It's hard to believe that it is almost the 2013-2014 school year and that I have completed one entire year as a school psychologist. I am not going to lie when I say last year was a rough one, probably the roughest that I've ever had, and there were days that I felt completely overwhelmed and unprepared. There were some days that I didn't want to come back to work and could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even though it was rough, I learned a lot about myself, the school district, and my capabilities. I am excited to say that I know this school year will be better. I know what to expect and I know how to prepare for it. Of course there will always be challenges and things that pop up that I am not prepared for, but hopefully being prepared for other things, can help minimize the stress (which usually looks like me running around like a chicken with its head cut off)!
Even though it was hard coming back to work and getting in the swing of things, I have already compiled a list of my evaluations for the year (significantly less than last year) and started working on social skills lessons for several groups that I plan on conducting. I have revamped our forms for Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans to make the process quicker and easier. In the next few days we have some trainings, which I am not too excited about, but at least it will get me out of my office (that I share with 8 other people and leaves little to the imagination in terms of confidential conversations). I plan to begin working on background information for my evaluation reports this year and as soon as school starts, I will begin testing students like my life depends on it. Actually, my life does depend on it, since this is where my paycheck comes from. If I get a head start on testing, I should be able to spend more time in classrooms, conducting consultations and working with students that need additional assistance. This will all make for a happier, calmer school year, that I know I will appreciate as well as the teachers and staff that have to put up with me.
With that being said, I feel like I can take on any challenge and am looking forward to positive changes this year! Bring it, 2013-2014!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Summer Time
As school psychologists, Matt and I are lucky to have some time off in the summer. As much as I would love to have the entire summer off, we are lucky to have occupations that allow us about 6 weeks off between June and July. Unfortunatley nothing can prepare you for starting work again after that much time off! As we just started work Monday, I think it's going to be a rough week. I have mixed feelings about our work schedule for the first few weeks before the students return. On the up side, we have Fridays off. But on the down side, we have to start at 6:45 in the morning! And Matt and I are not morning people! Either way, we accomplished a lot this summer!
Ziva is now 8 months old and mostly house trained! Which is wonderful for us! She is still a puppy though and I dont trust her alone for long periods of time. She barely fits in her cage anymore and refuses to go in willingly, which makes it a difficult struggle when we want to leave the house for anything. So we have been trying to block off sections of the house for Ziva and Grady to stay in while we are away. We'll see how this works out. . . . .
Puppies have a lot of energy and we wanted to give Grady and Ziva a place to run outside, so our first (and biggest) summer project we to put up a fence in our back yard. We were originally going to hire someone to do it for us (since we don't know the first thing about putting up a fence), but it was crazy expensive! So my in-laws offered to help us get it started so we could save some money! We had the supplies shipped to our house and we rented an auger to drill holes in the ground for the posts. We could not have done it without the help from Matt's parents! After they left, we had the holes dug but still had most of the fence to put up. We didn't think it would take us that long, but the following week the weather had a different plan for us. The temperature rose the the low to mid 90's for a few days and then it rained and stormed almost everyday for over a week. We wanted to finish the fence before we left for our vacation to Hilton Head, SC, but that did not happen. We thought that when we returned the standing water in our yard from all the rain would be gone, but no such luck. We heard that it rained a ton while we were gone and a few storms came through. Then we started to worry if our fence would still be standing when we returned! Luckily it was and only a few fence posts needed adjusted! We finally finished getting the fence up about a week ago! Then we spent the rest of our break filling in the post holes, planting grass around the areas we dug up, and installing the gates. Matt tore down the small existing fence. It took almost our entire summer, but now we have a wonderful fence we (and the dogs) can enjoy.
The only down side is that a bunny made a nest inside our fence and now we have baby bunnies in our fenced-in yard! We have to be careful to cover the nest when the dogs are out or take them out front on the leash. I am all for saving the bunnies, but I am ready for them to leave the nest.
In the middle of our fence project we took a short trip to Chicago to visit our friends Danielle and Nathan who were visiting from Texas. We had a blast seeing the city and it was great to catch up with good friends! Our trip to Hilton Head was great too! We had a nice relaxing time by the beach with our friends from Lima, Dan and Erica. We went biking, kayaking, and had lots of great food and drinks! The weather was beautiful for most of our trip (the last day it rained) and the beach was beautiful! We also took a short trip home to visit our families with our dogs and we went to Cedar Point with our friends Ryan and Dawn.
So, that about sums up our summer break! It was packed full, but totally worth it. We saw a ton of our friends and accomplished so much. It is great to have the time off to be able to refresh and work on so many projects!
Ziva is now 8 months old and mostly house trained! Which is wonderful for us! She is still a puppy though and I dont trust her alone for long periods of time. She barely fits in her cage anymore and refuses to go in willingly, which makes it a difficult struggle when we want to leave the house for anything. So we have been trying to block off sections of the house for Ziva and Grady to stay in while we are away. We'll see how this works out. . . . .
Grady and Ziva sleeping in the car (they look so innocent)
Puppies have a lot of energy and we wanted to give Grady and Ziva a place to run outside, so our first (and biggest) summer project we to put up a fence in our back yard. We were originally going to hire someone to do it for us (since we don't know the first thing about putting up a fence), but it was crazy expensive! So my in-laws offered to help us get it started so we could save some money! We had the supplies shipped to our house and we rented an auger to drill holes in the ground for the posts. We could not have done it without the help from Matt's parents! After they left, we had the holes dug but still had most of the fence to put up. We didn't think it would take us that long, but the following week the weather had a different plan for us. The temperature rose the the low to mid 90's for a few days and then it rained and stormed almost everyday for over a week. We wanted to finish the fence before we left for our vacation to Hilton Head, SC, but that did not happen. We thought that when we returned the standing water in our yard from all the rain would be gone, but no such luck. We heard that it rained a ton while we were gone and a few storms came through. Then we started to worry if our fence would still be standing when we returned! Luckily it was and only a few fence posts needed adjusted! We finally finished getting the fence up about a week ago! Then we spent the rest of our break filling in the post holes, planting grass around the areas we dug up, and installing the gates. Matt tore down the small existing fence. It took almost our entire summer, but now we have a wonderful fence we (and the dogs) can enjoy.
Part of our fence
More fence
The only down side is that a bunny made a nest inside our fence and now we have baby bunnies in our fenced-in yard! We have to be careful to cover the nest when the dogs are out or take them out front on the leash. I am all for saving the bunnies, but I am ready for them to leave the nest.
One of the sweet little bunnies
In the middle of our fence project we took a short trip to Chicago to visit our friends Danielle and Nathan who were visiting from Texas. We had a blast seeing the city and it was great to catch up with good friends! Our trip to Hilton Head was great too! We had a nice relaxing time by the beach with our friends from Lima, Dan and Erica. We went biking, kayaking, and had lots of great food and drinks! The weather was beautiful for most of our trip (the last day it rained) and the beach was beautiful! We also took a short trip home to visit our families with our dogs and we went to Cedar Point with our friends Ryan and Dawn.
Chicago
Hilton Head
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