LAMOTION

Sorry I didn't get around to talking about my day yesterday!  It was great, of course.

I saw a high school group in the morning.  These kids were all EBD (emotional behavioral).  Some of those kids were really chemically imbalanced, if you will.  The Music Therapist said she's seen them for 3 weeks now.  I did notice a lot of good things during the session.  First of all, they did a drumming activity where EVERYONE was given a chance to play.  It was really interesting that some of the guys thought drums were so not cool.  There were some rivalries in the class.  When one was asked to play the drum, and he was the only one who didn't, he responded with "That is so degrading.  The only way I'm playing that thing is if I'm hitting 'so-n-so' on the face".  It's really kind of scary around troubled teens.  The MT was very sweet and somewhat stern, but I felt she needed to correct these behaviors in a different manner.  I know that if I was working with those kids I would definitely have to show them I am tougher than I look.  The drumming was very effective because it allowed each student to play the therapist's drum.  However, the students had to pretend their desks were drums to learn technique. Desk surfaces and drum heads are completely different and that will make it difficult to transition in the next week when drums are available.  Oh the joys of low budget schools!  From what I've seen thus far, it is crucial to be creative in this field and realize that you make do and improvise A LOT!

The next school from yesterday consisted of mainly AU, EBD, and MID (mild intellectual disability).  With the AU and MID kids the therapist used great activities.  She did a rhythm of your name activity.  Each student had sticks to play the rhythms of names.  When their name came up, they student was allowed to play their own name rhythm on the drum.  That hits some academic and self-expression goals.    The next class was a group of EBD middle school boys.  It was quite funny because one kid tried so hard to intimidate my co-intern and I by giving us the stare down when we walked in to the room.  I just laughed it off, inside of course.  The activity in this group was a soundtrack for your life.  The kids had to pick a first song memory, childhood song, song of your parents, and song of now.  Each student was allowed to research each song on the computer.  Next week they will present and play their soundtrack project to their peers.  Great way to self-express.

Today, I had the honor of watching my primary supervisor in action.  She is completely awesome and everything that I want to be like in a therapist.   She had a movement activity using the "Seven Jumps" and the kids just loved it!  It is a learning how to wait song because they have to anticipate certain sounds in the song to coordinate them with the correct movements.  I don't know if I've ever seen happier children.  This therapist uses a schedule board with picture cards for activities during the session.  After each activity one child places the activity picture card in an "All Done" box and rings the "All Done" gong.  Awesome idea!  I will most definitely be picking her brain for more great ideas!

The second observation of the day was with AU elementary kids.  The only thing that shocked me about this observation was the relaxation activity that the therapist used.  I would never think to do that with this age group and population.  The older group did not respond well to the activity.  They were all about putting the lotion on their hands, but not so much being quiet and relaxing.  The Pre-K kids LOVED it and completely surrendered to relaxation.  One of the little boys in the group refers to this activity as "Lamotion".  haha So, I am now coining that phrase for relaxation with lotion.  The kids love smelling the lotion and rubbing it on their hands and arms.  By the end of this activity, the kids were so calm. They transitioned straight in to the goodbye leaving the students in a pleasant mood for their teachers.  I will definitely consider using this in my future sessions!

Tomorrow, my co-interns and I will be observing other principle therapies.  I'm looking forward to that!  After tomorrow, I'm headed to my home town for the weekend!  I can't believe my first week is over.  It's been so awesome.  I am so thankful God placed me in this internship.