Back to School

It's a biz-busy time of the year. 
With the kids and my hubby
And back to school for me, I'm trying to stay in good cheer. 
It's a biz-busy time of the year. 
It's the cray-craziest time of them all.
With readings, assignments and placements and testing, 
It feels like I may hit the wall.
It's the cray-craziest time of them all!

In my last post, I mentioned my busyness and I eluded to the fact that I would be taking an exam. Yep, I did it! I registered for the TESL (teaching English as a second language) program at Seneca College. It was a six week long adventure!

I wrote the exam on Valentine's day and I've been enjoying two weeks off ever since. But, on Monday I start back for another six weeks to complete part two of the program.

Once I'm done that, I'll be able to teach ESL to adults!

I won't lie, juggling school full-time and all things family wasn't easy. It felt like we faced every challenge known to families during those six weeks. Weather, sickness and injuries were a few of the highlights that resulted in bus cancellations, traffic jams, and visits to the walk-in clinic and emerg. But, I lived to tell about it and in the end it was worth it (I think). I'm looking forward to starting part two of the course because when I finish, I'll be that much closer to getting back to teaching with a renewed focus on communication.

Breaking Bad Does AAC

I've been meaning to write a post with an update on what I've been up to lately, but what I've been up to lately has me so busy I haven't had the time!

So, in a week or so (after my exam - oops, did I spoil it?) I'll fill you in. In the meantime, I'll leave you with something else I've been meaning to share.

Have you watched the Emmy award winning series, Breaking Bad? We quickly became addicted in this house, after watching just one episode. We're anxiously awaiting the release of seasons six on Netflix (or for the DVD fairy to drop it on our doorstep).

Not only is Breaking Bad a wildly popular series, it has won points with disability advocates everywhere thanks to RJ Mitte, the actor who plays the son of main character, Walter White. RJ is a phenomenal actor who just so happens to have cerebral palsy. 

But here's what got me: Breaking Bad actually features a character using AAC!

Take a look at this scene where DEA agent, Hank Schrader has been brought in to the station because his colleagues believe that Hector Salamanca, former high-ranking drug runner with the Juarez cartel (rendered speechless due to stroke) is going to reveal critical information about a current drug ring. 

Hank should know better - Salamanca is old school and wouldn't be caught dead snitching. His message put a smile on my face though as it showed AAC (with a little reading between the lines) in its true form: being able to say exactly what you want to say when you want to say it.