Tuesday, May 3, 2022

 Tuesday, May 3, 2022

    I had another wonderful night’s sleep. In preparation for my ultrasound on Friday, I drank four cups of water with vinegar. I was supposed to down half a gallon of water half an hour before. You’ve got to be kidding. I can get four cups down, but eight is out of my range. When I checked on the internet, it said 28-32 ounces. I have no idea why the person who made the appointment said 64. Maybe it’s a way to trick people into drinking the 32 ounces. 

    Yesterday, I looked at the article I started and restarted on my reading method. I liked what I read and then realized it wasn’t the same as what I had recently looked at. I looked for all the versions I had on file. Four came up. This morning I printed them out. I must sort out what I want from them and dump the rest. This was not going to be a walk in the park.

   I had an appointment with PT Katie at 9. She checked out my exercises and did some work on my left SI joint, which is jammed. When I have back problems, that’s where it shows up. The back pain may improve with the hip replacement. I will have more mobility in my hip joint and, therefore, my glutes. One can hope, can’t one?

   Katie asked me what I wanted to work on. I asked her to do Micromoves on my left foot. She did some of it. It felt like she moved the full range to the tight side but not the looser one. I think it’s essential to go in both directions. She chose to work not with my ankle but with my heel and then the front of my foot. Very interesting.

   She asked about renewing my prescription with her. She asked me to initiate it. I already had. Dr. Reed said it had to come from them. She also asked who would work with me for the first two weeks when I got home. No one from KP that I know of. My first appointment with them is for two weeks after the surgery. Yvette has agreed to work with me. She will come to PT appointments so they can show her what to do.  

   I stopped at Long’s to buy a new shower scrub brush with a handle. I am doing a thorough cleaning in anticipation of Sir Damon’s arrival. He has no compunction about critiquing my housekeeping. He and Cylin started cleaning my house the last time he was here. I don’t object when folks do that. I always tell them to go ahead and make themselves comfortable. I show them where all the cleaning supplies are right from the beginning. I welcome his perspective. Mike and I used to say, “Where’s a guest when you really need one?”  Guests inspire a good cleaning. It’s usually much needed.

   I moved all the furniture out of an area and thoroughly cleaned the rug and floor. It was slow going. It would be a week devoted to cleaning.

   I met with adolescent D. Yes, he had listened to the audiofile. Yes, he did some reading in school. No, it didn’t go well. He couldn’t read enough to know what it was about. As I brought up the Hawaii Driver’s Manual, he said, “Do I have to?”  Wow! That’s great. This kid is cooperative. I offered to do the work for him, to model it. I spent a whole year modeling the analytic phase of The Phonics Discovery System with stunning and unexpected results. At the end of the session, I asked him how he felt about doing it this way. He gave an enthusiastic 10. I asked if he had paid attention. He said yes. This is certainly the way to go if he can enjoy this approach. After we got off, I wondered how much of that 10 rating was because he didn’t have to do it, and he thought of other things versus how much he could give his full attention to the work. If he can focus, this is the way to go. He’ll be relaxed enough to allow changes in his brain to happen. 

    I read about a session with him from a year ago as I posted it on the public blog. We worked on something psychological. Everything we did should feel safe, comfortable, easy, fun, and effective. I implicitly apply this to my teaching. It was time to use it explicitly in teaching reading with D. I got excited about approaching the work this way. I would duplicate what I did with those girls. I would say the word, ask what the first sound was, and then what letters represent them. I would do this process as I did it with the girls; I would ask the question, “What is the first sound?” allow for a pause so they can answer in their heads, if not out loud, and then proceed to the next question.