Communication became an issue this week as well – I had been told by my mentor that Tuesday was going to be a staff development day, and that I would still be able to come in if I wanted to, to help with the filing.  On Monday, however, I received an email that Felise, the administrative director and a co-mentor of mine, might not be in on that day.  This time, I sent an email from my computer, so that the escapade with my phone would not be repeated.  However, I received no reply, although I kept checking my email all throughout the school day.  I went to the site and called my mentor, but I was sent to voice mail.  Finally, I attempted to enter the center, but found the doors locked.  My mentor had not been answering since she was in fact NOT on site, and away from her work phone.  I went home after this, but vowed to find a more reliable way to contact Felise.

                Job-specific skills came into play again this week, this time in dealing with repeated instances of disobedience.  One of the children was having a rather bad day – he had arrived drowsy and remained unresponsive for a few minutes before entering class.  However, he returned to his usual self quickly, and seemed to be behaving normally.  However, he repeatedly refused to share an object when asked, causing a violent tantrum – slamming toy carts against walls and hitting a classmate on the head with a ball multiple times.  My mentor got ahold of him quickly and calmed him down, and he returned to his usual self, but after a while, he exhibited the same violence as before.  I was forced to take food out of his mouth again during snack time, and he responded by hitting me.  I had to tell him very firmly to stop, and hold his hands down so that he could not repeat the action (he was definitely trying to).  Multiple times after that, I had to hold him in place firmly, but not so roughly that I would hurt him.

                 I also began what might stretch into a long, several-week attempt at problem solving.  I noticed that one of the children who appears to be very high-functioning was exhibiting some strange behavior – she would say something, like “beep beep” while riding one of the little carts in the motor room, and not be able to move on from this action until someone noticed and said “yes, beep beep.  That’s a car!”  This is rather intriguing, and I would definitely like to observe this girl more carefully to understand her behavior patterns.

                Lastly, teamwork:  since I was sick last Thursday, I did not attend last week’s weekly meeting.  Because of this, I had missed out on an important instruction the entire team was given – to minimize our discussion as adults during the actual class time, and save all comments on behavior until afterwards.  Thankfully, not knowing of this instruction did not do any damage, but I definitely need to be more careful about catching up after missed meetings in the future.

                My long-term goals, like last week, are to learn as much as I can so that I can make a lasting difference in the lives of these children.  As for my short-term goal – like I said last week, I need a semester project.  I think I have a few ideas, and I need to talk them over with my mentor.