Hello, everyone!
Did you have a happy Easter (bank holiday, long weekend, or weekend like every other)? Things were a bit crazy around here. The stress of quarantining is starting to set in and you can tell people are about ready to cave. We’ve started having conversations that begin with “The first thing I’m going to do when I get out is….” It’s like we’re all prisoners. And we argue about “risk levels” of various ventures. It’s a crazy world, really.
It got a bid upended on Easter Sunday when tornado warnings starting ripping through the South. It came down to quarantining or potentially being blown away like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (our tiny cottage literally does not have a windowless room). So, we sheltered. Granted we did it as safely as we could with only 4 other people who are relatively low risk (see, even people get tags nowadays), but still. Quarantine broken. Then the questions begin - are we just open to everyone now? Do we re-quarantine for 2 weeks? It felt like a tiny taste of freedom that we had to quickly squash. Hold the course. Stay home, save lives.
None of this has anything to do with being an SLP, I realize and apologize. To be honest, last week was a bit generic. Several of my students were either no shows or no responses. Technology continues to be both really cool at times and extremely annoying at others. I have moments where I love being a teletherapist and moments where I want to scream. I’ve been working on writing IEPs, but realizing it’s rather difficult when you can’t consistently contact teachers and can’t really get new data or input from students in a timely manner. So, everything moved slowly. Honestly, I’m anticipating the same for this week.
This week is technically our last week of shut down, unless they choose to extend it. I’m interested in what the choice will be. I can’t imagine that they’ll send us back, but you never know. If they do, it will be fascinating to see what protective measures we have to endure while still providing quality treatment. It’s hard to imagine being back at work, if I’m being honest. It’s going to be hard if and when we do. Working from my couch and sipping on copious amounts of tea throughout the day has its perks.
I’ve starting working on my blog in earnest now. It’s a work in progress as I try to figure out how often I want to write and what I want to write about. This will be week 2 of consistent content (if I can keep it up. just being honest). Consistency is not something I’m great at, but last week was good! I shared my favorite yoga videos for neck/back strain, started a new “study” on Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, shared some thoughts on a PD I recently did on WH Questions, and wrote a little about my most recent freebie in my TpT store (a home calendar for older, language impaired students).
I also bought a fun new thing to try to work on my organizational skills. I have a lot of planners and I use them all for different things. My Bloom Daily Planner is my go-to for speechie stuff. I’ve adapted it to work for most of my data keeping needs. My Sacred Ordinary Days planner keeps my spiritual life in check and is one of my favorite things ever. And now, I’m giving Monk Manual a try. I haven’t used it yet, but it came in the mail today and I’m quite impressed with the packaging and overall aesthetic. I can’t wait to dig in! I’ll report back once I’ve given it a decent go.
This is a bit of weird one. But this is a bit of a weird time. How are things going for you? Okay? Not so okay? Smashing? Let me know!
Oh, and PS - don’t forget the A Happy Learner Book Club! Let’s read happy books together!