What I learned on my vacation

It feels like it's been a long time since I posted, but really it hasn't. I forgot I posted while I was camped out on my in-laws sofa. The best thing a person can do is purchase or inherit a quality sofa. You never know who might need to sleep on it.

It was a good vacation. Saw my sister get married, visited with family, saw a couple national parks, and drove A LOT of miles. MANY miles.

I learned many things, like how to crash a 4-wheeler, that my sons are incredible strong, that bison don't care if they are holding up traffic. All good things.


The trip was also nice because I had the opportunity to learn about ADHD and Autistic children and what it takes to accommodate and help them face their challenges.
We go to workshops and learn about children who have a hard time in class. Then we go to work and are expected to know exactly what to do or how to accommodate and all we have are IEP's and Sp.Ed. plans that give us a little info but nothing like what we really need to fully understand what to do. There might be some who have had personal experience that are able to adapt quickly and then there's the rest of us who have only professional development to rely on.
I appreciated how my sister-in-law took the time to tell me about how they found out her children needed assistance. What their personalities were like, how they were able to make accommodations and she gave me the opportunity to better understand what some of my own students are up against, be it a learning challenge, or challenges with teachers who didn't understand or wouldn't take the time to understand.
It was fascinating to gain this knowledge and I hope it put it to good use this year in my notebooking, and also in being more compassionate towards my challenged students.

That's all I have tonight. I'll get back to posting my last year's efforts and then it will be time to start planning hard-core for this upcoming year. Still don't have a schedule and I hope my students don't get screwed with a 6th period math class since that class is only 40 min. long. Ok. Time for sleep!