Year 3, Week 1

Last Thursday was the first day of school at the start of my third year as a school-based Occupational Therapist. Here's a few of the things I observed on the first few days.

• I went into one kindergarten room where the class was sitting on different colored lines on the carpet. They were to go line up when the teacher said the color of their line. One of the students from the pink line got up when the blue line was called. The teacher repeated her name over and over with absolutely no response from the student. When she got to the door, an aide looked at her name tag and pronounced her name differently. The girl immediately looked up at her. Say her name right and she'll respond!
• Day 1 can be rather chaotic in special education classrooms, especially when there are new students.  I was in two such classrooms on the first day that had some very busy students who were in constant motion. One of the boys has a goal of sitting for 1 minute while working on a task. We were elated to see him playing with play dough for 3 1/2 minutes while I provided some physical boundaries by kneeling next to him with my arm around him. We've requested a chair with sides and a pummel so he has additional physical boundaries all the time. We'll see if it helps.
• Day 2 I arrived at one of my schools and was immediately asked, "Have you read your email?" I was then told about a kindergarten student who had a very difficult first day to the point where she spent most of the day outside the classroom because she was being so disruptive. When I went to observe, this girl was doing great. As far as I know she did well all day. My theory: She had been very anxious the day before and was so worked up that she couldn't calm herself down enough to participate. Thankfully, once she knew what to expect, she was participating with her class. 
• I checked in on a boy who had had significant behavior concerns last spring. He also had a great first day. One example: he was one of the first dismissed to sit at the table for snack. I saw him pick up a piece of popcorn, put it down and ask, "Can I start eating right away?" His teacher responded, "Great question. We are going to wait until everyone is seated. And next time I'd like you to raise your hand." What a difference from the defiant, shoe-throwing kid we saw last spring. Summer was good for this student and he's with the perfect teacher for him. She has high expectations for all her students and also lets them know that she cares about each one of them.