afternoon everybody! normally i dont post 2 journals a day, but i did tell a bunch of you about a trip i was going on today and instead of repeating the same long story, i decided to post it here.some of you already know that i am a special ed teacher working with children of varying disabilities including autism. well today 4 classes and myself went on a trip to the museum of natural history. we believe these trips are a good thing for our kids because chances are they never get to go anywhere. anyway...it was pouring as anything and we could kind of tell that it might be a rough day before we even left. we got there no problems..however before we even entered the building, 2 kids had a major meltdown, anothr child started wailing in response to the tantrum , and another child got his fingers stuck in a metal post. well, we were able to get him unstuck and calm down 2 of the kids but one of the children continued to tantrum. (we all believe that this child has early onset schizophrenia.) anyway, we had to wait for our group tickets and this child continues to scream and try to hit, head butt, and bite his teachers. they tried their best to hold him and to try to calm him. apparently channel 4 news was taping a segment nearby and his screams were being picked up on the mic. somebody came out and basically told us that if we cant calm him, we have to move some place else. a bit bitvhy i thought but what can you do. we wound up getting our tickets with in the minute or so, so it all worked out. for the next 2 hours, this child amongst other had meltdowns. some were throwing themselves down on the floor, trying to run away, screaming randomly, etc. there were some children who really did enjoy themselves and actually looked at the exhibits, so there was some highlights to the day. next cam lunch...which for the most part went well with the exception of 2 children having a tantrum because they wanted more food. (these 2 are always hungry and most likely at home, they are allowed to eat whenever, whatever, and as much as they want. so whenever they cant get what they want, they throw a fit. ok...thats over with, now it came time to leave. the museum system was to put the bus numbers on a list and the busses will come accordingly. (oh by the way there was so many other schools there.) we had to wait awhile for our bus...so the fun continued. needless to say by the time we got on the bus and back to school, we were all wiped and and stressed out. i am just so glad to be home..i just wish my friggin headache would go away!thats all folks!