Praise In The Work Place...

So today, I was in the cafeteria with the students for gym class. Our cafeteria is connected to a small kitchenette for staff to use. As I was standing in the kitchenette observing our students, a teacher walked into the kitchenette to load the dishwasher, and just looked frazzled. Her students were arguing behind her as to who gets to help her load the dishwasher and she was trying to explain to them who was going to do what, but they just weren't listening. They walked back in their classroom and started to pout as the teacher finished loading the dishwasher. We made eye contact and I just said "You're gorgeous! You're wonderful! You're an AMAZING teacher!" and we started to laugh and then she returned to her room. That was that.

At the end of the day today I walked into the room where everyone had gathered to let everyone know I was leaving and that specific teacher said "Hey, I just really wanted to say thank you for today. You're so positive and encouraging and it really did help me get through the day." I just laughed and reassured her I was glad I could help brighten her day when another coworker said "No, it really is refreshing to have someone like you here. You have helped me so much lately!" and another said "You are always so positive and make us all laugh on even the worst days!". This made me feel SOOOO good! In my previous job, I was always so stressed out and so tired, that I was the Negative Nancy of the group. I was the pessimistic one always waiting for something to go wrong and not having much positivity to share with my co-workers. I never realized how draining this was for not only myself but for others. 

I think there are a lot of contributing factors to this current mindset of wonderfulness.
1.) I'm new. I'm still on the "honeymoon" period where I haven't quite settled into my ways yet.
2.) The book I'm reading "Unglued" by Lysa Terkeurst, helping me to realize what my emotions are and how to handle them appropriately.
3.) I enjoy working where I work. I enjoy doing all the things required of me in a day. I enjoy working with the students I get to work with. I enjoy the company of my coworkers and I respect their opinions and values. 
4.) I want to be a happier person. I want to be that person that can help anyone out when they are in a slump. I want to be the person who helps build team morale and motivate my co-workers. I've experienced working in an environment where everyone dislikes each others, gossips, and fails to work as a team. It doesn't work.

After hearing all those wonderful things said to me, I am only going to try to get even better at this. When I get frustrated instead of just "venting" to a coworker of nothing but negatives, I'm going to identify more positives than negatives in any situation. I am going to encourage my peers to see positive qualities in one another and compliment one another on those qualities. Something farther down the road would be to encourage one another to give constructive criticism and feedback. Not to tear one another apart but to build each other up and to help us all grow in our professions. This last one would be WAY farther down the road and something I wouldn't really initiate but go to my Director and see if there is a "Team Reflection" we could start as a whole. 

That's my good news for the day! Hopefully it motivates some other people in the workplace to maybe take a different approach to things. 

This is the happy dance I wanted to do when I realized with this new job, everything is gonna be OK. I just have to stay positive! 

Intimidation in my new job...

So, as I discussed before, I left my job working for a Mental Health Hospital and have joined a school for Autistic students in grades K-12. I have never worked with autistic kids before, truly autistic kids. This was new territory for me and I'll admit it, I was terrified. Now, before I go on with this I will let you know I did NOT start as a teacher right away. I wanted to see if I had what it takes to work with autistic students. I'm use to Emotional Support, Life Skills, Learning Support, etc. But I've never worked with an autistic student before. 

So, I started this job as a PCA- Personal Care Assistant. I was assigned to one student, who I was informed is probably the most aggressive, complicated student they had. (Yay! : /) I was told various situations that had occurred with this student, both good and bad. Regardless of the good, I was too fixated on the bad, and I scared myself to the point I didn't think I'd be able to do this job. My boss completely understood my concern and told me I would NEVER be alone with this student until I truly felt comfortable and in control. Thank God for this student's prior PCA who stayed with me all day every day explaining to me everything about this student. What sets her off, what she enjoys, what to use as rewards, her daily schedule, what some of her gestures mean (rubbing your belly is a sign of affection to this student), and warning me that this student is double jointed in every joint of her body so it's nearly impossible to restrain this student when necessary. This PCA was/is WONDERFUL with this student. She does so much for her and with her, it truly is remarkable! I truly admire her dedication in working with not only her "assigned" student but also the other students in the room as well. As soon as I feel comfortable enough with this student and complete my trainings, the other PCA will take the position of Classroom Assistant, and she will be AWESOME at this. 

So the first day was an eye opening experience. I can't even begin to imagine the thousands upon millions of thoughts that fly threw this student's head every minute. She paces the room, she talks to herself, she talks to other things, she attempt to gesture or make short statements demanding things from people, she does not interact at all with her peers, and she is very unstable. At any second the littlest thing sets her off, the way her pants rub her, when she doesn't get her way, when she wants to avoid work, when she doesn't feel good, when she has a bad thought, when she has a good thought, when she wants to try something new, when she's hungry, etc. She has extreme OCD so sometimes she has to tap things a certain amount of times, twist her pencil a certain way X amount of times, touch her forehead then her nose then her forehead X amount of times, she has to stand up and sit X amount of times, and so on and so forth. For all this, I was able to just sit next to the student and observe and take notes about behaviors and interventions. Certain phrases to use to help her redirect her, what tone of voice to use when giving a demand, counting backwards to enforce a direction, etc. 

The second day I mostly observed and was still very intimidated by this student. She doesn't verbalize what she is thinking or feeling. She doesn't express a want or desire using complete sentences, it's one word utterances with a rough breathing behind it so it's hard to understand sometimes. However, I told myself if I ever want to understand this student and be able to work with this student, I have to push myself. I will never actually understand what goes through her head or what her thought process is, but I can learn what ways work best with her thought process, perception, and abilities. So, on this day I stepped in and gave the directions to "Sit in blue chair in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" or "Calendar time, show me what month it is, what day are we on, what year is it." Etc. Sometimes she would comply and do what I directed but sometimes she would say "Her goes away" and point at me and then the door. This was my cue to back off a little and let the PCA she was familiar with step in. I sat with this student at lunch and tried to get her to tell me what she brought for lunch or what her favorite food is, but she ignored me. She didn't act out though, so that was a step in the right direction for me.

By the third day, things had gotten so much better! She was following my directions within 3 prompts, she was doing activities with me, she was identifying things she wanted to "work for" such as time on the Ipad. She allowed me to help her with her calendar time and her drills. I was so elated by this huge step she had made in allowing me to step into her routine! 

By the fourth day, we were best buds! We would joke around and she would try to trick me! She would try to move the tasks from the "To Do" list to the "Finished" list when I wasn't looking or by switching task cards out. When I would catch on and call her out about it she would let out the cutest little giggle ever and run to her corner laughing. After lunch she even asked me into her personal space (which was in her calm down corner) to sit with her on her mat. We sat together and she explored everything. She played with the zipper on my boots, she played with the buttons on my cardigan, she touched my hair, and she rubbed my stomach. This was a big step for us because that is how she shows affection. Then, she tried to sit on my lap! I told her we can't do that, she's not a baby. And then she said "You, my lap!" and had the biggest smile on her face. I laughed and said "I'd squish you like a pancake!" and she looked at me like I was crazy. Then she said "She not a pancake. Don't do that." (She refers to herself as "she") And I just laughed. We sat on that mat for 20 minutes just sort of giggling and figuring each other out. When it was time for her to meet with her teacher to do her drills and do some other assessments, she flew through them all and did so great! She kept saying "She smart today, she smart today" letting us know she felt smart that day. Her teacher said she had never had this specific student sit so long and do so much work with her before!  At the end of that day she said "She had fun today", referring to herself. 

Slowly but surely, my intimidation began to fade away and I can honestly say I LOVE working with this student. This has been such a wonderful experience and I feel like it was almost meant to happen. Had I not taken the leap and left my other job to try this out and see if it was meant for me, I never would have had this experience. I am so grateful for this opportunity in my life and can't believe I was so intimidated by this. 

When I first told my friends and family about taking this job, they looked at me like I was crazy. "You got a bachelor's degree and two years teaching experience and this is what you are doing with yourself?!" "Why aren't you teaching, you should be teaching. This is going to hurt your resume." "This is a big step down for you, how's your self esteem?" But they didn't understand that yes, I will get a teaching job from this but I wanted to see if I could actually WORK with these students and help them to be successful! 

I am still this student's PCA as of right now but I was told they will need to hire a teacher for a new classroom they are opening up and if I am ready for it I can have it. I think I am ready for this new adventure in my life! I will be doing more research on working with Autistic kids and what better resources than other teacher's blogs?! Here are some that I really, really like!

http://teachingspecialthinkers.blogspot.com/
http://theautismteacher.blogspot.com/
http://theadventuresofroom83.blogspot.com/

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know! 

Imperfect Progress

So I have started a Women's Group with my church at the request of my husband and I'm glad I listened to him. He had been bugging me to join before but I felt like I would've been the youngest person there, I wouldn't relate, the lessons wouldn't apply to me, etc. However, I was almost 100% wrong. I am the youngest person there but based off of our first night and the book we were given to start reading, I am definitely in the right spot. 

The book is called "Unglued" by Lysa TerKeurst. The class is all about dealing with "raw emotions". We typically "stuff" our feelings deep down, we explode, or we react somewhere in between. Every situation is different though just as all of your interactions are different with each person. For example, with my husband, I explode. With my mother, I stuff it way, way, down and just let it eat away at me. At work, I'm a hot mess and I fall in every category possible. But none of these things help me in those situations, they only make things even more difficult. In this book she states that these changes we seek to make in ourselves as humans, our perspectives on situations, our interactions in situations, and our thought process will not change over night. (I feel like that's a statement used ALL the time "You can't expect change over night!") But she identifies this commitment to better yourself as "Imperfect Progress". I love that. You ARE making progress towards your ultimate goal, but no one is perfect. You are not perfect. Progress is not perfect. So you will make mistakes along the way. But you have to own those mistakes, reflect on those mistakes, forgive yourself for them, and continue on your journey of progress. 

This is such a relief to me because I am one who always feels like I make these goals for myself, I screw up once, twice, even three times, and then I give up on myself. So here is me, accepting my imperfect progress to becoming a better person! I am making goals for myself and I will accept my hiccups along the way, but I WILL make the progress to meet those goals. My ultimate goal is to be able to handle situations, high stress situations, or even just those tiny little annoyances, in the best way possible. This goes for my personal life, my work life, and just in general, my daily life. 

This applies to EVERY WOMAN I know! Moms, sisters, wives, friends, etc. Every woman has experienced at some point during their DAY where they are confronted by their emotions... This book gives you the tools to use every day to help you through those situations. To help you make the BEST of those situations. 

If you visit their website, you can take a test to see what type of reactor you are with different people in your life. Take the test, it's interesting to see how you react to different people... 

www.ungluedbook.com

Progressive sanctification is accomplished by the Holy Spirit as the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit as a result of having no unconfessed sin in his or her life. It is an act entirely of God so that the righteous man lives by faith and not by works. However, it involves a choice: “Be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:14-16).

Told Ya I Made Cookies...

So, here are those cookies I claimed to have been making today! I hope my kiddos like them tomorrow, if we even have school!

Fresh out of the oven and they held their shape so nicely!! I hate when they lose their shape and just become plain ol' circles.

And I topped them of with a yummy homemade buttercream frosting!

Here is the recipe for the cookies:

3/4 C butter, softened
1 C white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Watch for the bottom edges to start to brown.

Here is the recipe for the buttercream frosting:

1 1/2 C powdered sugar
3 tblsp butter, softened
1 tblsp vanilla
1 tblsp milk
Any food coloring you prefer.

I use this recipe for my Christmas cookies too and they always turn out great!

Digital Poem

I LOVE snow days!! I have gotten so much done today! Woo hoo! I finished 2 assignments, a quiz, cleaned my home, walked the dog, and now I got some fresh sugar cookies in the oven for some special kiddos tomorrow! I kind of feel like this kid right now! 

I've gotten all this done thanks to this wonderful snow storm in which I do believe we are up to like 6-8 inches of snow already. Ugh! I do NOT like snow... but I am reaping the benefits today! 

Below is a digital poem I created for my Read 717 class. We are learning how to incorporate multimedia into learning in our Best Practices in Writing Instruction textbook. I had a lot of fun creating this project and can definitely see myself using windows movie maker in my future classroom. 

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave some feed back!