My tennis ball friend

Meet my tennis ball friend. Hold him open to give him yummy treats like pennies, then he can throw them up! The wider the mouth you make, the less resistance….I'm still on the lookout for the smaller tennis balls for smaller hands.

cool scissors

I know this is a bad picture, sorry. I found these scissors today at Barnes & Noble from Faber-Castell and they are hopefully going to be great for beginning cutters! I hadn't seen any like that before in stores. I also have a few other types….

Weighted pencil

I am figuring out how to make my own weighted pencils. I took a pencil and wrapped tape around it (the way you do a ring that is too big), then I put a bolt on it and it fits snugly. I had taken pencils to the hardware store and found bolts that fit close but still a little loose, so the tape was perfect. First I tried super glue but it wasn't quite enough. Tape worked better. 🙂 But i am not sure the best placement of the nut on the pencil, so I may do some experiments with that, and also try putting more than one nut on, etc.

New game I made…

I bought this strip of cork board at Office Depot or Target or somewhere. Then I used Sharpie to make it into an alphabet game board. You use push-pins as the game pieces. You roll a die (cupping the palms and working on those arches!), move your push-pin, then practice writing the letter you land on, or possibly a word starting with that letter, depending on how advanced your kids are!

I start back TOMORROW! (Monday)

I went in Thursday and Friday to prepare, and the kids come back tomorrow. We don't “pull” (take kids out of the classroom) the first week, but still lots to do to prepare in terms of setting up stuff, whether it's paperwork or supplies or learning about new kids etc. 🙂 I have to brush up on the ALERT program so I can help a classroom with it and refresh my memory on social thinking etc. I bought so many freaking toys this summer to be better prepared for this school year, and spent a lot of time finding crafts on pinterest I might do…..but I still struggle with anxiety about it all, no matter how prepared I am. 🙂 I just always want to be doing my best work!

Speaking of best work, I work for a great company based in California called School Steps, Inc. They are a small but growing business and they hire OTs, SLPs, PTs, and psychologists, for school systems, in various parts of CA. Their website is http://www.schoolstepsinc.com if you want more information. 🙂

That last post is by Tommy Carr, not me.

I copy/pasted the Mind Mapping e-mail without attributing it to Tommy Carr. So oops.

Summer is almost over….I go back to work next Friday. A lot to do between now and then. in a few minutes here I'm going to buckle down and re-open files and start preparing for the year! I'm a little pre-emptively stressed out as I am warned the beginning of the year is stressful with scheduling and all. But I am trying to not let that knowledge get to me. 🙂

Sorry it's been quiet….my 1400+ mails has gone down to TWENTY….and since I haven't been working I haven't been doing a lot of OT stuff. Actually I have bought quite a few OT toys over the summer, like stamps and crafts supplies…but nothing besides buying compulsively, lol.

Mind mapping OT competition :)

Pinterest + OT ideas

I'm starting to obsess over wanting to do more crafts this upcoming year with my school OT kids. I started using Pinterest today http://pinterest.com/funkist/pins/ to keep track of the crafts that may be promising in some way. Like for example, cutting pool noodles into slices to make giant beads!

contracts/social story on what OT is

Anybody have a social story written on what OT is for? And/or a contract? For use in the school system? I only work with K-6 and this year I am thinking about starting the year with both a social story and a contract for each child, where we review what OT is, who I am, what goals they have, etc. The contract would be to work on those goals/work hard/work together or something along those lines. I think a lot of kids getting OT have no idea what they are doing (including some of mine) so I would like to address that immediately this upcoming year. I think I'm also going to make sure to e-mail the teachers at the beginning of the year (after the craziness of the first week or so subsides for them), telling them what goals OT is working on specifically for the particular child(ren) in their class….and perhaps send home a note with the kids reminding the parents of my e-mail address.

That sounds like a lot of work. But I think it would be good to do. Does anyone out there already have a contract and/or social story for OT aimed at younger ages?

Young people in nursing homes

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/07/assisted-living-more-young-people_n_805772.html

My friend sent this article to me (a long time ago :x) with the enclosed commentary: