A-Z Meme

I have been tagged for this A-Z meme. I am not going to tag anyone back by name, but open it up to all the sped/AT/disability bloggers who may be interested (or may need a day off from coming up with a regular post).

Accent: Boston, but mostly when I am tired (pronounced "ti-ed")

Breakfast or no breakfast: Breakfast. Even if it is "the breakfast of champions" - Sun Chips and Diet Coke.

Chore I don’t care for: All of them, well all of them involving physical labor, I don't mind intellectual chores, writing a paper, educational evaluation, IEP or presentation is fun; just don't ask me to shovel snow or do dishes.

Dog or cat: I love animals, I currently have a cat, my Roxie. She is lying on my lap as I type.

Essential electronics: my laptop, I couldn't be without it and my Blackberry; oh and my insulin pump, that is an essential for sure

Favorite cologne: ick, cologne

Gold or silver: silver

Handbag I carry most often: backpack, it was my sister's before she died

Insomnia: every night, it is awful, I would give nearly any thing to be the kind of person who fell asleep when her head hit the pillow and stayed that way until morning

Job Title: teacher of learners with multiple special needs

Kids: sometimes I think about adopting, probably a child with disabilities, but I am getting older and my financial status isn't improving like it would need to

Living arrangements: Roxie and I in a cozy one bed room in a four apartment converted Victorian

Most admirable trait: I don't know, probably generosity of spirit?

Naughtiest childhood behavior: I almost never did my homework

Overnight hospital stay: I was in the hospital last June for what I call p-newmonia

Phobias: crowds, especially noisy, rowdy crowds when it is dark

Quote: "Shoot me now. I'm a fiddler crab" -Bugs Bunny

Reason to smile: student successes, silliness, music, good books, great friends and family, my kitty

Siblings: one brother (367 days younger) and one sister (3 years younger, recently deceased)

Time I wake up: 6:30 Monday-Friday, whenever my body feels like it on the weekends

Unusual skill or talent: I can eat fire

Vegetable I refuse to eat: peppers

Worst habit: sun chips and diet coke for breakfast sometimes

X-rays: I have broken nearly every bone at least once, thus nearly everything has been x-rayed

Yummy stuff: lasagna, stuffed shells, ice cream, expensive chocolate, fish, peas, stuffing, mashed potatoes, chocolate pudding, peanut butter and jelly on sot wheat bread, creamy soups, tikka masala, naan, enchiladas.... oh so many yummy foods

Zoo animal I like most: the primates

All Students Meme

I have been tagged for another meme, this time by Patrick Black over at Teaching all Students.

The idea is that I share three things I believe about all students and tag other bloggers to do the same.

1) All students can learn
2) All behavior is communication
3) Students learn best when their essential needs are met and they are happy and comfortable

I have a funny feeling that many education bloggers have already been tagged, however if Alicia Odom, Karen Janowski, Richard Byrne, or Lon Thornburg feel like participating they can consider themselves tagged. Here are the rules:

Want to participate in this meme?

1. Share three things that you believe about all students.
2. Be sure to link to this post and/or to where you were first tagged.
3. Tag your response with AllStudentsMeme
4. Invite others to join the conversation by tagging them to be a part of the meme.

Vote for Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs in the 2008 Weblog Awards. You can vote once a day, every day! (Until January 13th.)

A Meme

Image from FlickrI was tagged for this meme by Pat over at Successful teaching. I love reading other people's memes but I have never been tagged before.

The Rules…
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

Questions…

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I was a few weeks shy of my undergraduate degree at Simmons, where I was a student in a five year combined BA/MS program in intensive special education. I was doing my clinical teaching at Franciscan Children's Hospital/Kennedy Day School and looking for an apartment, I eventually landed in Jamaica Plain in Boston.

2. What are my 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

• charge my cell phone
• research neurofeedback as a treatment for Asperger's syndrome
• return a text message from my brother's girlfriend in Hawaii
• try to finish my (late) quarterly progress reports
• do some work on the Australia thematic unit I am teaching

3. Snacks I enjoy... coffee (large iced Hazelnut with milk and five splenda, chocolate (especially Cadbury Fruit and Nut Bars) and bananas (especially chocolate covered frozen bananas)

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• pay off student loans and all bills, buy a house
• pay off my dad's bill and his mortgage so he can retire
• pay off my brother's bills so he will have some nieces and nephews for me and then make sure he has money to bring them home to visit twice a year (or more, but Hawaii to Massachusetts is brutal)
  
• start my own special needs school focused on AAC and AT for learners with multiple special needs

5. Three of my bad habits:

• procrastination
• letting my introverted side win and not socializing very much
• not enough attention to a healthy diet and exercise (hmmm.... if I were a billionaire I would pay someone to make me healthy meals and snacks, but I doubt I would bother to increase my exercise very much)

6. 5 places I have lived: I have never lived outside of Massachusetts. Inside Massachusetts I have lived in Chelmsford, Boston (Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Beacon Hill), Lowell, Haverhill

7. 5 jobs I have had: Personal Care Attendant, Physical Therapy Aide, Camp Counselor/Director, Research Assistant, Language Lab Clerk (I was thinking of writing "lab rat" because in college I volunteered as a subject for studies to make cash, but it isn't really a job)

8. 6 people I want to know more about, because I'm just that nosy:
Ricky at ATMac, Lon at No Limits to Learning, Paul Hamilton from Free Resources from the Net for (Special) Education, Larry Ferlazzo from Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day, MadATer from MadATer, Barrie Ellis from One Switch.Org