Trying to Navigate the Big Picture While Getting Hung Up on the Little Stuff

Yesterday is over. It went pretty well in the music therapy clinic - we had our five groups with only one classroom assignment change that hadn't been announced to the faculty. We saw the one individual who is actually at school right now. We didn't have much time to talk to one another (my intern and me), but I did get in some reading during lunchtime. Wednesdays are our busiest days right now and that won't change any time soon. The other days will become busier when we get into our summer schedule because we will have to smash four sessions into the four days a week that we work during summer. In my opinion, we didn't have to do this type of scheduling, but no one asked me or even cares about my opinion on scheduling. I am a bit disgruntled about that, but again, no one really cares.

We ended our day with a meeting with our Behavior Specialist. In 2019 (way, WAY back in the distant mists of time when sitting next to someone in a room was commonplace...gather 'round, children, as I tell you a tale...), I was part of the PBIS Core Team, and we developed a curriculum to try to teach our students some of the basic tenets and expectations of our PBIS program. If you do not know what PBIS is, click this link for more information. Anyway, we were supposed to start this up in January 2020, but we didn't. Then, we were supposed to start this up in April 2020, but all things scholarly were thrown into chaos and despair due to COVID-19. So, the powers that be have decided that we are going to implement this program on Monday. We got two days notice. Monday. I am, apparently, no longer on the PBIS Core Team since I have not been notified of the meetings, so there is no longer anyone on that team that works directly with the students or the staff members. I disapprove of this situation as well.

The faculty was not exactly supportive of the idea. The teachers that work with our students who have less verbal ways to communicate are trying to figure out how to take a script that states the following: "Today, we are going to talk about why it is important that we are safe in the classroom. It is important to be safe in the classroom so that you can finish what you need to do and earn your rewards. Here is how we stay safe in the classroom. We sit down in our chairs, we have safe hands, safe feet, quiet voices, and we listen to staff instructions. This is how we stay safe in the classroom. Now it is your turn to show us how to stay safe in the classroom." The teachers that work with our students that have perfectly fine verbal communication skills but a limited idea of doing what others tell them to do are trying to figure out how to present the exact same script in a way that will not cause a riot amongst their students every morning from 8:25-8:40. I am trying to figure out how to do music therapy with these students - the ones that will be all het up about being told what to do like they are babies - at 8:45am.

Now, when we were developing this curriculum, I stated over and over again that it was too wordy, it was not easily differentiated to fit student differences, and that it would be difficult to interpret by the targeted instructors - this is supposed to be run by our Behavior Health Technicians rather than our teachers. The script is not formatted in a user-friendly format. The sentences are extremely long, and the timing is unfortunate since it happens during breakfast for most of our classes. None of my comments or suggestions were heard, I guess, since there have been no modifications to how we do things. It will be interesting to see how long this goes on.

I am the type of person who can see both the big picture and all the little parts that go into making the big picture. I work for people who only see the big picture and who cannot consider the little parts because they are not around the little things that need to happen when you are implementing a new curriculum into an already busy classroom day - especially when also getting ready for completely new students to start in your classroom that you have to develop learning experiences for, discover IEP goals to address, rearrange your learning environment to accommodate learner differences, and organize lesson plans. Hey, let's add another thing to do - and, by the way, there will be video reviews of this time and teacher/Behavior Specialist meetings arranged at the convenience of the Behavior Specialist who is only on campus one day per week because he technically doesn't work full-time. I feel for the teachers at my facility. I only have to deal with the aftermath of all of this - not the actual implementation of the curriculum. We are just so focused on the big picture that we neglect the little things that have to fall in line in order to get to the big picture.

I predict that this will be yet another big idea that fizzles out when it becomes apparent that it was not well-designed for the client population or the people chosen to lead it. I think it will take lots of energy and will be abandoned just like every single theme, book club, and professional development structure imposed upon an unwilling faculty without their input or opinions.

I am kinda glad that I am no longer part of the PBIS core team. I can walk away from any sort of complaints without feeling obligated to share them. (Insert maniacal laughter here. On that note, see you later!)