Reflecting on This Year....You Can Do Hard Things

 

  I am absolutely terrified of public speaking. I get all hot and clammy. My stomach hurts. My heart races and I forget what I was going to say. I stumble over my words. The struggle is real people.   I am seriously an introvert. I would much rather just be with my people. Meeting new people is uncomfortable and kinda scary for me. Small talk is really hard for me.   But... within the last few years I have really tried to challenge myself. Heck, I started this blog to meet new people and find my #dhhteachertribe. I also pushed myself way out of my comfort zone by volunteering to be the website administrator for the California Educators of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing organization. Meeting new people.... standing up on stage.... introducing myself in ASL no less! All big and scary steps.    

In March of this year I presented at the CAL-ED conference on using Fairview Learning Rotations in the classroom. Wow! Was that an experience! The nerves were real.  But I did it. I didn't die. I didn't even throw up! Progress people. Progress.

So what's my point? We can all do hard things. We can get out of our comfort zones and make magic happen.

What are you going to do to get out of your comfort zone?

My goal: next year I'd love to go to the TpT conference and really stretch myself out of my comfort zone. 

FM Storage for the D/HH Classroom

Teaching in a multi-age classroom, that means a lot of students at a lot of grade levels. (Which is kinda why I have been MIA recently.) This school year I had 11 students. 8 of those students use FM technology in my class and in their mainstream general education classes. We happen to use Phonak Inspiro transmitters with Roger technology. (For those of you that are not familiar with FM systems, the teacher wears the microphone and the sound transmits directly to the student's hearing aid, no matter where the teacher is in the classroom. It minimizes background noise and makes a world of difference for my D/HH students.)  

To be honest, the cords for all the mics and all the loose audio boots/shoes gave me anxiety. The cords were always falling behind the book shelf and I just couldn't handle the mess and needed to find a solution.  

  Hello Michael's craft storage section! I found this little divided box with three drawers and was able to use a 50% off coupon. It's the perfect size for holding their transmiters and FM boots. I labeled each section with the student's name and even had a extra slot for audio computer cords.   

  My husband drilled holes in the drawers to allow for the charging cord to fit into each divided section. No more fishing for cords! I bought those tiny boxes at the Dollar Tree and no more audio shoes!  All of their equipment looks alike to me, so now it's easy to find the student's equipment and it's easy to plug in and charge for the night. I did buy some cord keepers from Amazon, but found I don't need to use them. The cords do not slip out of the holes in the back of the box.  

  The only draw back is the with the cords behind the drawers, they don't close all the way.... but I'm okay with that. It's better than what it looked like before!