downtime

Today's a federal holiday (Veteran's Day), so school's out, and I have a day off to re-group. Yesterday, I had all-day CPI training, so I was out of school all day, except very briefly in the morning. This past Friday, was also a day off, so that's a lot of "breaks" in the regular schedule. As a result, my students have been a bit restless and squirrely, and a lot harder to manage.

Most high school students (if not their parents) love a break from school, but in Special Education, this is often not the case. Breaks for kids on the spectrum are tough (and we have a lot of students on the Autism spectrum in our room). Students with special needs tend to get a bit out of whack if you shake up their routine too much, and they're not shy about letting you know. For others, not only is school a place where predictable things happen, but also a place where basic needs get met--there are always some students don't really get fed or experience an atmosphere of safety unless they come to school. Most of our kids, even the ones who profess to dislike school, enjoy the structure and predictability that they can count on. Students with Autism tend to lack the ability to self-regulate, so they do very poorly without structure and routine (which for many is only something that happens in school).

Students in Special Ed often react to extended breaks by "punishing" us for not having school. You get a lot of regression/skills loss/acting out/sulking/etc. It's not pretty. The next few days are probably going to be a bit hairy.