Thursday, August 11, 2011

Tuesday night, I was ready to move back to Canada - I'd had enough of these Prep kids and wanted to really TEACH again.  Wednesday turned out to be a good day at school (except for Brayden) and I was back on track.  Today was one of the worst - gee, this is so like a roller coaster.  Thank goodness that tomorrow is Friday - I love Fridays - it means I get two days away from those kids. :-)  Today, I had to contact one parent and talk with her about her son (Baylee) and then talk with the behaviour specialist about Brayden.  Both are driving me crazy.  Baylee's mom filled me in on the family's issues (so many things happening to these kids which helps me understand why they are the way they are).  When I asked her what I could take away from him that he would care about (he doesn't care about losing his playtime outside), she suggested I take away his football game (at home).  I thought that she meant a computer game, but he actually plays football.  I don't want to take that away - I'm not into taking away home activities - but, after telling Sam (my TA) about it, she suggested we take away computer time (we go to the lab for an hour on Friday afternoons).  So, I am going to talk with both Brayden and Baylee tomorrow and tell them what we have come up with.

I also spoke with Kay, our behaviour specialist, about Brayden because I have used up all the strategies that I know and I wanted to see if there was something else I could do.  She asked me if I had positive reinforcement in the classroom and I told her about my three star program (where if they don't lose any stars, they get a stamp and after ten stamps, they get to pick a treat out of my box), but she said that ten days would be too long for Brayden to 'be good' for.  She suggested that I set up a special program for him where he gets 'rewarded' for short periods of good behaviour - she suggested that I get a picture of something (like a truck) and then for every certain period of time that he 'behaves', I put a dot on the truck and then when he gets five dots, he gets some treat (like five minutes on the computer).  I am not at all in favour of this type of system, but I might try it anyway.  This kid will be the end of me if I don't find a way to help him sit still and listen and not call out, etc. etc.  Anyway, we shall see what tomorrow brings.

Dad has spent the last two days dealing with the system issues of collection of the census forms.  There are many glitches they are finding, such as messages to the collectors indicating an internet census form has been filed have been very slow in coming back to the collector - the collectors have therefore been going to many houses which they don't need to go to.  It's been upsetting some of the residents and some of the collectors (for doing work they don't need to be doing).  Dad's been spending his time trying to work out the issues and trying to make things run as smoothly as possible. 

Meals on Wheels went smoothly today - Dad and his partner, Paul, did the same route as usual, with a few changes.  Dad really likes working with Paul as he works really well and does things the way they are supposed to be done.

At SES tonight, almost everyone who is in the SES in HB, took the traffic control training which was offered.  The training was about how to safely control or reroute traffic.  For instance, how many metres tall the stop/slow sign has to be; how many metres away from you and the accident sign the speed reduction signs have to go; how to set up the cones (witches' hats, they are called here) to create a safe work zone.  Dad found the training very boring, but again it's necessary to know all this stuff as, when they are called out to help in such a situation (traffic accident, a house fire where cars had to be rerouted, etc.), they need to know it.  On Saturday, the SES will spend two hours finishing the theory of traffic control before setting up and demonstrating their knowledge - they have to close a lane of traffic (in daylight and at night time).