Let's start from the end of October. The middle school speech therapist and I attended a conference at the Children's Institute about I-pads. While we were there, she introduced me to the supervisor for their speech and language program because she works at one of the branches two nights a week for some part time hours. Within a week and a half, I scheduled an interview and took a second job with the Children's Institute at their Wexford Satellite. I know you probably think I'm crazy but for some reason, even though I'm making more money at this job than I was at my last job, the money seems to be going a lot quicker than before and these student loans are eating up my extra spending money! So I took a big leap and jumped into yet another new job for two nights a week. So far I love it even if it does add a little bit of stress to my life... what's life without stress anyway? (I don't think I'll ever know!)
So, with the new season coming upon us I decided to indulge in a little classroom redecorating! Yes, I changed my bulletin boards! Oh and it was a much more pleasant experience than the first trial! The actual construction of them was easy once I finally figured out the "slogans" I wanted to write on them. My mentor let me borrow some of her lettering that she has stored up over the years so that helped a lot. The first one says "We're as unique as snowflakes". It's obviously not speech related, but I like it and I wanted the kids to be able to contribute something to it. So with that said, the students are all in the process of making paper snowflakes to put on the bulletin board. It's crazy how many of my students don't know how to make a paper snowflake!! What are these parents doing with their kids - this is a critical skill that you should teach your children as soon as they master using scissors! Anyway, 55 snowflakes will surely not fit on the bulletin board, so once it gets full, I think I'm going to start hanging them with fishing line from the ceiling. We'll see how that goes! The one above my dry erase board was changed, too. It now says: "It's "snow" secret we're great at speech". There are five snowflakes around it that have the words: speech, language, fluency, pragmatics and voice on them. I'm loving the new look of the room; it helps to have a little bit of a change in there! If I could change them every week, I probably would! 
It's time for me to call it a night. There's plenty more to write, but it only makes sense that along with working with these wonderful kiddos, I also catch their ..."wonderful"... germs. So I'll leave you with a few more pictures to look at :)
A student arrived to her speech session early and as we were waiting for the other kids to come I let her draw on my dry erase board. I wasn't watching what she was writing but when I got up, this is what was on the board. It's so nice to know that the kids enjoy coming into my room and don't see it as hard work!
This added to my already huge ego for the day. Another student had written this on her speech homework folder. Sure the spelling isn't great, but again, it's so great to know that I'm making a difference in their lives.
I see a huge cutout of Santa on my way to work every morning. Earlier in the season, he was holding a sign that said "Happy Thanksgiving". Now he holds a sign that really speaks out to me... "Jesus is the reason for the season". It's so subtle but at the same time, so true. As you grow older it makes you realize where you really need to put your efforts. Sure, Santa and Reindeer and all that jazz are great but the real reason why we're celebrating this season is one we can only really feel in our hearts. Have a very great holiday season and don't forget to go out and spread a little bit of your happiness to those who aren't as fortunate as we all are. 'Tis the Season.
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