It was quite an interesting day at school today. We had a visit from some therapy dogs. The students all enjoyed hanging around the dogs. Even the one that was said to be terrified of dogs stayed in the room and even allowed the smallest dog to approach him closely enough to lick him on the nose. We get to see the dogs again in about a month. We got lots of smiles and interactions.
We have also reworked our breakout room this week. We had been using as an informal play room. It is morphing into a more structured sensory room. Over the Christmas break, we received a standing swing on loan. It is forming the core of our new space. We plan to add lights, sound, oral-motor activities, more fine and gross motor activities. We have been working with our OT to maximize the value of this room. We have almost no budget which makes things interesting.
Finally, it was the first day for our practicum student. We have a student from a local college in the Education Assistant program. The kids benefit from the extra help and opportunities for interaction.
The new term is shaping up to be quite interesting and full of possibilities.
