Last Day of ESY

picture of a finger wearing a mood ring that is bright blue
For those of you not in the "School-Based Therapist" know, ESY stands for "Extended School Year" and means that I have to work summer school whether I want to or not. Today is the last day of our ESY session, and I am more than ready. After tomorrow's 
"progress note" day, we have 12 days before we have to report back to start the regular school year. I have one medical appointment, but that is the only obligation that I have for break. Other than that, I plan on working on my library and that is about it other than my usual self-care stuff.

I have three groups today because there is an all-school movie during the last group time. Someone walked into my room yesterday to actually test the temperature and to tell me that there was someone else showing up to evaluate the computer system that controls the temperature. They interrupted a group session, but I am happy that someone is actually acting like they are doing something. Only three groups to run in an overly warm room until I have time to rest.

I am ready to do some resting. While I love traveling and being with my family, I also crave solitude when I have time to rest. I am resisting my usual urge to load up my to-do list with chores that I will not be happy to do during the next 13 days, but those thoughts continue to invade my brain. I want to write them down without feeling the pressure to do any of them. That rarely happens, so I guess I will turn it into some sort of art installation - you know, write them down, shred them into little bitty pieces, then create something with them. Call it something like "Over-reaching into the Break" and put it onto the wall.

I could add to it each time I feel this way.

For the last day of ESY, my students are doing a variety of things. First, we are playing Would You Rather? with a song written by a former intern, and then finishing up with a rousing game of instrument BINGO. The other two groups will watch Pixar shorts and play with my electronic toys. For now, though, I am going to drag my aching body across the state to get to work. Not much else happening, but break chronicles will be starting soon - I hope that chapter three of my internship handbook will be ready by Sunday, but who knows??

See you soon.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more