All Caught Up

So I thought maybe I’d get caught up on my blog over Spring Break… wrong!

So here I am, it’s April and I'm wondering how time flies by so quickly.  On one hand I have been wishing the days to go by, because I can't wait to be my Mr.'s "Mrs." :) but on the other hand, I feel like I don't have time for the fun stuff I usually do :)

 

I haven’t gotten much done in the realm of new materials or trying new recipes or anything Pinterest-worthy, but I did have a great time over break with my family. :) I hope all of you did, too!  Here's a little look at what took up my time over "break"!

PS My family had the most hilarious discussion about Twitter and we were literally cracking up (and my fiance was even reading some of my tweets out loud which make me laugh really hard and of course, my family, too)

One of the stories I have to share with you from the last couple of weeks:

The week before break, my staff held a jean day.  This isn't unusual in the fact that it's a jean day- which we all have come to love because it means one less "work" outfit a week- but in that my principal agreed that we could donate to AutismSpeaks.org in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, by wearing blue; via the Light It Up Blue! campaign.  If you haven't heard of it, check it out here.  Anyways this was really fantastic and generous of our school, and I cannot wait to donate our first check from my school to Autism Speaks, which is definitely a deserving organization.  We held our awareness day early, as my principal asked if this was okay.  Totally fine by me, of course.

Well, as a result of our school supporting the Light It Up Blue! campaign, our school announcements (which are shown every morning on the SmartBoard podcast through iTunes) featured an short clip throughout the week telling the students that they were invited to wear blue in honor of Autism Awareness Month.  And through the week, I had a few students ask me, "What is autism?"

"...Is it a disease??" "Does that mean you're sick?"

::pause::

"Oh wait," said one of my students, "I know someone with autism!"

"It means you REALLY like something, right!?"

I was very humbled to be able to explain the meaning of autism (of course in terms that were age-appropriate to whomever was asking) to my students that week.  Knowing that because of this fundraiser, not only did staff-awareness of autism increase, but student awareness as well.

I know MANY special people.  As a speech-language pathologist, I know many special people who have autism, too.  But just because you know one person with autism, doesn't mean you know them all.  We're all different.  This was the message I made sure my students took home that week.

Happy Wednesday friends,

 

Winding Down

Wow, it's been seriously a whole week since I last hopped on here.

It's been a crazy one, for sure! Lots of transfer-students coming in, and IEP's due, new referrals galore and my SLP friends out there, you know what I'm talking about!  It sometimes comes in all at once, even when you are super prepared and ahead of schedule :)  Sometimes I will go a stretch for about a few weeks where I think -phew- all is calm at work, and then BAM! It seems like I have lots going on.  And by "calm" I mean the usual flow of work, but just at a steady pace.

I was so busy I really didn't even have time to grab any cool pictures of my students hard at work (which they were!).  Here's my collection of school bags gathered on the therapy table though! ;) No wonder some of my colleagues laugh as I walk in the door!

 I really have to give a shout out to my Speechie kids though, because I know in the dreary middle of winter, it is SO hard to focus.  It's like your brain and body are begging for sunlight and warmer temperatures.  But they have been at it.  They have even been entertaining my crazy antics in the Speechie's Room, too.  You know it's great to take your job seriously, but sometimes kiddos just really "tune in" more when you throw a funny joke or a silly face in there (which I feel like I make all the time, especially in artic & apraxia therapy)!

I seriously LOVE my job.  I feel like sometimes I don't say that enough.  I feel so so blessed to have found my school, and also to have chosen Speech-Language Pathology as my field of work.  And what I love even more is that the teachers I work with are realizing the impact that communication has on learning.  They are celebrating the "baby steps" even when others don't view the successes as that great.  They are appreciating more, understanding more, and collaborating more.  I know lots of people who gripe about their workplace and I feel really great to be in the position I'm in.  If you are one of my colleagues, THANK YOU! :)

All in all, this has been a great weekend.  I have started some new projects, and finished a few others.  Due to the popularity of my mini-lesson, "Synonym and Antonym Clouds" which you can view in my TpT store here, I am working on creating a few more mini-lessons.  'Cause let's face it, therapy is basically little "mini-lessons" all day long!  We wear many hats as SLP's, and I think these mini-lessons are great to have in your pocket (or...PC, Mac, whatever) for those days where you don't have a lot of time!

In other news, here's a cute picture to brighten your day.  This is my adorable niece, on my laptop, dancing along to SuperWhy songs on PBS kids jukebox.  That's her favorite show and I think it's so neat that instead of watching re-runs on YouTube when she's over visiting, that we can play the music from the show and dance along!

Enjoy your Sunday night and keep checking back for more!
PS... please let me know what you think! :)