Work work work

So, how many days before I go back to work? It's looming over me like a, a, an ax? Well, not quite that bad. Let's see. I go back August 8, so it's 3 weeks from today. Aaauggh. I STILL have two closets to clean out, however, I've managed to keep somewhat busy this summer. I've volunteered some at Maude Carpenter's Children's Home. I've done some landscaping and kept up the yard work. However, I have not done much reading, nor have I practiced the piano like I thought I would.

We have 5 days of service (great. I LOVE sitting on those child size wooden chairs in the library all DAY), then school starts on the 15th. I'm hoping to spend some time at each school's inservice as there is new significant staff at each place. Actually, I hate to admit this, and if you accuse me of saying it, I'll deny it, but I think I'll sorta be ready to go back to work. There. I said it. Although I enjoy just sorta putzing around, and setting my own schedule for the most part and being lazy some, and doing all those things that come with "vacation", I really have to, well, there's no good way to say it, but I really have to work at working. Like many others, my natural inclination is to avoid work, however, I'm thinking about a movie I saw yesterday. "The Ultimate Gift" made the point that the ability to work and even work itself, is a gift. If you haven't seen this movie, I would encourage you to rent the DVD. It'll be worth your time.

Wasting time

It's time to update my now discouraged readers about what's been going on since, oh, when was the last time I posted? June 22?

I've gone to a nephew's wedding and helped to rennovate a house that my brother owns...not just ANY house, but the house we grew up in. My brother bought it after my parents died and raised his own boys there until he moved a few years ago. It's located in a small town south of here, and to everyone but just a few, it's a nondescript run down little house on a piece of property not worth much, but to me, it means more than that. Realistically, my brother really needs to sell it instead of renting it out, and I truly hope he can sell it. It has become a liability to him as renters have not been kind to it. So, I did all sorts of manual labor I'm not used to, but since all my siblings were there and other family as well, I enjoyed the work.

The wedding was very nice, and a big official welcome to Katie, the woman who is making my nephew "Mike" (I always called him Michael, but things change...) a happy man. I hope to get to know Katie - there hasn't been much opportunity to just visit. I think I scared her off at our first meeting, and she's not sure what to think of me, but hopefully, she'll realize that I'm not that horrifying to be around. I would discuss why it is that Katie got scared, but, let's just say it involved an old cat and a betting pool.

Not a lot happening in the school psychology field. I realized I have less than a month to go before reporting back to school (aauggh!!) and many more things to accomplish before then. For example, I'd like to at least get ONE ripe tomato off of ONE of my tomato plants. Would that be too much to ask? Maybe.

I hate to admit this, but I've been wasting some time looking at YouTube. Specifically, I've been watching old Johnny Carson clips, and here's the link to one classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpVjW30I-YU
I've watched this twice now, and it just cracks me up. If the link doesn't work, go to youtube.com and search for "Copper Clappers". So that got me started watching other Carson clips - check out the one where the marmoset sits on his head.

Watching these old clips got me to thinking about that comedian-pianist, Victor Borge, so I searched for him on YouTube and watched some of his schtick. Remember him? I've about decided you can find anything on the net.

A Three Act Play

Just when I think I've about got a handle on understanding my eccentric oldest son, I get to experience a new high. Imagine a parking meter post, without the parking meter. In other words, a pipe sticking out of the sidewalk where a parking meter used to be, about 3 inches in diameter. As you will note, the pipe has no end cap. This post is located in downtown Wichita near a busy street corner. And so, the story begins.

Characters: Mom, Bruce, Rebekah, Joshua, Daniel

Setting: Downtown Wichita, 12:30 pm, corner of Waco and Douglas

Occasion: Three adult children, grateful for their father's influence, guidance and fun times over the years, decide to take him out for lunch along with their mother and give him the Father's Day gifts they have purchased.

ACT 1

Scene 1

Mom: Here we are kids. This is where your dad would like to eat lunch.

(Parks the car along Waco, heading north.) Let's wait on the corner for him as he will be walking from work.

Kids: Swell!

Mom: Here comes father!

Kids: Father! (Hugs all around.)

Scene 2

Rebekah: Here you are dad. Presents new portable CD player.

Joshua: Here you are dad. Presents new coffee cup.

Daniel: I already gave you my gift ON the day. (A pair of khaki shorts.)

Bruce: Thank you! I'm so grateful for such wonderful children!

Scene 3

Mom: Joshua, why don't you take the gifts and put them in the trunk of the car. Here are the keys.

Joshua: Okay. (Walks to trunk, opens it, puts gifts in trunk. Closes trunk.)

ACT 2

Scene 1

Mom: Joshua, what are you doing? Let's go eat! (Pointing to the Broadview Hotel across the street.)

Joshua: Um, I have a problem. (Looking in parking meter pipe, laughing.)

Mom: What is it? (walking over to Joshua)

Joshua: I, um...(points in pipe).

Mom: Aaauuggghhh!

Scene 2

Mom surveys pipe. Keys are down in the pipe about 8 inches from the top of the pipe. Joshua is attempting to stick his hand down the pipe to retrieve the keys.

Mom: (Too dumbfounded to use any words to express thoughts.)

Daniel: HA HA!! Let me take a picture!

Rebekah: What have you DONE, you dork!

Bruce: Well, we gotta think of SOMETHING...

Scene 3

The family walks to the restaurant. Joshua is made to understand during the walk that he must figure something out to retrieve mom's keys. While waiting to be seated, Joshua asks the desk clerk for a wire coat hanger, and is informed that they only have wooden hangers in their hotel.

Joshua: Hmm. I guess I could walk back to the house and get a hanger.

Mom: I guess you could.

Dad: I'm hungry! It smells like chicken in here!

ACT 3

Scene 1

Joshua arrives about 30 minutes later with a wire hanger.

Dad: I'm going to watch this.

Daniel: I'm going to watch this.

Mom: I'm too nervous to watch.

Rebekah: I'll stay with you.

Scene 2

After several minutes, the men come back in the dining room triumphantly exalting over the successful fishing expedition.

Joshua: Look! (Waves keys at mom)

Mom: Great.

Joshua: We also fished around in the pipe for other stuff...(tosses a single key for some sort of briefcase on the table.)

Mom. Great.

THE END

Of wet carpets and city life

I'm sitting out here on my screened in porch, hoping that in this 90% humidity, my carpets I just had cleaned this morning will dry. We've been farkeling with carpet cleaning since Tuesday, when the guy started the job by spraying everything with "pre-treatment", then went out to start the steam machine, and it wouldn't stay running. Long story short, he finally came back this morning and finished the job, so since Tuesday morning, we've had things picked up and stacked waiting for the cleaning, now, we're still not put back together because it will be a YEAR before the carpet is finally dry. But it looks much better. I paid extra for "Scotchguard", but as I was writing the check out to the man, I wondered how I would know if he actually did "Scotchguard" as he said he would.

Rain, rain, and more rain. The yard is, in the next couple of days, going to get way out of control as I haven't been able to mow. Basements which never had problems with water seepage are flooding. Everything is damp, moist, and mildewy. Farmers are not able to get the wheat harvest underway. Even if they could get in the fields to cut the wheat, the grain would have too much moisture to be acceptable. What we need is, and I hate to say this, but it's true - we need about a week of 100 degree sunny weather. The farmers would love it, as would my wet carpeting.

As I'm sitting here, listening to the birds in the trees, I'm thinking that living here isn't so bad, then I become aware of all the other city noises crowding in around me. I am within about 6 city blocks of one of the busiest thoroughfares in this city, and there's always, 24 hours a day, the nondiscript sounds of thousands of cars a day from this road which wafts onto my peaceful porch. Then you've got helicopters circling, airplanes both commercial and military as McConnell is south and east of here, and if that isn't enough, there's a train crossing just 2 blocks away. For many years we had a fire station within what looks to me like a football field's distance away. You can almost always hear sirens, and let's not forget car radios as people drive by with their windows down. Do you ever get tired of noise? I do. If God's willing, and works it out, someday I hope to leave the cacophony of the city. I'll invite you to come out to my place. We'll sit on the porch and drink coffee, and take in the sounds of life away from Wichita. That'll be a welcome change.

Calling for volunteers

The mind is a terrible thing to waste. So they say. At the conclusion of this, my second week off work, I am getting caught up on journal readings and getting ready to do some research in the stacks at WSU. Another goal is to give the Stanford-Binet V at least 4 times this summer. (To that end, I need some SB-V guinea pigs. If you're interested, I need about 2 hours of your time, and, you will receive a small gift prize for participating.) For those of you school psychs reading this blog, what do you think of the SB-V, besides the obvious (cumbersome, complicated, many manipulatives to keep track of, etc.) I'd like to learn to give it so that it can be an option in some evaluations (there is no "standard battery"), but am also anxious to see what the DAS-II is going to be like. I have reservations about using the Wechsler in certain instances, so am needing to become more skilled with other instruments.

Here's a question for you, my readers, no matter who you are: What are you enjoying about your life right now? Or are you?

Weekly activities

The quest to document summer activities continues-when I go back and re-read this, I want to see how I spent my time and why it went by so fast.

This week I've sprayed weeds, am cleaning up flower beds, bought some flowers, and am clearing brush in the corner of the backyard. I need to do some trimming, and pile some things up to go to the dump. You might be interested in knowing that I have an old-fashioned clothesline in my backyard and I've got my sheets hanging out to dry! In this wind, it'll take about 5 minutes.

Let's see, yesterday I went to Harper with my brother to look over his property situation there - sad news all the way around. Let's just say that the world would be a better place if people actually did what they promised they would do.

I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon to discuss why I'm not feeling well a lot of the time-he's thinking it's a reaction to the cholesterol med. I'm hoping we can find a good solution to that problem.

The neighbor to the north of my house told me today that she noticed the license tag was missing from my husband's car on Sunday when she walked back from church. Great. Today's Wednesday. I called him at work, he went out to look, and sure enough, the tag is gone. So now it's off to Auto Zone where my son works to get some anti-theft lock screws, and to the tag place to get a replacement. This is the second tag we've had stolen in the last several months. And you wonder why I hate living in this neighborhood...

And that's about it. Oh, and Happy Birthday to my little brother who turns 47 today - he probably doesn't read this blog, but I'm so appreciative of him and his family. He's a great dad, a nice brother most of the time (!), intelligent, and works hard. Oh, and did I mention that he's pretty funny? He makes me laugh - (tee hee!)

Already Friday?

In my quest to note what I have done while on summer break, I will again bore you with trivial trivialities. This is actually just for me, so that I can look back and see that I really didn't while away the hours doing nothing.

Yesterday I had a bone density scan and an appointment with the doc to go over test results, which, I will write about on my other blog. Lunch with a friend followed that, then home for a little bit (long enough to read the paper), then off with my daughter to my little home town to collect the flowers from the cemetery that we placed there on Monday. Home, and to bed fairly early as for some reason, I was tired.

And, on my busy agenda today, I'm planning on a major shopping spree at the grocery store (haven't been major grocery shopping for weeks), a walk in the park, and working on assorted projects here at home (i.e., laundry, getting summer clothes out and winter clothes put away, etc.)

Just so you know, I'm not sitting around drinking a mai tai while a pool boy named Enrique fans me with a large palm leaf. (Although...hmm.)

Wednesday

Yesterday as I mentioned, I did some yard work, and I did walk with the SIL, however, she's accomplished at this and I'm sure she felt like she was dragging me along toward the end of the trail. I decided that i wasn't going to walk on the days that I mow, however, I HAD to mow last night because we have 3 more days of rain coming and the grass was already high in the backyard. SO, not only did I walk like a banshee, but I mowed for an hour and a half. Frequent breaks drinking water helped, but I had a sugar low in the evening, even with a snack. And, an update about the ants on the forsythia, as I stepped out on the porch, I noticed a couple of birds having lunch with ant souffle as the main course, so I did not spread any poison around. If they help with the problem, that would be great, just great.

So, today I'm finishing up the mandatory 12 hours of "Diversity Training" that this school district requires of its new employees. I'll be there all day, morning, and afternoon sessions. Can I sigh now, or are you going to make me wait until it's all over?

I told my brother I can condense 12 hours of diversity training into an 8 word sentence. Here it is: "We're all different, but we're all the same." There ya go. However, if anyone at the district ever figured that out, a few people would lose some well-paying jobs. I have already been to half of this training and if you held a loaded water pistol filled with icy slush to my head, I could not begin to tell you what we "learned".

As a side note, happy birthday to my nephew John who turned 12 yesterday! It seems impossible that he would be this age, but that's what old people say when trying to contend with the passage of time.

Happy Wednesday!

First day work

So, it's Tuesday, the first day of my summer "vacation". I've already gotten some things done, but I've also just enjoyed not thinking about work.

One of the things I did was probably trivial, (as is everything I write about), but I feel better having done it. I have a rather large forsythia growing in front of my house. I did not trim it last year, and with all the rain this spring, this bush became very tall and unkempt. It didn't even bloom very well this spring, but we had a late frost and I think that got it. Anyhow, I hauled out my loppers and my hand shears and gave it an army haircut. In doing so, I discovered a whole world of black ants underneath it, traveling up and down the branches, turning the forsythia into a mass transit system. SO, now I need to find ant repellent-I have some in the shed, but, it looks like rain, and you can't use it if it will rain in the next few hours, yadda yadda. My son and I loaded up the forsythia brush, 3 old storm doors, and various other disposables and headed to the transfer station, where a waiting loader piled our refuse into a truck, which hauled it, along with the refuse of all the rest of Wichita, down to a landfill south of here about 40 miles.

Laundry is working, and now I need to make a trip to Sedgwick County Hazardous Waste Disposal to get rid of some old paint cans. Next on the agenda will be a walk at Sedgwick County park with my sister-in-law, the power walker and fitness buff. I'm glad to be going with someone since I lost my previous partner.

Well, Dan's ready to help load cans up, so off I go.

To all my faithful readers who have given up on me ever posting again, I say, I'm BACK. I apologize for not posting since last April 21, but I'm going to able to do so with regularity at this point.

School was out yesterday. Today is "teacher work day". You pack up your stuff, you return test kits etc to downtown, you take home what you want home, and you bid a fond farewell to your schools. We started the day out with breakfast at Kensler-oh my. There was some blueberry french toast casserole, egg casseroles, fruit, bagels, muffins, sausage gravy, juice, coffee, etc etc. We had a meeting to honor our retirees and wrap things up, then off to my office I went. I spent the morning filing and putting things away, then went to Clark and wrapped things up there by having, of all things, a meeting with a parent! I also met the new principal, who is bringing 4 teachers with her from her previous school, and I gotta tell you, she impresses me. I'm looking forward to working with her.

So, school's out. Two months are stretched before me, but I've heard time flies by quickly. I have a lot of projects I want to get done, one of the first is, a cleaning out of my house and a possible yard sale. I've never been one to set pretty things around and to decorate (I inherited my mother's gene for functionalism instead of beauty), but I do want to do some painting and I dunno, I MIGHT buy some new curtains. We'll see. If I could afford it, I would pay an interior designer to come in and just do some simple things for me. I DO, however, have two nieces who could do a pretty good job with that...you wanna help me this summer Nicole and Michele?

I also managed to have a complete physical a couple of weeks ago, and will go in next week for test results, so will write about those on my other blog, "A Decision for Health". I guess I could put a link on here if I could figure out how to do that...

Unexpected shuffle

Today is Saturday, warm, windy, and a nice spring-like day. I got to sleep in until 8:00 today! Woo hoo! I've had "company" since early this afternoon, and now everyone has gone, continuing on the errands they began earlier in the day.

I'm trying to get used to the earphones that came with the MP3 player my better half got me for our anniversary (31 years next week, thank you very much.) I've always known my ears are weird. They are a little smaller than normal, and I have no "lobe crease" as my son says, to hang these little earphone things on. They are fairly uncomfortable. I may need to invest in the big kind that go over your whole ear, since these aren't working very well. I'm doing good, however. I've got Rich Mullins singing in my ear (apologies to Jay).

Well, in the world of this school psychologist, I've found that things can change day by day, sometimes minute to minute. The meeting with the upset parents/guardians that I had on Tuesday morning was one of those resolution "can't we all get along-you give a little and we'll give a little" meetings. It seems to me like ONE SIDE gave a lot and the other side gave a little, but oh well. We have a plan. Some details were hammered out that I would spell out here, but because they are so specific to the case, I cannot - the situation could be too easily identified. But if those of you who are school psychologists or interns are reading this blog and would like to know more, please email me. I could in a conversation divulge a bit more in general terms - and some advice about a pitfall to avoid.

And, this past week, I got to take a stand for ethical principles. At one school, we have a case sliding headlong into the wrong direction, at the advice of someone the rest of the team listened to when they shouldn't have. I'm not listening to that person. I'm not following that person, or the team's recommendation. And I will dissent legally if it comes to that. A sticky situation indeed. But, the time has come to stand on what's right.

At both my schools, the principals will be leaving. One is retiring, and one is moving to another school. I also got an email saying that I may not be able to stay at my schools next fall as was promised because of "unexpected shuffle". That's the story of our lives, isn't it! Unexpected shuffle happens to everybody, and it can really mess things up. We think it does anyway because we have a short-sighted way of looking at one small part of the picture.

Happy only what, 4 weeks left...

Cold and Heat

After a spring snow last weekend, it's finally turning warmer. On the way between schools yesterday, I ran my car's air conditioner. Is it only in Kansas where you would wear a winter coat, gloves, and muffler, and run the car heater at full force one day, then 2 days later turn on the air conditioner? It's crazy. The cold weather got the early rosebuds, froze the peony plant that had straggled up, and nipped the buds off the mini-lilac bush. Fine. Whatever.

This week I really must work steadily on the paper for Internship class that's due, and my oral defense. I just can't believe how much work this is. In visiting with another psych who went through this program two years ago, she made the comment that it didn't seem fair to load a first year school psychologist with a job that's overwhelming, PLUS class work in addition to that. She said the second year is much better. I hear the same thing from my sister-in-law, who is an excellent teacher working in a nearby district. I receive these words joyfully because they give me hope that maybe I won't always feel like this. Will I?

It's the usual end of the year rush to get kids evaluations in, but I'm doing okay. At both schools, I was able to hold the line in terms of, "let's evaluate the ones who are the worst of the worst" and save the rest until the first of next year. Sad part is, some of the worst of the worst do not qualify for services. In one of my schools last year, they did 10 staffings the last week of school. Sorry, I'm just not going to do that.

I met with the overseer of psychological services yesterday. Yes, I do have a job for next year. And yes, she thinks I can stay at the same schools. There's good reason sometimes to change, but there's also comfort in familiarity.

Off to the 8:00 meeting with the parents/guardians who are upset that our team decided not to evaluate their child. We'll have a couple of district personnel there to help facilitate the meeting, and we'll see how far we get. Then it's to the other school for a staffing, then back to the other school for the rest of the day.

28 days and holding

After today, there are 28 days left until school is out. I always thought I could do anything for 28 days. Now, I'm not sure.

I have 2-3 and sometimes 4 staffings weekly between my two schools. I have training sessions, internship class, and the internship class case study and oral defense to prepare for. There are rather serious issues going on at both schools - at one school, the parent I wrote about several posts ago who objected to a recommendation I made - this parent has filed an appeal and are exercising their rights to a resolution meeting, then a mediation meeting, then an appeal hearing. Next week, I must attend the first of these, the "resolution meeting". Also in attendance in addition to particular school staff will be the special education coordinator for our building, and a district lawyer. The parent may also bring a lawyer. I'm hoping I won't have to say a lot with the downtown person and the two lawyers present. The meeting is early in the morning. Suffice it to say, I won't be eating before I go.

At my other school, chaos reigns due to several issues, the most notable being the untimely death of a special education teacher last weekend. This week is state assessments and the SPED kids are having a tough time, but the state and fed officials do not take into account these environmental issues when they look for reasons that scores are low on these assessments. We won't know the scores until next August, but I'm sure the SPED kids were not able to perform their best. Other issues at this school are weighing heavily upon me, and I will not be able to comment about them on this public blog for awhile yet, but comment about them, I shall. They are issues that really have a bearing on how efficiently a school functions.

Also this week, I've upset a teacher who complained to another staff member about me. This other staff member informed me about what she said, and, you'll be happy to know that I blew it off. I don't have time to get involved in dramatic presentations at my job. I just try to do my job. And, finally, this week, in the what I have learned category, I have (re) learned that when something's your responsibility, and when someone offers to take care of this thing that's your responsibility, and then DOESN'T, the buck still stops with you. You're still responsible. You cannot point fingers and blame the someone else who offered to take care of this particular thing. Because when downtown calls asking about this particular thing, it's not good to say, "Well, so and so offered to take care of that for me, and I gave it to them, but apparently, they DIDN'T take care of that for me, and yes that's my responsibility, and yes, I'm sorry, and yes, I will take care of that immediately." Moral of the story (and haven't we heard this before): Just do it yourself. Figure out who you can trust and not trust. And then, take responsibility for what happens.

There ya go. A whole 4 days summed up.

Monday after Easter

It's back to work on a cold Monday. We were surprised by snow last week, and cold temps. I told somebody that I was refusing to get my winter coat back out, but alas, I broke down and wore it.

Yesterday was Easter, and my son and I attended the presentation of Handel's "Messiah" at Bethany College in Lindsborg. This work has been performed at Bethany by a community chorus and orchestra at least once annually since March 12, 1882. A few interesting notes about "Messiah", it was first performed on April 13, 1742 in Dublin Ireland - Handel was invited by a charitable organization to premiere it there. This invitation arrived at a low point in his life. Several operas he had written had failed, he was in bankruptcy and in danger of being sent to a debtor's prison. He was a man who had been deserted by friends and family, and it was said that he was through as a composer. In accepting this invitation, his hope was that he might be able to change the course of his life.

"Messiah" was composed in 1741. The first part was written in 7 days, the second part in 9 days and the third part in 6 days - in less than 25 days the entire masterpiece was completed. And what a masterpiece it is! If you ever have a chance to hear a live presentation of "Messiah", do not miss it. We hear bits and pieces of choruses or words from this work, but hearing all of it in totality is an experience you won't soon forget.

Time to get to work. Besides the "normal" stuff of this job, there's a lot of work yet to be done for this internship class. You know where I'll be in the evenings after school. That's right, working on a paper and presentation which is due April 24. That's where I'll be.

May all of you reading this blog have a blessed and productive week. I'll write again soon.

Secrets

It's Sunday morning. I'm up early, showered, washed a few dishes, put a ham in the crockpot, gotten the paper off the porch, unloaded the dishwasher, and made coffee. It's not because I'm all perky. It's because for some reason if I wake up before the alarm wakes me up, I may as well give it up and get up because I cannot go back to sleep. Ever. Things start rolling around in my head and I can't stem the tide of thoughts that are already starting to race around-thoughts about the day ahead, about my job (yes, even on the weekends), about problems, both large and small.

This morning, though, I have a confession to make to all my faithful readers. I stayed up way too late last night (midnight) and watched an old movie that was on the classic movie channel - "Deliverance". Now stop laughing, I hear it way over here. That's right, I stayed up to watch Deliverance. I knew what the story was about, and had seen bits of it over the years, but once I got started watching, I couldn't stop. In case you've forgotten, this odd movie, made in 1972 (my graduation year from high school), starred Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox as four businessmen who take a canoe trip together away from civilization. As I recall, it was newsworthy at its release because of its extremely graphic violence - even now, the TV version is a little hard to sit through - I could not watch the uncut version. And now I have that "Dueling Banjos" tune running through my head. Great. But it was an interesting psychological study of what lengths people will go to bury their sins (so to speak). There are people living with us who have enormous secrets they are going to take to their graves. People you might know and work with, or go to church with, or who might check out your groceries at the store, or teach your children at school. Ever think about that?

There is a website I read every week, not for the fainthearted, and I'm warning you, there's adult content on there so don't say I didn't tell you. It's www.postsecret.com. People mail their secrets in on postcards to the webmaster who posts them on this site. It's amazing what people will post so publically but so anonymously. Take a look sometime if you've got the nerve.

Holding on to convictions

All of you "seasoned" school psychologists out there - you can read this entry and just smile knowingly, because I'm sure this has happened to you - but my "baptism by fire" happened yesterday afternoon, when I met with an upset angry parent for, oh, an eternity, but actually, it was a little more than an hour. The parent came to the school unexpectedly to discuss a decision we had made (based on my recommendation) for their student, and the parent was, well, let's just say a little steamed. As I watched the person deliver several diatribes, I got the feeling that this person, a professional person in the community, probably was not used to NOT getting his/her own way. Although the meeting was upsetting to me on several levels, I was calm but firmly held my position. I don't know how long I will be able to hold my position, as this person will exercise their rights to due process, and if I am told from a higher authority that I must change my stance, then I will, but for now, I'm hanging tough and will fight the good fight. So there.

A light moment

I was giving a first grader an assessment today and we got to talking about the alphabet. He says, "It's the ABC's, you know". "Yes, that's right", I nodded. "You know what else?", he asked, eyes shining brightly. "No, what else?" "Well", he says, "You can either SAY the letters, or you can burp them out."

Well. Thank you for NOT demonstrating that. He was cute as a button.

I forgot

Sympathies are extended to Michael P. In the world of what doesn't have eternal significance, but what people get passionate about, the KU Jayhawks got beaten big time by some team not worthy of a mention here, and did NOT make it to the Final Four. They just kinda fell apart, didn't they Mike...it was painful to watch. But, I'm proud to be a Kansan, and proud to be represented by the KU Jayhawks. I have no school loyalty really, I root for all Kansas teams, which is why the Shockers get a mention every now and then. And K State, well, I've got a purple pride coffee cup. And a niece that's having a great time being a Wildcat, plus another niece in the wings waiting to go. There ya go. I'm "bi-teamual". So Mike, I hear the colors for your wedding involve some sort of PURPLE. HA. There YOU go.

Of labels and being a kid

Spring break is over...man oh man. It went FAST. I did get away for a few days, but man oh man. It went FAST. (Did I already say that?)

So I'm off and running tomorrow. A staffing first thing in the morning. Testing testing testing testing, Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning. Staffing Thursday. Testing Thursday afternoon. Testing all day Friday. It's crunch time for school psychs. Wonder how many times I'll be giving that WISC-IV between now and the end of the year? More times than I'd like to think about.

I have ordered a book about mental retardation, especially written for parents. If it's as good as I think it is, I will give it to a mom and dad I've been working with. Over the summer I'd like to acquire an organized listing of resources - for you new psychs who read this blog, do you have difficulty putting your hands on things which could be helpful for parents and teachers? I think I have good resources, but because I'm at two schools, I've got resources at both places on both desktop computers, and on my laptop, and at home on both computers. Somehow I need to do some consolidation.

Here's a comment from a friend of mine who reads my blogs on a regular basis but who doesn't make public comments. I thought though, that this was worth printing: "After reading your most recent blog (20th), I had a thought...It really saddens me to think we now live in a world where a child cannot just go to school and "be a kid" anymore. It appears each one now has to find which "box" they fit in and then deal with the "label" on that box, and heaven help them if there is no right "box" for them to fit in. How very sad...Just Me"

Well, Just Me, welcome to the world of special education, where parents absolve themselves of responsibility and blame the schools when their kids can't read. Welcome to the world of NCLB, where EVERY child, regardless of ability, WILL pass state and local assessments, achieving a gold standard put in place by politicians, not educators. Welcome to the world of school psychologists, who are pressured to find labels to fit so that desperate children can receive help - when actually, had the child's parents read to the child, exposed the child to stimulating environments, and monitored video game and TV and movie viewing - perhaps, just perhaps no label would ever be needed. The kid could just be a kid. But sadly, the little 4th grade guy who plays "Mortal Kombat" with his uncle and who has seen guns and drugs sold from his home is not alone. It happens all the time. I just want to grab parents by the collars and scream at them to WAKE UP.

Then, when you hear on the news when some one has been arrested for some sort of high profile crime, his mother/sister/aunt/father
/grandmother /cousin will be interviewed. "I just can't understand this! He is not like this!" Really. Let's look at his school records. Did you go to parent teacher conferences? Did you meet his teacher? Drop in and visit his school? Volunteer at his school? Get to know his friends? Monitor his homework, but teach him responsibility? Protect him from violence and evil? Take him to church? Give him chores to do? Get him to bed at a decent hour? Provide apples and oranges instead of an everyday diet of candy? Make responsible parent decisions? Set a good example?

I dunno. You tell me. Am I nuts?

Ok! I hear you!

Sorry sorry sorry! I promised a lot of people that I would blog, and that I would blog LAST WEEK, but, well, you know, stuff happens. I'm really feeling bad-my family, who I never think are reading my blog, has been nagging me. And friends. And "others". You know who you are.

So, this is spring break, and two days have already flown by. Tomorrow I'm leaving for a little mini vacation, but who knows, I may blog while I'm gone. We'll see. I left both schools feeling overwhelmed about everything that is waiting for me when I get back. Our coordinator sent out an email needing school psychs to volunteer to take an extra case or two from those schools who are inundating their teams with evals. I didn't volunteer as I'll be doing good to get mine done - in fact, it would be nice if I had help, but that's not happening any time soon.

Recently I've placed kids with LD, MR, and will possibly have one that will be OHI the week I get back. And, I will have my first, (I'm almost certain) "OI" case, (that would be "Orthopedic Impairment") in April. I've also recommended dismissal for 2 preschoolers who are doing fine, and declined to place two kids that probably need it, but there's no category to serve them in. We also have several requests from parents for testing- well-meaning parents, but parents who don't understand that their kid isn't going to get placed unless we have that nice little discrepancy between IQ and achievement. Or a health condition which prevents learning.

Well, I'm going to take a break and try not to think about things while I'm off relaxing in a different environment, but I will take my laptop so I can work on (possibly) a couple of things, like my internship evaluation. See you in a couple of days.