-handicapped special education students. After many attempts, I finally got my turn to speak with him during a lunch break. I asked him if he had any advice or activities he knew of for teachers of multi-handicapped special education teachers. His response "Oh you mean those with dyslexia and ADHD?" My heart sank and I knew this was not headed in a direction that would be pretty. It may be my first year teaching, but I am very passionate about my students in almost a motherly protective way. Little did I know his next student would slap me with a reality check so hard my head would spin.

As I tried to explain to him no my students have a multitude of disabilities all rolled into one and began to name off their situations I was abruptly stopped with seven words that sent chills up my spine. "Why aren't your students in a home?" And by "home" he meant a live in facility instead of being aloud to a regular classroom where we can work on things that help them grow to be strong adults that would be OK in society when they "graduated."  As I heard these words I could feel my face getting warm and red. I knew that my mama bear instincts wanted to rip this guy to shreds and display them for all to see. Letting all who would dare say my students should be in a home instead of a classroom see what would happen to them. How dare he try to say that just because my students don't learn like other students that they belong in a home...yeah my head was spinning with the how dare he's and who is he to say.  I just tried as nicely as I could to excuse myself and return to my chair to collect my thoughts before I went into bear mode.

As I sit in my chair fuming it hit me, this poor speak whom I have just mentally ripped to shreds and displayed the left over parts didn't say that sentence because he thought my job as a teacher was null and void and my students should be shunned away to a dark dungeon, it was because he had never seen or experienced a classroom for children such as these and was unaware of the great advantages to having children in our environment. I lost a great opportunity to bring awareness of what we do, and for that I have been kicking myself everyday.

It's time for me to stand up and roar and let these people know just how amazing these ten individuals are, and the remarkable affect they can have on you if you just take the time to really know them not just stare.

Whew! What a month!

I told myself I would wait at least one month before posting another blog so that I could get a full view of who my year with the kids would be a sweet geez did I!

In my last post you saw my beautiful room before! Well, after a little shelf lining, colorful duct tape, construction and crate paper, and of course some spray paint; my amazing cousin, beautiful sister in law and made this room an awesome place to be :)

 Please notice my life saving assistant working like a champ while I take pictures lol.

Then running away when she realized what I was doing haha.

During my first week, my assistant went on vacation...yes I know, an assistant who has done this job for years leaves a poor unknowing first year teacher on the first week of school to fend for herself! But luckily I had two fabulous neighbors who came to the rescue with every scream and whimper. ha-ha Thank you Sharon and Stephanie!

After my first week of...well I just say it...mind blowing, confidence killing hell...I made it through with only a few tears and bruises. Once my assistant came back and we worked out a scheduled routine things were smooth sailing...and then the two words every special education teacher hates to hear came up during a meeting...Alternate Assessment...DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNN. I thank my lucky stars and my humbly forgiving God for my partners in crime in this room and next door. Before I arrived they had everything set up and ready to go for me to begin baseline testing. The outlines were ready to go, I just had to find the curriculum pages. These pages were also located in an easy to use binder ready for testing. It was so amazingly organized, I bought Chickfila breakfast for my team the next day. Nothing says thanks for being awesome like some chicken biscuits and some delicious chicken minis.

Some awesome websites I have found that offer great activities that are easy to manipulate for my children with severe disabilities are:

http://dltk-teach.com/

www.toolsforeducators.com

http://www.bigactivities.com/

http://www.internet4classrooms.com

and of course www.pinterest.com

In these last few weeks my assistant and I have had to deal with everything from IEP meetings, Alternate Assessment, getting pooped, spit, and thrown up on, Department of Human Services, child custody, and of course the all and wonderful pureed pizza for lunch(One of the kids favorites). I've started getting used to coming home smelling like pediasure and pureed foods.

I figure, if we can handle/conquer all this within the first few weeks of school, this year is gonna be a breeze. Until then I have six amazing children, two incredibly talented neighbors, and one amazing assistant to help me along the way.

Ready or not, here they come!

   As most experienced teachers know, first year teachers get the left over equipment that while still perfectly safe for the kids, is not the newest and of the new. I have officially experienced the first year "crap shoot"! ha-ha I got relatively great items for my room but man, some of this stuff was made before I was born! This is what I began with...

 

But you know they drool right?

Over the past year I have been truly blessed to work in a great school district. I have been given multiple opportunities to explore and get a feel of the multiple fields of special education. Working as a computer technician really gave the the freedom to get a hands on experience in different classrooms. I got my degree in Behavioral Health Science because I wanted to know the science of Why chemically and emotionally children with disabilities act and react the way they do so I could better grasp a concept of how to teach them. After I finished the first part of the Teach Mississippi Institute alternate route program my goal was to go to each of the Special Education classrooms in my school and really get a hands on experience of the different fields. 

The severe and profound classroom is really where I felt my heart belong. When I finally made my choice on which direction to take, God really just opened the doors and put the right people in front of me. I spoke with my principal, and she was amazingly supportive when it came to interviews and gave me amazing advice when it came to following my heart in a smart way. A relative of my husband works in the field of Severe and Profound and a job at her school just opened up. I interviewed and was offered a job! It all happened pretty fast and while I am SO sad to be leaving my school and my district, I am excited for the opportunity that has been placed in front of me.

I told my husband I had an offer for a position of Multi-handicapped teacher, one of the first words out of my husbands mouth was "but you know they drool right?" Now before you all start to get mad and defensive please keep in mind that he is VERY uneducated when it comes to special education and teaching those with special needs. He has never been around anyone with special needs or serious health problems like these. I just laughed it off and told him yes these were the children who drool and have adult diapers....That's all it took ha-ha. He was done with that conversation. Even though he was proud of me for following my heart and getting a job that I am passionate about; he is a complete germ-phoebe and can't stand the thought of his own bodily functions let alone functions belonging to another person.

I will be in a class with 6 beautiful children who have Multi-handicaps. I thankfully have an assistant who has been part of this class for over 5 years. I have chosen a "Nature and botanical garden theme. 

Oh and on a side note I got my acceptance letter into the Dyslexia Therapy Masters Program!!!!

I'm a Big Girl Now!

WHEW! What a busy weekend! 

I am definitely not as young as I used to be! I thought I was good and thought I could hang in there but yeah....I failed miserably! 

So Friday night I (being the best wife in the entire world) recruited our friend Zach to help me surprise Nathan with a new TV stand!

Isn't Zach a cutie!

 Our Television has been sitting on our friend Jimmy's beautiful coffee table that we stole from him, and it was way to low to the ground for my liking so we discussed going in together and getting a TV stand for an anniversary present. Yeah I couldn't wait ha-ha

Nate and Zach checking the finished product! Well let's just say his exact words were "It's growing on me."

In other words he hated it but

But Now we get to use the Coffee table as wait for it.....GASP A COFFEE TABLE! YAYYYYYYYY!

Saturday night we went to see Luke Brian and Jason Aldean. It was so exciting! We went with some great friends and had a great night. 

Say hello to Luke Brian's Tooshie! YEAH GIRL! ha-ha It was quite nice! Unfortunately this is the only picture I remembered to take. My bad.

SUNDAY WAS CRAZY! We got home from Jason Aldean around 12:00 am after a quick run through McDonalds. :)

We had to be at church around 8:00 so Nathan could practice with the praise band and I could practice running the sound without him. (SO MANY BUTTONS). Since I have the best husband EVER he let me sleep in until 9:00 and then I came to church. That extra hour sleeping doesn't sound like a lot but hey, It sounded like a year to me at that point. ha-ha. After church I went to my dad's house so I could try and watch the first half of the Daytona 500 before we took our youth group to Winter Jam. (OF COURSE Daytona was rained out but that's another rant entirely!)

At 3:30 we met our youth leader and the youth at the church and headed on our way to winter jam! We got there at 4:00 and the line was curled around the parking lot and backed into the road. The building only holds 9,000 people and we just knew we would get turned away. Sure enough When we got close to the door (and by close I mean about 100 feet from the door) they told everyone it was sold out and they had reached the maximum capacity.  Some of the bands so graciously came outside and started playing for those who not allowed in. 

 (Picture courtesy of our local paper)

As those people started turning away our youth Pastor told us we were not leaving until the bitter end! We stuck it out and when we got right up on the door, a security officer came out and told us if we were willing to stand he would let us in!  There were only around 20-30 people still waiting so we were all stoked!

When we got in we stood at the top and had horrible seats, but our kids were just proud to be there and grateful to get it which just melted my heart!  We had an awesome time! I even got to meet Building 429! They are just absolutely amazing! I took one of my youth and her mother downstairs to get a drink from the concession and we were approached by a man who asked us if we would like to meet the band! Just randomly out of the blue. We said yes of course and he told us we had to buy a CD and he would let us go. So we did and off we went! It was AMAZING. We walked backstage and saw all of the equipment and sound boards, and video equipment and I was just in awe of how much work and technology was put into shows like that. When we got backstage we met the band and they were super nice and very friendly!

We didn't get home until around 12:00 AGAIN and let just say I am WAYYYYYY to old for that now ha-ha. Waking up Monday morning for work was a nightmare! I felt dead and I'm pretty sure I snapped at anyone who came near me (SORRY TO THOSE WHO FELT MY WRATH). My husband got the most of the anger last night. Poor guy! I even screamed out of anger at him b/c the sound on the TV was too high even though it was almost as low as it would go and was in the process of putting on the Closed Captions. Sorry Love!

I promised him pancakes and happy faces tonight so hopefully he will forgive me. Until then, Lesson learned!

Below are some pictures I took and a news article our newspaper put out about the show.

 http://nems360.com/view/full_story/17665449/article-Winter-Jam-draws-large-crowd-in-Tupelo-at-BCS-Arena?