Happy Hoddoween

Duncan had a banner day of trick or treating.  Housatonic Child Care Center took the kids into Salisbury to trick or treat at the local businesses, and Duncan came home with a large bag of treats, including a fireman's hat and activity book.  When he got home, we put him back in the turtle costume and headed to Kildonan ("the beeg school") to do a little more trick or treating. Many thanks to Ken, Bob, Karl, and Dana, who supplied us with even more candy, and also to the mysterious benefactor who provided the treat pumpkin.  (This pumpkin appeared on our doorstep while I was home between school and a meeting on Thursday).  My guess is Lisamarie and Tim, but I don't know for sure.  We hope you all enjoyed a little fall cheer.  As for the great pumpkin, I don't think we'll be seeing him in our pumpkin patch tonight.

Mea Culpa

That wasn't very useful, was it?  The pictures are too small.  Sorry!  I think the directions are pretty clear though.  If I can zoom into the photos, I'll post them again.

Comments on Multisensory Instruction

I've received a few more question about you to post comments on my blog. As a multisensory language instructor, I know that presentation is often enhanced by the use of more than one sense so I've prepared a multisensory lesson on how to comment.

1. At the bottom of the blog post, click on the "comments" button. Unless it's been a particularly interesting post, the comments button will probably read "0 Comments.

2. When the comment window opens, type your comments in the box.

3. Type in the letters in the word verification box; this is to ensure that I don't get loads of spam sent to my blog.

4. If you have a gmail account or a blogger account, click that button and type in your screen name. However, most of you don't so click Name/URL instead.

5. Type in your name. Leave the URL box blank (unless you have one that you'd like to share).

6. Click "Publish Your Comment."

Easy peasy lemon squeasy.

Butterfly Born A Day

I promised this video quite some time ago, but I've only just learned how to edit it. This video portrays Duncan's interaction with the monarch butterfly we "hatched" at home this summer.

Trick or Treat

Perhaps it's because we have a gymnast friend, who I am hoping will open his own gym and then coach Duncan in 5 years or so. Perhaps it's because Duncan is 2 and likes to climb things and act like a monkey. In any case, I've been taking pictures and now video of some of Duncan's gymnastic maneuvers (they call them TRICKS in the trade). Forgive me if you've seen these already, but I wanted to post them all together. Move over Paul Hamm. There's a new gymnast in town.

Greener

A few weeks ago when we went to the grocery store, we had to buy small garbage bags; you know, the kind you put in the small wastebaskets around the house? I had forgotten about them, quite frankly, because I was using my grocery store bags in the trash cans. Much to my surprise, we had finally run out of grocery store bags, and I was INORDINATELY excited.

We are not a green household by any means. It's not that I didn't CARE about the environment. I've always CARED, but like many people, I didn't really believe that any changes I made would make a difference in the overall scheme of things. So we recycled cans and bottles because it's the law, and that was about it.

Then came the summer. We decided that we would save money on our groceries by no longer purchasing individually packaged fruit, apple sauce, cottage cheese, and yogurt for Duncan's lunches. Since he was only attending day care one day a week, we were only packing lunch for him one day a week; we thought we could put a little extra work into it and save a little cash. And we survived.

In mid-August, I decided to give up plastic grocery store bags. I don't think Jamie thought we would stick with it, but he discovered that he could pack the groceries better in the cloth bags. And Stop and Shop gives us a 5 cent discount for each bag we use. I stocked both our cars with bags and bought one for my purse...and we haven't looked back. I knew then that if I wanted to make changes, I had to take them one step at a time and wait to add a new one until the previous ones had become a way of life.

Buoyed by our bag success, I decided to use our collection of cloth napkins rather than store them in a drawer. I said to Jamie, "I know you're going to think this is crazy, but..." He said that as long as I washed the laundry, he didn't care. We still use paper napkins for dessert and for lunches we pack for school, but I've only bought napkins once since August. Yeah!

So, lunches...when Duncan went back to daycare full time, we didn't go back to the prepackaged fruits, yogurts, and cottage cheeses. It takes a little longer to pack his lunch, but maybe there will still be trees and oxygen and grass when he's in high school. I can live with that. On opening day at school, I received my sandwich mats in the mail, and we've been using them to pack our sandwiches and vegetables. Not only do they save plastic bags, but they also save the paper towels we used to make the sandwiches on top of so they're doing double duty.

I read somewhere that baby wash is responsible for a huge amount of plastic in landfills so I bought a bar of baby-friendly soap for Duncan, and no one missed the bottle. What's more, the bar is cheaper and has lasted longer. Who knew?

I'm not sure where I'll go next. We're ready for a new step. I'm excited to compost, but it's not really the season to start that. (I do sneak out from time to time and dump the kitchen vegetable scraps on top of the pile of garden detritus that we dumped in the woods. And when we had a pile of squishy apples, we threw them into the woods for the animals). Maybe I'll give up Diet Coke. Maybe I'll stop using disposable pens. In fact, the concept "disposable" is turning me off these days. Maybe I'll start rinsing out ziploc bags like my Mom. Do I think I'll start baking all my own bread or hanging my laundry on a line...not yet. But we're taking little steps, and I firmly believe that they will make a difference.

By the way, when you're done reading Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, read The Green Book. It will change the way you think about how much you can change the world. Then, loan them both to other people so you can pay it forward. (The Green Book has already been recycled once! Keep it moving!)

DOLT

Last week, each member of the administration was asked by our new Headmaster to prepare a written job description to help the members of our Board of Trustees understand better what our administration does. It was agonizing. I'm still not sure my description really does the job justice. I thought I'd post it here because a lot of my friends and family don't really know what I do. This won't answer all the questions, but it will give you a picture of what I get paid for. And yes, the acronym for my job is DOLT, and isn't that funny, ha ha. I've heard it all before. If you work with me, you know there is a lot that is not in here, like answering on the fly "why is the word simultaneous spelled -eous instead of -ious" and "how does that extended doubling rule work," and "is there a reason Tristan can't copy off the board," and "should Dan be writing in cursive in class by now," and the simple matter of talking a faculty member off the ledge once a week...but I digress. Such are the matters that cannot be documented in writing.

Director of Language Training Job Description

The Director of Language Training (DOLT) oversees the Language Training (Orton-Gillingham tutoring) program at the school.

The DOLT is responsible for organizing and helping to conduct the 70 hour Orton-Gillingham training course in which all first-year teachers participate. In addition, the DOLT, in conjunction with three other A.O.G.P.E. Fellows and a Fellow-in-Training, organizes and conducts ongoing training throughout the year. The Language Training Department meets approximately every three weeks, and those meetings primarily serve the purpose of continued training. The DOLT supervises a department of approximately 30 - 40 tutors, with the help of the other Fellows, by conducting tutoring observations, reading weekly tutoring reports, and meeting with tutors to discuss their students’ progress. The Assistant Director of Language Training is gradually taking over the role of supervising all Elementary School tutors and works closely with the DOLT. The DOLT also tutors several periods a day as needed; the current teaching load is three periods. The DOLT works with the Academic Dean (AD) to schedule and assign upper school students and faculty to evening study halls and monitor student performance. The DOLT oversees the Language Training budget and is responsible for procuring educational materials for use in tutoring.

The DOLT reads each new student’s file and works with the Academic Dean (AD) and other administrators to plan tutoring placements and schedule tutoring periods. In addition, the DOLT, with the help of a Testing Coordinator and the AD, plans and implements individual testing, maintains records of student progress, and communicates with parents regarding student progress in tutoring. The DOLT works closely with the Testing Coordinator around registering students for standardized tests and writes Section 504 Accommodation Plans for eleventh and twelfth grade students whose accommodations are not secured under the IDEA through IEP’s. The DOLT serves as a resource to the college coordinator regarding post-secondary schooling options.

As Chair of the Language Training Department, the DOLT meets weekly with the other Department Chairs to discuss student, scheduling, and curricular concerns. In addition, the DOLT serves as an advocate for students by guiding classroom teachers in making appropriate classroom and testing accommodations. The DOLT works closely with the Assistive Technology Coordinator to identify students who are appropriate for that program and keeps abreast of their progress. The DOLT is responsible for editing all Language Training reports during the interim and end-of-term report periods.

The DOLT serves as a member of the administrative team. In that capacity, the DOLT is responsible for helping to make decisions that affect the entire school, such as consulting with the admissions department, developing yearly calendars and schedules, participating in the faculty hiring process, and advising on campus improvements.