Catch up time.

I'm not sure why, but I've had a lack of motivation to start this blog; so, I will be catching you up on all of the happenings of the last two weeks.

First thing's first: I am in a "special needs" class. I did not quite realize that before I arrived, but it has been a wonderful experience thus far. The reason that the class is considered "special needs" is because of their low language abilities. Their signing skills are fine, but Reading and Writing causes a serious problem. There are five students in my class (two boys and three girls), all between the ages of twelve and fourteen... HORMONE CITY. The students are all from different backgrounds, which makes for great conversation, and overall, they are really terrific kids.

My first week there was mainly getting acclimated and observing the way of the room. The teacher I am working with is really great and receptive to new ideas. She has been really helpful and welcoming, which has been a huge comfort when coming to a place so unfamiliar. The principal is also a wonderful woman. Every chance she gets, she makes sure that everything is moving along swimmingly. Friendliness and warmth have been a motif since I started here, which I am so thankful for.

This week has been a little crazy with all of the snow that we've accumulated (2 feet overnight, ladies and gents!). Monday was a normal day, but we don't start until 10 a.m. for "late arrival," which is a terrific thing! The students retook their Math test, and I had the privilege of continuously motivating one student to give his best effort. It's frustrating when a student has the strategies to solve a problem, but lacks the motivation to try them. During the test help session, he tells me that he is tired because he stayed up late watching T.V.. So, I counter saying that I am tired from staying up to write a lesson plan... and the little booger responds with, "Well, you don't have to do any work today." After helping said student twenty minutes into my lunch hour, as I am walking down to the teacher's lounge with my lunch he asks me, "Angel, you late for lunch, why?" (Look of disbelief)... kids definitely do say the darnedest things.

Wednesday was a snow day, for basically everyone except for me. You see, on snow days at Deaf Residential Schools, the students in the dorms still need supervision, so it is required that any on campus staff help with this task. At 8:30 a.m., I went to the Elementary School and watched over the five young residential students. We learned words pertaining to snow, measured the snow every hour to see how much had accumulated, and played hide-and-go-seek throughout the entire building; it was pretty awesome! Around three, we walked the students to the pool to go swimming until dinner, when we walked the students to the cafeteria. My naive self thought that my shift would be over after dinner, but I was quite wrong. They then volunteered me to be a one-on-one aid for a girl with cerebral palsy until 10:30 p.m.. I went back to her cottage and helped her pick out clothes for the next day, shower, go to the bathroom, brush her teeth, and eat a snack. It was a really great experience considering I had never done anything like that before, but needless to say, I was pooped by the end of the day. Fingers crossed that ASD does not have anymore snow days during the remainder of my time here; fourteen-hour work days are not my cup o' tea.

Thursday, my cooperating teacher could not make it in because her daughters' school was closed; it was my first time flying solo, coincidentally, only one student showed up. We actually had a really productive day and it made me excited and confident about taking over the class fully. For math, I had two students (because we switch some students around for that period), and I taught them 2 digit x 1 digit multiplication (which is not as easy as it sounds). When I went in this morning, I wrote a problem on the board for my lone student, AND HE GOT IT RIGHT! I was so excited I could have hugged him.

Today, I practiced my photography skills because ASD hosted "A Band of Jugglers." I am so glad that I got to experience the students in this setting. First, let me tell you a bit about this awesome group of people. They are a group of jugglers, hula hoopers, balance performers, body jugglers, Chinese yo-yo-ists, and the like, that perform mostly for "special needs" students. A lot of them know or are learning enough sign language to get by, and they do it all out of the kindness of their hearts... yes, they volunteer all of this time and pay their own way to perform at places like ASD. Why can't more people be like this? During P.E., the kids went through workshops that the performers provided to learn some of their fancy tricks. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the students light up the way that they did. Specifically, my student that was adopted from China seemed to have the time of her life. She was exposed to Chinese yo-yo-ing when she lived in China, and it was apparent as soon as she picked up the handles and started spinning that thing like she was part of the performing act. The Band of Jugglers were pretty impressed and taught her more advanced tricks, which she caught onto instantly. To see her light up like that was something I may never forget.

(I'm not sure yet of the rules about posting pictures of the students, so here's some jugglers instead!)

As far as my social life goes, I have met a few other interns here that I have been hanging out with. It is really interesting to be the only hearing person living on campus, but I love it. Learning new signs everyday and using sign language as my primary language is something that I have needed for a long time.

My experience so far has been something that I cannot rightfully convey through print (maybe that's why I've punked out on this blog up until now). I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to come here and live and breath what I love to do. The connections I've made, people I've met, things I've learned, and experiences I've had are irreplaceable and priceless, and it is only my second week here. I cannot imagine what the next fourteen weeks have in store for me, but I am excited to find out and share it with you! Thanks for reading. <3