Thomas the Train

Let me first paint a picture for you. Think of a 17 year old young man who was probably 6'2-3" and 200 lbs. A big kid. He had a boofy curly fro, 80's glasses with one of those fabric elastic bands to keep them on his face, wore a Winne the Pooh t-shirt that had an extra panel sewn on the bottom to make the shirt long enough (he was big!), wore black sweats and old man velcro shoes. He carried a suitcase around with him full of Thomas the Train books that were memorized and well loved- crinkled and taped together again and again. He was autistic with a big heart and has the social skills of a 4 year old, which made him absolutely charming and one of my favorite students of all time.

If you think through the implications of a line backer sized kid who had the social skills of a 4 year old, it sets ya up with a lot of funny stories to tell. For example, one day he disappeared. I went out in the hallway to find him and there he was with about 4 other students doing Ring Around the Rosies. The other 4 students were wide-eyed because a) they didn't even know who he was b) he wouldn't let them stop playing. Or there was the daily occurrence of him skipping down the hall on his way to his next activity. And I can't forget the day I was at lunch and over the walkie talkie system an administrator said "Ms Sangster- M needs you in the lunchroom. He won't eat until he can show you what's in his lunchbox."

The best part was when he got in trouble. He would run to the corner of the room, grab one of his Thomas the Train books and 'read' it (which was basically quoting it from memory) while peering over the top at me, trying to see what I would do next. Or another method he used when he got in trouble at his desk, was that he would make me disappear by covering his eyes. It was too much trouble to actually get OUT of his desk to go to the corner for his books because when he would stand up, often the desk went with him.

I wonder how M is doing now? I sure miss him. He made each day a delight and won over the hearts of everyone around him especially when he took them on a bear hunt.

Famous!!

We've been featured on Project Linus' web site.

A Menu to Remember

After careful brainstorming and deliberation, my special ed class has finally picked the menu for the Mother's Day Luncheon they will be hosting for their moms as part of their cooking class:

Appetizer
Nachos

Beverage
Choice between chocolate milk and Gatorade

Entree
Fish sticks

Sides
Salad and muffins

Dessert
Chocolate cake

Why do I get such a kick out of this yearly tradition at parents' expense?

Cleavage

One of my students comes to school in her PE clothes and then afterward changes into her 'school clothes.' Today she ran to change and came busting into the classroom saying: "I found my cleavage!" I turned around and she was wearing a shirt that was lower cut. Needless to say, the shirt was adjusted. This is really funny because this student is socially on a 3 or 4 year old level and totally didn't get what the big deal was.

Mamma Mia

When I got married midyear, I knew that changing my name would be a challenge for some of my students. So at my reception, one of my paras* snapped a picture of JD and I. She printed it and posted up on the board and all through my honeymoon, she reminded them daily of my name change. Then came Christmas break. I assumed that by the end, my students would all have forgotten about the change of names and all of my para's hard work would be undone.

I was sitting at my desk the first day back from break and in walked E. E is a student on the autism spectrum and has difficulty with language. She took one look at me and said "Santini! Italian! Mamma Mia!" and danced across the room. So adorable!!


* Para stands for paraprofessional/paraeducator. These are the wonderful people who help in the classroom as aides. I wouldn't be able to function without them!

Z and the Proposal

I had a student in Utah who has Down Syndrome. And boy did it not stop him! Talk about a social butterfly! He had so many friends that it often became a problem. At the time, I was single and went by Miss Sangster. Well Z was quite a flirt with "the ladies" and he would say. One day at the beginning of his first year in my class, I was walking with him down the hall of the school. He stopped, got down on one knee, grabbed my hand and said "Miss Sangster, will you marry me?" I didn't know WHAT to do. They never taught me how to deal with student proposals in my special ed certification program! Wanting to laugh, but worried an administrator would turn the corner (or ANYONE, actually), I told him that he had to wait until he was 25 and then come talk to me.

This is the same student who, in the MIDDLE of my lesson, burst out: "Miss Sangster- you HOT!"

Flowers for Santini

Just a couple of days ago, I was reading with one of my students. She is a student with autism and limited verbal skills. In fact, she communicates by quoting movies. Once she didn't want to do math and said "I don't want math- it makes me GASSY!" This is a modified quote from the recent Chipmunks movie- "I don't want a burrito, it makes me gassy!"

As we were reading, we got to a part in the book where the characters were looking at flowers. She stopped, jumped up, and said "Oh, dear. Oh, dear!" She ran over to her Camp Rock lunch box, shoved her hand in, and handed me 2 crumpled flowers with the petals falling off. "For Santini!" she exclaimed and then sat back down to her reading.

Being A Special Ed Teacher

I was thinking today about all of the crazy experiences I've had as a special ed teacher. I am afraid I've already forgotten some of them. I could totally write a book- ask my mother. So since posting is so much more enjoyable for me than writing in my journal, I thought I'd start writing posts about some of the things that has made teaching special ed a wild, entertaining, and 'unboring' job ever- while also maintaining respect for the students I worked with.

Let's hope that writing down my memories will spark further memories and that it will make up for my lack of journaling over the last several years.