My OT intern started on Wednesday and it’s been non-stop action at work. When I’m in “teaching mode” I seem to be talking quite a bit. It’s hard not to when someone is relying upon you to explain everything I’m doing and why. After going all school-year on my own and coming/going as I please, I now have a shadow attached to me all day long. It certainly takes some getting used to. Sometimes I feel like I need to “entertain” my student with something to do or see. With all the talking that I did on Wednesday, my throat was really raw yesterday morning. It was really hard for me to get warmed up and I ended up being really quiet all morning. I felt I needed to apologize to my student since it almost seemed like I was annoyed by her. I really wasn’t. It was just way too early to be teaching. In fact, when she arrived in the morning, I was in the middle of a very stressful phone call and simply not ready to be dealing with people. So when she asked me, “Is there anything you want me to do?” I so badly wanted to say, “No, just sit there quietly until I’m done with my paperwork.” But of course I didn’t. Instead, I said, “Go ahead and and observe Arlene’s treatment session for a bit while I’m finishing up.” Phew…that was close.

So it’s Friday now and my intern had to attend her graduation this morning so I have a day to catch up.  Ah…what a relief. It was weird to have time to gather my thoughts and get my reports done. I really do enjoy teaching but it definitely requires a little extra energy and organization on my part. It’ll get easier once we get into the rhythm of things. Unfortunately it’ll be another week or so before I can start putting her to work. It’ll be great!