As many of you know, this past December, I had an accident while hanging Christmas lights. I broke both of my arms in different places, and was home for a long time recuperating. While at home, I began an intensive amount of occupational therapy to gain my strength and range of motion back.
Three times a week, I visit the wonderful people at Accelerated Hand Therapy of Morristown, where they give me lots of activities to do. I stretch to touch blocks to the top of my head, I bounce weighted balls on trampolines, and play with putty. As a warm-up, I have to dip my elbow into paraffin, a hot wax that's about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and the therapists stretch and bend my elbows and wrists.
Three times a week, I visit the wonderful people at Accelerated Hand Therapy of Morristown, where they give me lots of activities to do. I stretch to touch blocks to the top of my head, I bounce weighted balls on trampolines, and play with putty. As a warm-up, I have to dip my elbow into paraffin, a hot wax that's about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and the therapists stretch and bend my elbows and wrists.
I also have to wear this JAS splint three times a day for 30 minutes. It stretches and bends my arm, and I can't move while it's on. The intense stretching it gives me helps me gain back my range of motion.
This is the DynaSplint. I have to wear it for 4-6 hours a day. You need a special key to align the Robocop bars on the outside. I sleep in this one, which allows for stretching which tolerates motion while it's being worn.
Both of these splints hurt while I wear them, but when all is said and done, they help me increase the range of motion in my right arm. Wearing these two types of splints intermittently is considered an aggressive type of therapy, but it's necessary, because like most elbow fractures, my injury was pretty bad.
Both of these splints hurt while I wear them, but when all is said and done, they help me increase the range of motion in my right arm. Wearing these two types of splints intermittently is considered an aggressive type of therapy, but it's necessary, because like most elbow fractures, my injury was pretty bad.
Immediately following the accident, my range of motion was severely limited. The surgery I had, the therapy, and these splints are all part of a comprehensive healing plan to help me gain back what I had lost. Part of the whole process is measuring the number of degrees I can bend my elbow at any given time. Right after the accident, I was able to bend my right arm about 50 degrees (remember, that 90 degrees makes a right angle). Thanks to all the parts of this healing plan, I can now bend about 100 degrees (bending at 120-140 degrees is normal activity). This growth ebbs and flows. There are weeks with significant improvement, and there are plateaus. I'm in one of those right now.
After a particularly grueling day of therapy, my therapist got out the handy protractor to measure my range of motion. 100. Again. No growth. "Numbers aren't everything," she reminds me. Let's think about the function of your arm. What are you able to do now that you couldn't do before?
I've begun to touch the top of my head. In recent weeks, I've learned again to eat with a long fork with my right hand. I can brush my teeth if I concentrate. Scratching my nose is easier than it was. Yes, scratching my nose! But these are small successes, equally important in the process of healing, of growth.
After a particularly grueling day of therapy, my therapist got out the handy protractor to measure my range of motion. 100. Again. No growth. "Numbers aren't everything," she reminds me. Let's think about the function of your arm. What are you able to do now that you couldn't do before?
I've begun to touch the top of my head. In recent weeks, I've learned again to eat with a long fork with my right hand. I can brush my teeth if I concentrate. Scratching my nose is easier than it was. Yes, scratching my nose! But these are small successes, equally important in the process of healing, of growth.
It's so easy to get caught up in the numbers game. Kids do this. Parents too. They see others around them reading at higher levels. Even the most authentic rubric tempts us to get better and better numbers each time. It's tempting for us to become frustrated when we don't get highly effective on our own evaluations. When talking to our students, or talking to our evaluators, whether about kids' learning or our own, instead of focusing on the level, the score, the number, let the conversation take stock of what we've learned. "You're able to make your voice sound like a character." "Look at the way you're putting more internal story into your writing." "See all this new rich vocabulary you're using!" "I can't believe how attractive your charts have become!" "How have you integrated the work of this professional book?" "You're really adding to your teaching through our coaching sessions!"
When we don't focus on the number, but on our function as learners, as teachers, and as arm-users, we can more readily see how we've grown...and what our next steps will be!
When we don't focus on the number, but on our function as learners, as teachers, and as arm-users, we can more readily see how we've grown...and what our next steps will be!
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