Yes I am still alive and well just took a bit of a
blogging hiatus for the summer. Also our computer died so I had to wait for my
first paycheck to get it fixed and of course it was fubared so we got a new
one. I swear everything we have breaks.
In the little over two years that we have been living under the same roof the
following has broken and we have spent hundreds of dollars fixing or replacing;
2007 Jeep, 2001 Saturn (2 engines blown), 1999 Jeep, 1992 Blazer, dryer, washer
(we fixed it ourselves and cost 100 but still….), TV, computer monitor, laptop,
desktop, xbox, iphone, printer and just
yesterday our floor lamp. Luckily the
most important things, our health, have not broken, but it is kinda horrifying.
I am back at work and so far it is going well. But I
swear if anyone comes sniffing around they could totally make cuts. I have
never had so little to do. I would usually
start the school year with a line of kids to assess that we were not able to
get to the previous year. There are no
leftovers so to speak. I keep thinking
there must be this big pile of work that I just don’t know about. It is
starting to pick-up but this is so not the pace I am used to. I have decided
that I have to be proactive about being busy at work.
And this is going to make me sound like a piece of shit
but I don’t want to go to my boss and ask if she has any work to be done. I don’t want to give the impression that I
don’t have enough to do and they can afford to cut psychs. But I really think they can. So after many
years of streamlining my assessment process although competently covering the
bases I am going to expand. I am bringing back some things that I cut out
because I didn’t have the time and was assessing 80 kids a year. I swear I will
probably assess less than half that this year.
I am going to complete parent interviews. Yes offer to parents to come in and talk to
me about their kid and what they hope the assessment process will provide them.
Novel idea right? In the past I would
typically see the parents at the meeting it was decided an assessment was needed;
we refer to it as the Student Study Team.
But there were usually lots of people there and the parent didn’t get to
have one on one time. And then I wouldn’t
see the parent again until I was completed with the assessment and went over
the results. No one seemed to mind but I
don’t think that parents’ perceptions of their child were ever completely
included. Instead I would send home a questionnaire
asking about birth history and health background. So I have started meeting with parents. It
does take quite a bit of time but I am enjoying it. The parent community in this school district
tends to be of a much higher social economic status and less trusting of the school
district. They tend to want to know my
credentials and background and have more questions of what I am going to do. I
have also heard they can be more contentious regarding what the school
recommends, i.e., support from special education programs. So I look at my parent meetings as building
relationships with parents so if it does come to a point of conflict there is a
foundation for working together. And
parents totally love it!!!
I am also going to add an assessment tool to my typical
battery that I think will help with developing interventions. Another novel idea right? Before I did (competently of course) what it
took to determine eligibility for special education. My evaluations were really
about that bottom line. But now I am
going to try to add an assessment tool that identifies what part of reading,
math and or writing that is impacting learning. It will add about 3-4 hours to every
assessment, which is a lot, but I think it will be worth it. And it will help me fill my time.
While this new job isn’t as cozy as my last I am really
trying to take it as an opportunity to grow. Honestly while I do really like my
career most of the time, I have felt very stagnant. But many years back I came
to a place of acceptance that I was okay with the stagnation because I believed
in what I was doing, it was a good job, I was good at it, and I have no idea
what else I would do. So I am excited. I
am enjoying building new working relationships and getting my sea legs of
sorts. Plus I can leave my house, drop
the kiddo off at daycare and be in my office in 20 minutes, never getting on a
freeway. That is pretty unheard of in Southern California.
The kiddo is doing well in daycare. Drop-off is horrible.
He starts shouting no as we drive-up, clings to me and shrieks. Many days I cry
on my way to work. It is not that I don’t think he is okay, I know this is
normal and healthy to have this separation anxiety, but man it rips my heart
out. I am so glad I got his first year
and a half with him at home. I know if there is another kiddo I will not have
that luxury.
The hubs is back in school and doing well. We are signing
up for another year of Army Reserves. His two weeks of duty away in Texas was
not so bad. I came home from work Friday and he had cleaned and done laundry.
It was pretty awesome. I highly recommend a house husband.
I guess that is about all. I really do need to make some
friends. I should work on that.
