Camels

Camel Rides at Tuacahn

I work with an adorable kiddo that loves Disney and music. Well a wonderful outdoor theater called Tuacahn located just outside of St. George UT put on a production of Aladdin. This student went to see the show earlier in the summer and since then has been fascinated by camels. He has decided that he wants to be a camel for Halloween. This past weekend was the school districts fall break. I was very excited to go to Tuacahn to see Aladdin. I saw the show and it was incredible Broadway worthy performance. The next day Tuacahn had a market with lots of craft vendors. I went back to check out the market. When I arrived I realized that they were offering camel rides with the camels from the show. I quickly called the child's mom to find out if they were in the area and told her about the camel rides. She hopped in her car and quickly drove over. When he arrived he said, "Miss Jackson you found a camel for me" He very quickly went up the stairs where you can get on the camel. Then he realized that the camel was very large and became scared. Luckily his little brother said he would ride with him. The brother hopped on first and then he climbed onto the back. The camel took a step forward and he said "Woa take it nice and slow" and "careful, slowly now" After his short ride it was time to get off the camel. He was having too much fun and wanted to stay on, but he hopped off and then found some greens to feed the camel. I was glad I could share in this experience.

Funny Sayings

Preschoolers say some of the funniest things, here are a few that have made me laugh...

"My mom and dog look alike, they both have long floppy ears."

"Swimming is fun because you can toot in the pool and make pretty bubbles."

"I'm not, team Edward! I'm team Jacob (pause) and team Spongebob!"

Teaching in Small Towns

You know you are teaching a rural community when things like this happen... One afternoon, school had been out for about 30 minutes and a little first grader walked into my classroom. He said, "can you help me?" I was surprised to see him because school had been out for so long. I asked him what he was still doing at school. He said, "I went home but forgot my homework, so came back to pick it up" I then inquired what he needed help with. He said, "I can't get back on my horse." I had to stop myself from laughing. Sure enough, when he realized he had forgotten his homework, he hopped on his horse, bareback and rode to school. Then when he went to get back on his horse he couldn't manage. He had been trying for quite some time. I gave him a boost. That was a first for me as a teacher. On another occasion we took first grade classes to see a movie. As we arrived we sent the kids to the restroom. They were taking so much time in there. The movie was getting ready to begin so the teachers went to see what was going on in the bathrooms. The first graders were so amazed by the automatic flushing toilets, water faucets, and paper towel dispensers that they were setting everything off repeatedly. You know something is new and novel when a first grader would rather stay in the bathroom and play than watch a movie.  

Uno

I love playing games with my students. Games help build social skills, good sportsmanship, reasoning, and much more. I was playing Uno with several students. One of the girls in the group was a native Spanish speaker. She would frequently flip between English and Spanish. She got down to one card in her hand and she yelled at the top of her lungs "ONE!" When the other students said that's not the right word, she sat there for a minute thinking and said, "One?" We all thought it was funny because she had taught the class how to count in Spanish. At last the word came to her and she said, "Uno"

1st Graders Swearing

The Chinese Emerson Teacher is currently staying in my home. She came home the other day and told me that she taught her little first graders how to say, "yes" and "no" in Chinese. The word for yes is "shi" the word for no essentially means not yes and is said, "bu shi" pronounced similar to a not so nice a word in English. Just put the 2 words together and see what they sound like... Now picture this cute little class of 6 year olds going around telling their teacher "bu shi" "bu shi"

iPad Success

For those of you out there that have worked with or have a child that is nonverbal you understand the frustration of not being able to understand what the individual wants. I have worked with many kids over the years that are nonverbal, including my sister. I am working with a teenager who is using an iPad to communicate using the program Proloquo2go. This is a text/picture menu system with voice output. She has done very well with things like requesting food, yes/no, and a few other reinforcing items. Today while I was working with her, she said, "I want to go to Walmart" I told her we can't today. She said again, "I want to go to Walmart." I told her not today. She then went into an entirely different menu area in the iPad and said "Why not!" I was blown away. I had never gotten such a thought provoking question. I was so impressed. I know these kids that are nonverbal have so much to say but just don't have a way to express themselves. In the end I still couldn't take her to Walmart but I told her that when her mom came to pick her up we would ask if she could go to Walmart with mom.

New Words

 

I was working on language skills with one of my students. We were using Winnie the Pooh figures and a picture book called "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" He was doing so great. He was answering all sorts of questions, making comments, and we even created our own little story which he acted out with his figures. As I was taking him home he asked if he could "keep" the figures. I told him he could "borrow" them. He looked at me quizzically. I explained that the word borrow meant he could have them, but he would have to give them back to me the next time I saw him. He repeated the word borrow and said, "I keep now, give back later" When he arrived home he told his mom and dad that he borrowed. I think he used that word probably 25 times by the time I left his house. New words are always fun to learn. I was so excited that I had found something he loved enough he wanted to "Borrow"  

Colors Everywhere!

"I'm Dirty! This isn't fun"

Saturday we played with the Crayola Color Bubbles. The day started out nice. We were blowing bubbles in the soft wind... Then it became an all out bubble "war". We realized quickly that simply blowing the bubbles was not enough, it worked much better to flick the bubble wand at your opponent. By the end we were covered in colors. The youngest little girl held up her green hand and said "I'm dirty" (in a whiny voice). I said you're right you are dirty isn't it fun. She looked at her hand and said in a flat voice, "No" Well I thought it was fun. The best part was cleaning up. I found little bluish-greenish foot prints on the tile, hand prints on my walls, doors, light switches, mirrors, sinks, tubs, etc. Word to the wise if you use these bubbles just hose down outside and save the house. Luckily the color came off of everything except my white shirt. I wore white so the color would stand out more. It has been washed twice and you can still see different colors. I thought the bubble war was lots of fun.   

"I'm ready for my close up."
Notice on the right I am being painted with a bubble wand.

Posessive Sister

For Christmas this year I convinced my parents to buy my sister an iPad. I thought of the many uses she would have. I knew she could watch movies especially her classics like Lavern and Shirley. I knew she would like to look at photos. I even figured that the screen would be large enough that she would be able to select the movies and slide the photos on her own. Like I am always saying the more independence the better. I also found a app from itunes that would allow me to create picture schedules and a reinforcement menu. Before Christmas I loaded her iPad with pictures and movies and games. I was so jealous. She opened the gift and looked at the iPad puzzled. Then the first picture came up and she squealed with delight. she put her hand down to touch the screen and the picture moved, now she was intrigued. We played with the iPad for a bit showing her different things. She wanted to watch a movie on the iPad not on the massive 64" television. I needed to add some more files so that I could create the schedules. I picked up the iPad and Squiggy went nuts! She threw her head and kicked her feet. I thought maybe she will calm down. Nope she began to wail as if saying "That is MINE!" I placed the iPad back on the table but it was not enough for her, she wanted her iPad back with her. She still won't let me touch it. I had to sneak the iPad late one night just so I could add more things for her. For such a little person and one that cannot verbalize she definitely gets her point across.

Ho Ho Ho

Several years ago we painted wooden signs that said "Ho Ho Ho" These were gifts for the parents. Each word was a different color one was red, one was green, and one was white. I was trying to figure out who hadn't painted all 3 colors. One of my 2nd graders said "I need a white Ho" "I need a white Ho" the teachers all laughed so hard luckily the kids never knew why we thought that was funny.

The Note Must be Written

I had a student that went through a phase of "the note must be written" Each day when he arrived at school he would go over to the drawer with construction paper and pull out pink, always pink. Then in a loud voice say "The Note Must Be Written!" He would write the note and then deliver it to me. The notes varied a little but had the same theme. One said "Miss Jackson to Mars" I read this note aloud and he said "yup" I asked are you sending me to Mars? "yup" I asked why are you sending me to Mars? He laughed maniacally and then said "you need to teach the martians" and looked at me as if he was saying "duh" Another note said "Miss Jackson is an alien" I received this note frequently when he was upset with me. I should have been an adult when I received a note like this was... Nope I then pretended to have antenna coming out of my head and I chased him around the room. What can I say maybe I am an alien... The sweetest note I received was when I was having a difficult day. He wrote, "Miss Jackson sad" He was right I was sad. I read it and about cried he gave me a quick hug and then ran off.  

Welcome to Holland

“Welcome to Holland”

by Emily Pert Kingsley

            “I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability–to try to help people understand it, to imagine how it would feel.  It’s like this . . .

            When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip–to Italy.  You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make wonderful plans: The Coliseum, the Michelangelo, David, the gondolas in Venice.  You may learn some handy phrases in Italian.  It’s all very exciting.

            After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives.  You pack your bags and off you go.  Several hours later, the plane lands.  The stewardess comes in and says, ‘Welcome to Holland.’

            ‘HOLLAND?!?’ you say.  ‘What do you mean, Holland?  I signed up for Italy!  I’m supposed to be in Italy.  All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.’

            But there’s been a change in the flight plan.  They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

            The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease.  It’s just a different place.

            So you must go out and buy new guidebooks.  And you must learn a whole new language.  And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

            It’s just a different place.  It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy.  But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips.  Holland even has Rembrandts.

            But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.  And for the rest of your life, you will say, ‘Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go.  That’s what I had planned.’

            And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

            But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.”

You have made Holland a much more beautiful place!

Vacuum Worship Dance

It is always intriguing the things kids adore. I taught a student for several years that loved vacuums, not loved, worshipped vacuums. He knew where every vacuum was located in the school. While walking down the hallway we would frequently turn around to find him stopped and performing the vacuum worship dance. The vacuum dance was priceless. He bobbed up and down, swayed back and forth, all while making tribal grunting noises. He was a kid that would choose to dance at the vacuum for a prize. He also knew where every vacuum was located in his neighbors houses. He was found many times in neighbors homes performing the vacuum dance unbeknownst to the neighbors.   

Story - Field Trip Nightmare

I had just started my student teaching, in a high school in Salt Lake. After I had been in the classroom for a few weeks the special education teacher sent me alone with our students, all 16 of them to their job site at Target. These students knew their jobs and worked hard. When it was time to leave we piled on the bus and headed back to school. Once in the classroom I realized that I was missing a student. Oh my stars! How could I have left a student. I was certain that this action alone would get me thrown out of the education program. I told the special education teacher what I had done, she laughed and told me to jump in my car and get back there to pick up the missing student. By now I am freaking out, sweating, and about ready to scream. I walked into Target and there she was still bagging up products. She hadn't even moved. Bless her work ethic and focus. This was the experience that taught me to do multiple head counts on field trips. I never lost a student again.

Story - Footprints in the Snow

I taught students with significant autism. Just when you think you have things figured out they throw you for a loop. In Utah the snow is unavoidable but most kids like playing in the freshly fallen snow. The first snowfall of the year arrived and with it fear. One student refused to go outside. His communication skills were limited and I could not figure out why he did not want to play in the newly fallen snow. After several days we realized that he was terrified of footprints in the snow. Now tell me how in the world I can avoid footprints at a school all winter long? Lets just say we ran fast.  

Story - Birthday Candles and Snot

Oral motor skills give us the ability to do many things one of which is the ability to blow through our mouth for things like bubbles or birthday candles. I had a student that had been working long and hard at learning to blow through her mouth. She was making great progress. On her birthday we placed a few candles on her cake and sang "happy birthday" at the end of the song she went to blow out the candles but instead of using her mouth she decided to use her nose. Lets just say more than oxygen came out her nostrils. She was thrilled because at that moment all the cake was hers. Maybe that was her plan all along.