Third grade is different. It's harder. There's drama. Why not take it upon yourself to take a little break, right? I certainly don't blame her for wanting to do just this, and frankly, I commend her on her creativity...silently, though, or she'll keep it up!
As I sat at Miss E's desk with my knees at my chest, her teacher asked me how much time Miss E should be spending on her therapeutic tools. Therapeutic tools? It would seem that the creativity of which I spoke has reared it's head by creating an Occupational Therapy activity for herself to do INSTEAD of doing her work. She cleverly convinced her teacher that in order to strengthen her hands, she needed to spend time creating those rubber band bracelets that every third grade girl loves.
So what's the big deal? It's true that if anyone deserves a little break, it's Miss E. The problem is that there are plenty of times that she legitimately needs accommodation, and I don't want those to be discounted or ignored. To be fair, Miss E does have trouble with her hands. She does not however, have a regime that includes taking time out of class to make bracelets. It was a nice try, though!