The Kindness Project

     Being in special education does not mean you are immune to being mean, or even being a bully. Not by a long-shot. I know that some people think of special education as the kids I work with, which are high needs kids currently. But special education had a whole spectrum of needs. Sometimes a kid just needs a bit of extra help, a bit of extra time, or a different testing location, etc. Often, they may also need an extra lesson on kindness and social skills. 

    I work with a team that actually has 3 levels of classrooms. We have the higher needs kids, the mid-range needs, and the higher kids but who still qualify for sub-separate classes. Recently we have had issues with some of our kids in the mid and higher level classes. These issues are also not exclusive to our special needs students. Middle school kids can be extremely mean to one another. And to everyone really. The gen ed kids usually (not always) understand what they are doing and just don't care. Some of the kids in our groups may understand, maybe not completely, but being in special education isn't a free pass to be a bully. 

      One of the teachers in our group decided she had had enough of the mean behavior from some of our kids. It is just as easy to to spread a little kindness around the school instead of joining in with the rude and mean behavior. So after a few days of socials skills lessons with the guidance councilors she decided our kids were going to spread some kindness instead of meanness. And the kids all seemed to really like the idea as well. 

    She printed out coloring sheets that had a variety of affirming and inspiration phrases on them. The kids colored them and cut them out. I think this was part of one of the social skills lessons (I was with my student so not part of these lessons). 

    When they had a whole bunch of them ready it was time for the next phase of the kindness project (only I am calling it this, I don't think anyone else did. But it's a fitting name). The kids were split into groups, and the groups were given a stack of the little papers. Every group had an adult with a roll of tape. The assignment was to spread a bit of kindness around the school. 

     The kids went around and hung the little posters on walls, doors, and any other place where people might see them and get a little boost. I knew all this was happening, but I wasn't part of the process so I only got to see the aftermath. Which was a variety of mini posters around the school with nice phrases. I took photos of a bunch of them while I was out and about doing PT with my student. Some of them were in little surprising places, like right above the water fountain, and it was nice to run into them. 

     Middle school is a hard place to be. The kids are not little, but they are not grown. They think they are grown, but they are still really emotional but not yet equipped to deal with all the emotions, or the hormones. Sometimes their behavior gets away from them. At times they know exactly what they are doing and sometimes they seem genuinely baffled that what they did was seen as mean, rude, or inappropriate. Sometimes disciplinary action is necessary and sometimes you can turn things into a teachable moment about how our actions (and words) affect others and encourage people to spread a little bit of kindness instead. 
 

Starting Again

     In February, the roof leaked in my studio. I watched the water flow behind the walls while I tried to minimize the damage. And I laughed because it really does seem things can't just go smoothly for me. Ever. It also seems that something big always comes up that needs to be paid for around tax time. I'm a little tired of that. 

    My neighbor, Drew, was already booked to redo my bathroom ceiling, which definitely has water damage, which the flippers who I bought my house from likely just painted over. I have been trying to find someone to do that work for almost 3 years. People don't want to work on mobile homes. But Drew doesn't care, also lives in a mobile home, and does really excellent work. 

    When the roof leaked I texted Drew to see if he could help me with my emergency. The ice dams were way too serious for him to get rid of (without renting a blow torch) and that would have been very costly. His recommendation was to put down totes to catch any more water coming in, to minimize the damage (save the floor) and I was first in line for work in the Spring. 

      A few weeks ago I started to pack up some of the stuff in my studio. As we all know, stuff seems to breed. Somehow, in less than 3 years, I had a studio packed with stuff. And I had to move all of it out so Drew will be able to do the work in there. Next week is school vacation so it seemed like a good time to me. Drew said he would rearrange a few things to make that happen for me. He really is very cool. 

     This week has been weirdly hot for April. Mid-high 80s and very humid. I realized that roughly this time last year (school vacation. So I year ago next week) the kids and I were in Texas, and this is what the weather was like. There is no need for Texas weather in Massachusetts. 

    Today we had a half a day at school and I thought about coming home and doing a bit of doll work, since I would have some extra time, but then I realized I should probably take advantage of the dry yard (it's been raining a lot lately). I needed to move some more stuff into the workshop to store while my studio is being repaired. I am really hoping my stuff doesn't end up all full of spiders. 

      I was really struggling with how I was going to get my big hutch out of the studio, but my friend Alan was over one day and was happy to help. We actually moved it fairly easily for such a large, heavy piece of furniture. Everything else I was able to move by myself, though Alan offered to help me move other things if I wanted the help. I had to take my desk apart because it wouldn't fit through the door. I am also waiting until the very last minute to move the customs and resins. I want to store them for as short a time as possible. But the last things I will have to do are take those horses down, take the shelves down, and take that curtain down. I am not sure where the chair can go for now, maybe on the porch, who knows. But the room is basically empty and ready to be fixed. I am excited that it will be done correctly now. It was not done correctly originally and I moved into the room a bit at a time. Now I know what space I have and pretty much what space I need. I worked out how I want everything to go back into the studio once it's ready to be moved back into. I have things measured out so I know where I can add some wall shelves to maximize my space in there, without making things look cluttered. And since I asked Drew if he can replace the ancient trailer window, that doesn't open, with a functional window, I am planning things in a way that nothing ends up covering the window. Though it kind of might be fun to hang a shelf right across the window, for plants that love direct sunlight. I may have to consider that. 

     So my studio is currently officially out of commission, but I have several parts of several dolls prepped so I can work on them old-school. Which means either at my kitchen table or sitting on my couch working on a flipped over box top. But I have several outfits sewn, bodies prepped, faces painted, and I am ready to keep on working. I am hoping the work won't take a crazy long time, but it's just replacing my bathroom ceiling, replacing the walls in the studio and adding proper insulation in the ceiling, and taking out the 2 ancient AC units in my house that haven't worked since before I got here. I am even willing to help with stripping out the walls in the studio (I have done a bit of demo and own a wrecking bar that still hasn't gotten any use) and I am near-expert level at cutting insulation. If Drew is cool with that maybe it will save a little bit of money.  It doesn't SOUND to me like it will take a crazy long time to do the work, but who knows. I am just hoping that it's not going to cost a huge fortune. Fingers crossed on that one.