One Thing, Then Another Thing, and Then, ANOTHER THING!
This has been a long couple of days. I started my Friday by waking up later than usual (5:30 am instead of 4 am) and just couldn't seem to coordinate my thoughts enough to write about anything. I did try, but everything was jumbled around in my brain. I took a day off and went to work.
Once at work, I found that my "entire day to work in your room" turned into something else entirely. I also made a public announcement about something that irritated me that caused me lots of second thoughts last night.
Basically, the Occupational Therapy Assistants have put together a sensory box for each classroom. Not a problem for me, since I feel that we do not often assist our clients in finding sensory integration. What led to my probably not so politically correct comment was the "relaxation CD" included in the box.
(In the interest of full-disclosure, I have a personal issue with one of the OTAs that works in our facility, and I think that much of my ooops moment yesterday was based in that issue. I seem to snap whenever she takes credit for someone else's work and ideas. Anyway, that's something I am deciding whether I need to address or not...)
The "relaxation CD" was proudly shown to the entire group. It is a Mozart Effect CD - the one with a baby on the front cover. It was presented as "when a kid is upset, just put this CD on and they will relax." I popped off with "Not all kids will relax with this music..." and said something else about how folks needed to watch kids' responses very carefully.
I hate when people make presumptions about music and how it will be used. I also do not like that the Mozart Effect continues to be a thing even though there isn't much evidence that there is any such thing. I also think that adolescents shouldn't be given a CD with babies on the packaging - those CDs tend to be made for people at a specific developmental and chronological age rather than the ages of my clients. There was an option with a child on the front - why couldn't we get that one? Anyway, I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but I didn't. It kept me up all night (and I also had a temperature, so I think there is more going on than just this incident - I tend to be a bit more occupied with thought when I am ill).
The rest of my "work in your room all day" turned into a "go up to the residences and spend some time up there evaluating people doing a job completely unrelated to your own" day. I was not happy, but I completed my task. Kids seemed pleased to see me wherever I went, so that helped me suppress the grinchiness that was inside. I then went back to my room, sorted through lesson and choir folders, printed off a bunch of long/short visuals for next week's sessions, and figured out who would come to which session at what time - I even scheduled 6 out of the 7 classes that will be receiving pull-out music therapy services.
I am not completely ready for Monday's Back-to-School festivities, but I am getting closer to ready.
Last night, before going to bed, my computer froze up. I thought nothing of it and figured that it was going through an update. I went to bed and didn't sleep much. This morning, when I got up to get ready for an online meeting, the computer was still frozen and wouldn't boot up. When I ran diagnostics, I received an error message about how the hard disc had a failure. I was supposed to host the meeting and couldn't because all I had was a tablet. The good news? The tablet worked really well with the platform. The bad news? No one else could seem to figure anything out. As a result, we all ended up abandoning it before we could figure anything else out.
Finally, the computer did restart itself (well, kinda - I had to do some tech magic to reset some stuff) and then it started to compute again. I am now trying to replicate my bookmarks, apps, and games.
Here are the good things about these proceedings...
Once at work, I found that my "entire day to work in your room" turned into something else entirely. I also made a public announcement about something that irritated me that caused me lots of second thoughts last night.
Basically, the Occupational Therapy Assistants have put together a sensory box for each classroom. Not a problem for me, since I feel that we do not often assist our clients in finding sensory integration. What led to my probably not so politically correct comment was the "relaxation CD" included in the box.
(In the interest of full-disclosure, I have a personal issue with one of the OTAs that works in our facility, and I think that much of my ooops moment yesterday was based in that issue. I seem to snap whenever she takes credit for someone else's work and ideas. Anyway, that's something I am deciding whether I need to address or not...)
The "relaxation CD" was proudly shown to the entire group. It is a Mozart Effect CD - the one with a baby on the front cover. It was presented as "when a kid is upset, just put this CD on and they will relax." I popped off with "Not all kids will relax with this music..." and said something else about how folks needed to watch kids' responses very carefully.
I hate when people make presumptions about music and how it will be used. I also do not like that the Mozart Effect continues to be a thing even though there isn't much evidence that there is any such thing. I also think that adolescents shouldn't be given a CD with babies on the packaging - those CDs tend to be made for people at a specific developmental and chronological age rather than the ages of my clients. There was an option with a child on the front - why couldn't we get that one? Anyway, I probably should have kept my mouth shut, but I didn't. It kept me up all night (and I also had a temperature, so I think there is more going on than just this incident - I tend to be a bit more occupied with thought when I am ill).
The rest of my "work in your room all day" turned into a "go up to the residences and spend some time up there evaluating people doing a job completely unrelated to your own" day. I was not happy, but I completed my task. Kids seemed pleased to see me wherever I went, so that helped me suppress the grinchiness that was inside. I then went back to my room, sorted through lesson and choir folders, printed off a bunch of long/short visuals for next week's sessions, and figured out who would come to which session at what time - I even scheduled 6 out of the 7 classes that will be receiving pull-out music therapy services.
I am not completely ready for Monday's Back-to-School festivities, but I am getting closer to ready.
Last night, before going to bed, my computer froze up. I thought nothing of it and figured that it was going through an update. I went to bed and didn't sleep much. This morning, when I got up to get ready for an online meeting, the computer was still frozen and wouldn't boot up. When I ran diagnostics, I received an error message about how the hard disc had a failure. I was supposed to host the meeting and couldn't because all I had was a tablet. The good news? The tablet worked really well with the platform. The bad news? No one else could seem to figure anything out. As a result, we all ended up abandoning it before we could figure anything else out.
Finally, the computer did restart itself (well, kinda - I had to do some tech magic to reset some stuff) and then it started to compute again. I am now trying to replicate my bookmarks, apps, and games.
Here are the good things about these proceedings...
- I found out what my webinars look like from an attendee's point of view.
- I don't have to spend the rest of my savings to get a new computer. I can wait for some time and save some more, browse, and get something I really want rather than something convenient.
- I have now backed up all of my documents and pictures.
- I now know why I can't sleep - I'm sick - running a temperature is not normal for me - I tend to be under normal, so a low-grade temp is a pretty big deal.
- All of this is over.
Based on what you've posted, it sounds like your comment about the "relaxation CD" was fully justified and being a good advocate for your clients. Way to go! Hope you feel better soon.
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