My glorious students...

I have finally decided on nicknames for my students this year. If you remember last year I had nicknames for all my students to protect their identities in accordance with SPED laws and regulations.

Last year they were:
1. Runner (my favorite Hispanic butterball)
2. Hot Wheels
3. Paperboy
4. ShyGuy
5. Wheel Chair
6. Chubbs

And ta-da this year:
1. Primadonna This student's parents expect me to get their 6th grade son operating at a 2nd grade academic level to a 9th grade academic level. My paras and I are basically bending over backwards to make sure his parents don't yell at me as they have his past teacher the last three years of his educational career.
2. Messenger (he is my little helper, he likes to feel important in the classroom so he helps me out a lot)
3. Parrot (he has echolalia...a speech disorder where you repeat the last word or phrase you just heard, literally "repeat talk"...people like to say things to him to draw out this repetitive response)
4. Colonel (everyday he eats two pieces of fried chicken for lunch...yes, he is black)
5. Mute (he has autism and speaks primarily Spanish, he has little speech unless you draw it out of him or coach him...it causes him a lot of anxiety and frustration)
6. Mood Ring (the only girl student I have, and golly if she doesn't have the most frantic mood swings ever)
7. Headbanger (he has severe self-injurious behaviors, an awful habit common to people with autism because it helps them communicate with others, gets them desired attention, or provides much needed sensory input/relief...if I would let him though he would kill himself and not know it because I don't think it causes him pain)

So more to come on my school year after the 19th of December.

*(I apologize for the lack of quality in my blog recently. My job and my classes consume my life. I have little time for anything else at this point in my life. Writing about music comes so effortlessly, so that is what my most recent posts have been about. Expect better quality soon.)