Bikram, as usual. When I got home, I called my tech support to get my computer serviced. They said it would take 10 minutes. I tried to set up a remote connection before I left. Because I was hurrying, I pressed the wrong button and disconnected.
At school, I worked with B first in Mrs. D's class. His spelling was somewhat better, but not as much as I had hoped. He spelled the word whereas whar. I told him to ask his visual memory to bring up the image. We have worked on this before without success. This time it worked!!! And, he had the correct spelling. This is a huge breakthrough.
Then, I worked with R in Mrs. D's class. She is still reading on a K level but slowly making progress. She is a hard worker with some devil of a problem which interferes with her reading. I have her working with the Carpenter materials. The stories are structured around sound units. The first story uses a lot of -at words: cat, rat, mat. The second story uses -ad words: Dad, mad, sad, Taddy. She is pretty good at decoding words. Her problem is recall. Even that is getting a little better. My methods of fixing memory problems haven't been effective with her. I am just using repetition, and she loves this approach. We were working over and over and over with the first and second stories in the program. She asks for several copies of the work. Then she copies each word in the story over and over and over. There are several words that she gets correct not only in the first story but also in unfamiliar contexts. She persists in having problems with the word his; she reads it as him, or hit. Today, she was able to self -correct, even in an unfamiliar context.
I worked with D briefly and then offered to word with K in Mrs. B's class. She came out but did not acknowledge me and continued writing in her journal. She loves to write. I figured she was doing something to do with reading and writing; I wasn't going to fight with her. I asked to read what she had written. It was truly terrible. It was mere repetition. However, I do appreciate that she loves to write. This may save this girl. Before I left, Mrs. B. told me that she had jumped to 70 in her Dibels, a test for evaluating reading levels. Whatever else, her reading has improved.
When I got home, I reconnected with my computer tech support service. They had said it would take 10 minutes. Oh, yay. I tucked my phone in my shorts and went out to prune the plumbago. I had worked so hard to cut back so it didn't infringe on my neighbor's farm before I left for the West Coast in September. Now, I am interested in retraining the shrub/vine. For the most part, I just shoved the branches reaching out to the fence into the bush, pinning them down with other branches.
It took four hours for the tech to finish the work with my computer.
Elsa was in the yard. She followed me to that area between the bush and the fence and rubbed her face in the dirt. What is that about? A doggie facial? When we got back in the house, I had to rinse her down to get the worst of the mud off of her. She also had flowers and leaves stuck in her hair. I tried to comb some of that out. She wasn't the most cooperative for any of it.
I hadn't heard from Toyota yesterday about the deposition of my car, so I called them. I was told that they reset the communications system and did a computer check on the vehicle. It showed that the inverter or converter pump connected to the hybrid had to be replaced. I heard him say it would cost $5,500. The Bluebook value of the car in good condition is only $3500. It wouldn't be worth it, especially since I was going to have to have bodywork done too. I asked how does one get rid of a car here on the island. This is no minor matter. Many people abandon cars on the road. Then the county comes and tows them away at their expense. People leave their license plates on because they have left the island. It's a real stick it to them attitude. Too bad.
I checked the soles of my Crocs sometime during the afternoon. I noticed that the heel of the right foot is completely worn down. I will have a hole in my right heel shortly; it's that thin. That way, I start my right step by putting my heel down with a flexed ankle. I decided that I would do that with the left foot instead. It completely changed my gait. When I forced my left heel strike, I didn't hit as far back on the heel with the right foot. I planned to buy a new pair of Crocs in case the sole on the pair I have breakthroughs, but I also plan to keep going with the current pair to remind me to change my stride.
The young people who are staying with me came home after I had finished dinner. The young man offered to walk Elsa. I didn't give him instructions just to go to the end of the block and back. He was gone for so long, I started to worry. He had walked her all the way around the block. They made it home safe and sound.
I didn't watch any television. Instead, I read and wrote. I worked on the Introduction and Chapter 1 of my book on word recognition to send to Shivani. I decided now that I have to reorganize the Introduction. I was going to do it before I sent it out. Reading it through now, with what I imagine is Shivani's point of view, makes it all sound ridiculously overblown, although I know that process works. I texted her, saying that I would put off sending the Introduction. She asked if it would help if we spoke on the phone. If she can tolerate the topic, she is going to be amazingly helpful. I just emailed her because I couldn't stand thinking about it anymore and went to bed.
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