For those who do not know, my supervisor is leaving Finlandia U and has taken a position back in her home country of Puerto Rico, and I'm been promoted to Head Librarian. I wish Yesianne all the luck and am very excited for her! She has been a great person to know and work with and have learned many things from her, like how to stay graceful under fire. She will be missed.
I've been shadowing her for the last few days and she has already been training me to "take over" for her, since she knew that being at FU was only temporary, while her husband was getting a Master's at MTU. So, I have a feel of how things go, so far anyway. Well, I'll know as of August 3rd.
I have to admit that I am a little nervous about the transistion, but having been an adminstrator before for a rural school/public one-woman-show library, I do have some experience with directing, and the politics, etc. I have experience in proving worth, as many librarians do, since our services are first to be cut from any struggling budget. I know how to play the game of pushing, but not too much, etc. All that goes on when in an adminstrative compacity. I've already experience the ugliness of that and as always will remember that "nothing is personal", as was said to me numerous times by previous administrator. When really, for him, it was. That is his standard line to several people in THAT organization. But I'm not working for that organization anymore and feel that if I edured hell on earth for six years, then this should be a "walk in the park", so to speak.
Of course, I know there will be challenges and choices and other difficult situations; I'm not niave, am just expressing that I've learned from my past experiences and can apply those lessons in this capacity. So, wish me luck! I'll need it.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Support Group Release!
Last night I went to a support group for parents of children with "needs", so to speak. They have been meeting for a few years, but I was never able to attend in the past due to schedule conflicts. The session was on the topic Behavior=Communication.
Even bad behaviors (i.e. tantrums, hitting, self injury) is communication and that in order to handle these situations adults need to adjust their way of thinking too. So, instead of punishing for these behaviors one should try to decipher what is triggering these actions and try to to alleviate the stress. It was NOT rocket science, but it was insightful. It reinforced a newer concept for me, that when kids who have some type of sensory issue(s) have these "bad behaviors" they are most likely overstimulated in some form and should not be punished, but allowed to decompress.
I sort of lost it when we started discussing how to approach this type of reinforcement in the schools. I was recalling our past school year and all of Andrew's expressions of frustration through hitting himself, pulling his hair, or banging his head on his desk and how we were not being listened to by the teacher. She did give him down time, but never tried to figure out what was the trigger of the problem. I am not sure where these emotions came from last night, but it did feel better to share it with people who understand what it is like to be a parent to a child with "needs" and not being heard or understood by others. It was great to finally be apart of a group who got it, who say to themselves (as I do), "I wish they could see my child the way I do!". I let go of many years of frustration in one two-hour meeting. Plus, I was able to give some insight to some parents who kids are younger, and starting Kindergarten or Preschool in the fall. It was an overdue experience for me and am glad I finally got to go. I will definitely go next month and as many more as I can attend.
Even bad behaviors (i.e. tantrums, hitting, self injury) is communication and that in order to handle these situations adults need to adjust their way of thinking too. So, instead of punishing for these behaviors one should try to decipher what is triggering these actions and try to to alleviate the stress. It was NOT rocket science, but it was insightful. It reinforced a newer concept for me, that when kids who have some type of sensory issue(s) have these "bad behaviors" they are most likely overstimulated in some form and should not be punished, but allowed to decompress.
I sort of lost it when we started discussing how to approach this type of reinforcement in the schools. I was recalling our past school year and all of Andrew's expressions of frustration through hitting himself, pulling his hair, or banging his head on his desk and how we were not being listened to by the teacher. She did give him down time, but never tried to figure out what was the trigger of the problem. I am not sure where these emotions came from last night, but it did feel better to share it with people who understand what it is like to be a parent to a child with "needs" and not being heard or understood by others. It was great to finally be apart of a group who got it, who say to themselves (as I do), "I wish they could see my child the way I do!". I let go of many years of frustration in one two-hour meeting. Plus, I was able to give some insight to some parents who kids are younger, and starting Kindergarten or Preschool in the fall. It was an overdue experience for me and am glad I finally got to go. I will definitely go next month and as many more as I can attend.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Summer?
The weather has been cool this summer, with a few hot days here and there. Today is a warmer day, so the boys and I are most likely going to go to Hancock Beach. We all like it there, the water isn't too deep, there's plenty of playground equipment and the area is small enough that the kids can roam around freely. Plus, many of their classmates are at the beach, which means lots of Mom's to chat with. :)
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