Whew! Work is busy. Busy busy busy. We are four SLP's short in my district, so we are all over our caseload limits. The district has actively been searching for SLP's to hire, but there just aren't any. I have some of the lowest numbers (with 54), and some ladies have RIDICULOUSLY high numbers (like, 77). We are all just trying to do the best we can. I heard that this may happen when I was in grad school, but you don't really think much of it until it actually happens. It's craziness, but luckily I have been keeping my head above water so far.
I love my kids. They are adorable and wonderful and make me laugh almost every day. Some days the paperwork and everything I have to do weighs on me a bit, but the students really help put it back in perspective: I'm there for them, and I know I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be right now. Around 60% of my caseload does not have English for their first language. Since I serve K-3, for a number of these students it is their first real exposure to English. That makes for some pretty funny articulation errors. I have one student who is one of the most unintelligible kiddos I've ever heard, but he is SO animated and excited to talk. He is a little cutie pie who LOVES to tell stories with his hands and facial expressions. Normally I can glean what he is trying to tell me, but sometimes I can't. Anywho, here is a story about him:
We are playing "Go Fish" with cards that have numbers and sea creatures on them. Suddenly, he gets this huge smile and goes:
WOOOWWW!! A BIG fart. A HUGE fart. A MEAN fart.
Me: What? What are you talking about?
*it's a shark. So he keeps saying "fart" and his peers start giggling a bit, so I'm like... Okay. I have to get this kid saying "shark".
Me: Shhhhh... like you're telling someone to be quiet. "SSshhhhh"
Him: SSHHHHH.
Me: Yes! Now, Shhhhaaaa
Him: Shhhaaaaaa
Me: Yes! Shaaaaaark.
Him: SSSHHHHAAAARRRRRTTT.
Me: : | .
*Now I'm thinking, "crap! I don't know which was better for him to be saying: 'fart' or 'shart'". Eventually, I got him saying "shark" correctly.
Also, kiddos with an /r/ distortion (think Boston, "cah" for "car"). I've just stopped doing "fork" for now, because it comes out as a fairly inappropriate word for that age group to use. Say it in your head. I serve a pretty rough population, as well, so they have DEFINITELY heard that word before, and it always ends in hysterics. I just don't use it until they have the sound down now :).
Yesterday, I drove up to Branson to see my aunt who was in town visiting another family who recently moved to Missouri from the U.P. We went on a Showboat Dinner Cruise, and it was so much fun! After that, we walked around Branson and saw some live music. The drive up there was SUPER curvy, but it was almost entirely through the Ozarks. The colors have just started changing here, and the scenery was incredible. It was so nice to see a familiar face from home; especially someone I love so much!
Well, I'm going to go do some Medicaid billing and review some reports (while watching "Harry Potter" of course). I hope all is well with everyone. As an update, I said "y'all" the other day; I also said "come get you some", which is another Southern saying I've seemed to pick up. We'll see how this goes ;) .
