Kind Over Matter

Last weekend, I traversed to Albany, NY with other area psychologists for the NY Association of School Psychologists' (NYASP) executive board meeting. As I've mentioned before, I'm chapter co-representative for my area of New York, and I travel to Albany three times a year to brainstorm and converse about big issues in the field with other key state playmakers. It's a whirlwind two days of information overload that typically ends in a big dinner with lots of wine (my kind of party).

One of the board members participated in the 26 Acts of Kindness for Newtown, CT in her district and brought some resources to share. For those who are unaware, #26Acts was a challenge of sorts from NBC News' Ann Curry in the wake of the shooting, asking for people to spread kindness and goodwill towards others as a way of answering the question, "What can we do?" Here is an article from NBC, with photos and tweets of dozens and dozens of people who participated, and how they spread kindness.

Our board member shared a printable from Kind Over Matter with tear-off positive thoughts and affirmations. I thought this was a great, simple idea to share at work as a way to "pass it on." I tacked my copy of the poster onto our main office bulletin board last Monday morning, and by the afternoon, two positive thoughts had already been torn off. Pass it on, folks.

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"Marvel"ing at the Positive

One of the new classrooms that we acquired for the 2012-2013 school year is a 1st grade 6:1+1 Special Class. It's all boys and they are becoming my new precious snowflakes. I have such a soft spot for behaviorally challenged young men and have been visiting their classroom often. Here's one reason why:

One of the boys, G, is very sensitive to noise over-stimulation. Another of his classmates was having a minor meltdown and G became very overwhelmed and started crying. G's teacher took him for a walk to calm down and have some quiet, so they came to visit me. As soon as G walked in, his adorable little face crumpled and he started crying again, so I took him in my lap and hugged him for a bit while I talked to his teacher. When he had calmed down, I dug into my prize box to see if there was something he might like.

One of my awesome Target $1 bin finds this year were Batman and Avengers erasers and tattoos. I was pathetically giddy to find these, and had to restrain myself from giving myself a sleeve with temporary Hulk tattoos. I asked G if he liked Batman and his eyes lit up. We picked out a tattoo of Batman punching the Joker and I helped him put it on.

It was spectacular. I love days where a quick moment with a kid at 2:00pm makes up for anything that happened earlier that was less than spectacular.

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Backpack! Backpack! Backpack! Backpack!

(name the obscure children's TV show reference)

I just found Marie's blog over at the South Carolina Counselor Cafe as she posted on my Facebook page, and in looking back through her entries, I found a great reference for helping families faced with poverty and homelessness.

As I've mentioned many a time, my school is high poverty, low SES. We have about 99% of the students receiving free and reduced lunches. At the district level, we find that many of our students do not have enough to eat. As such, we have a breakfast program where every morning, the students are provided with a breakfast pack and milk. I always make sure to have extra breakfasts in my office. Why? Well, if there's a kid having a behavioral fit before 10:00am, there's a pretty good chance they haven't eaten breakfast (and in some cases, since lunch at school the previous day). The first thing I ask when kids are having meltdowns in the morning is whether or not they had breakfast--not "what did you do?" or "what happened?"

A tangential story for a moment. Last winter, we had a terrible snowy day (which never happens in Western NY, right? ha). All the surrounding districts were closed, but not ours. Why you may ask? It was a Friday, and the rumor was that the superintendent kept school open so that the students would get breakfast and lunch in school Friday, and wouldn't have to go three days without food over a long weekend.

This year, we have a new partnership with the local food bank. This was sought out through the community service providers that are housed in my building. Every Friday, the food bank provides backpacks full of nutritious food for our students to take home over the weekend. We have over 50 families participating! It's such a wonderful program and has so many great benefits. Aside from giving families food for the weekend, the backpack program is also designed to increase school attendance. There's nothing like seeing all the little munchkins tearing down the hallway on the way to the bus with their yellow backpacks bouncing on their backs. I'm so glad we have the opportunity to provide for these students!

If you work in a high poverty area, or have a student population that is significant for homelessness, contact your local food bank or soup kitchen and see if they also partner with schools to provide for students. You never know what you might find out.

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What Do Basketball and Social Skills Have in Common?

One of the big problems with working in an urban area is the lack of enrichment activities for the students. We have no music program aside from one semester per year of general music (although our new music teacher rocks and is trying to expose the kids to more), we have no clubs or activities aside from a fall cross-country team and a winter basketball team, and we have a very limited art class, which is also only for a semester. My principal is trying hard to get the kids out on field trips to local colleges, the theatre, and to see the city orchestra, and she's bringing in a lot of before and after school tutoring programs.

Our gym... go green team!

Today, I stayed after school not to write IEPs or reports (as is the norm lately with the program review I'm wading through), but to go to the boys' basketball game! Some of my 7th and 8th grade friends have been trying to get me to go, so since today was their last home game, I couldn't pass it up. It was a blast! The boys lost by 2 points, but they played hard and enjoyed themselves.

The benefits of extracurricular activities, especially sports, is so incredible for kids. Not only do they learn routines, expectations, rules, and how to follow directions, they increase their social skills. Kids learn about turn-taking and sharing, good sportsmanship, how to deal with upsets and challenging situations, friendship skills, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Research has also shown a positive correlation between participation in sports and academic achievement. Hmm... sounds like all of the "desired behaviors" I write on my Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs)!

Watching the boys working together, congratulating one another, and cheering each other on was fantastic. The majority of the team is self-contained special ed. students from the 15:1 classes in junior high, who need some social skills training, so this is an excellent opportunity for them. I wish that we had more sports teams for our school. Maybe it would keep me from having to write so many BIPs! ;)

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Being a Citizen

Well, the coins are counted and the tallies are in! Last week was my Veteran's Day community service project to support our local Honor Flight hub, an organization that flies World War II vets to Washington, DC free of charge to visit the memorials. A quick refresher: my fundraiser was a competitive change drive where the kiddos put money into a milk jug for their grade level during lunch periods, and the grade level that raised the most in a week won a pizza party.

Over the summer, I accompanied a group of students on a field trip to the local naval park in the harbour to tour the WWII warships and submarine docked there. Two seventh grade boys, N and P, enjoyed the trip and the history behind the ships so much that I asked them to help me with the project. They were responsible for collecting the jugs full of change and bringing them to my office after lunch periods, and they helped me count the money Friday afternoon. N also made a generous donation for his grade level.

I think thanks in part to N and P's dedication, our seventh grade classes had a pizza party today! They raised the most money, but it was a close race between them and our fourth and first grades. In total, $145 was raised, which will pay for almost half of one veteran's trip to Washington. It doesn't seem like much, but I was very pleased with the outcome and know that Honor Flight benefits from any contribution. The students in my school come from high poverty backgrounds and don't have much to give monetarily. Community service and volunteering is so important to me, and I hope a project like this shows them that even the smallest gift, whether it's a dollar, a thank-you card, or a handshake, can make a difference to those in the community, especially those who serve so selflessly for our freedom and futures. It was also a great way to commemorate November's character trait of the month, "citizenship."

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Thriller!

One of my favorite parts about the Halloween season (seeing as every holiday is becoming it's own 2-month ordeal, these days) is all the scary stuff on TV. Fiance and I spend our Wednesdays watching Ghost Hunters and American Horror Story on FX. I remember being younger and watching Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video on MTV with my dad around Halloween.

One of my first grade friends, and former blog star, H has been having some trouble in the classroom. H is diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and has great difficulty in loud, chaotic environments. Almost daily she has crying breakdowns because her classroom can be so overwhelming and overstimulating. Our school increased class sizes significantly this year, so H went from a kindergarten classroom of about 20 kiddos to a first grade classroom with about 28 (and some are rather... rambunctious). H has a lot of difficulty with yelling and lots of noise, so we decided to try having her wear headphones during instruction to help block out some of the noise.

(I swear I'm about to make the connection, hang on!)

H walked into my office this afternoon to have lunch with one of the mental health graduate interns, wearing her headphones, which for some reason have a microphone attached to them (not sure why it wasn't removed). H was holding the microphone to her mouth and stopped to say, in her adorable, rote, robotic voice tone, "Hi, it's me, H. Wait, I'm not H, I'm Michael Jackson!"

I almost want to bring in a sparkly glove for her. Too much?

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Cuteness of the Day: Pictures from Kids

Who doesn't love getting pictures drawn by kiddos? I decorate the front and side of my desk and file cabinet with gifties like these... they make me smile.

From right: me, kiddo, and kiddo's dad, perhaps wearing a poncho carrying a rake. FYI I am not eating a cloud, I erased his name. I would also like you to take note of my superior sense of style: yellow and orange are in this year.

Kiddo's second giftie. His printing is excellent for a first grader, no OT issues here! He also colors in the lines better than I do. Sad face.

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School Picture Day

As the blog title would make you guess, today was school picture day. As I waited for the students to arrive, with my Check-in, Check-out clipboard in hand, I saw gads of kiddos streaming in, looking sharp in their uniforms, hair done and/or combed. One little fella, the one who correctly identified me as the "sad lady," stopped and said, "I've been practicing my smile for my school picture, see!" then proceeded to flash me some pearly whites.

Awesome start to the day, if I do say so myself!

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Five Fabulous Facts

In an effort to appreciate the positive things in my day-to-day work and personal life, in order to not let bigger issues and things out of my control weigh me down. I realize that I already blog about the little positive things, because only I could find kids screaming their hate in my face, having The Hulk destroy my office, and doing food-related ice breakers with emotionally disturbed 11-year old boys endearing.

Regardless, here's five fabulous things about today...

1. Getting some awesome loose tea samples from one of my special ed teachers, whose having a Tealightful party that I am unable to attend (she gave me Carrot Cake Rooibos and Tealightful Sangria... yummers) 
2. Getting to announce and take pictures of all of my students of the month, plus the three homerooms of the month.
3. Collaborating on and finishing an FBA/BIP for a kid that is in desperate need of some behavior modification.
4. Going into a first grade classroom and having a little boy say, "You're the lady that people go to when they're sad." <3
5. Having a pair of young ladies drop off a cupcake for me at the very end of the day. Ain't nothing like elementary school birthdays.

Have a great weekend, folks!

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Generosity

My mother always said, "It never hurts to ask. The worst they can say is, 'no.'" She was a smart cookie.

As I discussed previously, I'm in charge of the Students of the Month and Homeroom of the Month initiatives at my building. Over the summer, my principal discussed a few changes to the way the students and homerooms are chosen with me, which I don't really agree with. I'm of the opinion that we should reward kids frequently, consistently, and for relatively simple and minute things. Build up the sense of self-esteem and self-worth in knowing that they can "do it," then increase the expectations and level of performance for a reward, otherwise you'll have no student buy-in. My principal has very high expectations for our students, which in theory is a great thing, but it's hard to expect high poverty, low performing students to have 95% attendance, 100% uniform use, etc. But I digress.

My principal did make some great suggestions though. She wanted to reward our star homerooms with a pizza or ice cream party every month and award repeat winners with a special class field trip at the end of the year. Our student winners get some neat things already--their picture taken and put on a bulletin board, their name announced over the loud speaker and put in the school newsletter, and a certificate--but, I suggested more meaningful incentives, like gift cards or "good for" coupons to local restaurants. My principal also suggested a special field trip for multiple student winners, to really recognize their substantial achievements. Bigger and better rewards for being a kick butt student? Sign me up.

Off I went to fundraise. I totally spammed the postal service asking local fast food chains, grocery stores, dollar stores, etc for donations and funds. Mind you, I'm absolutely prepared to shell money out of my pocket to reward my kiddos, but I knew this was going to be too big of a cost. We typically have 20 students and 1-2 homerooms crowned every month. At first, I had no bites and only rejections, and I was bummed. Then, I started playing phone tag with our local McDonald's corporate office, who wanted to donate coupons. When they asked me what I was looking for, I said that we expect to give out 25 coupons to kids a month, and left it up to them to determine their contribution. Well, they offered me 25/month for the ENTIRE YEAR, all personalized for "McStudents of the Month." Later that week, I received 10 certificates for a free pint of ice cream at a local frozen custard store, 100 coupons to Wendy's, and today, 50 coupons to Burger King, all personalized for my school. Woah.

I was so totally blown away by the generosity of the local business community. True, I understand that they have a commitment to donations and giving to causes in the area, but I never expected such a great response. I'm so thrilled and excited to shower my school with incentives and rewards!

Moral of the story: if you want something, ask for it, because you just might get 250 McDonald's hamburgers and fries out of it.

 

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"A" is for "Adorable," "N" is for "Neighborly," "S" is for "SA-WEEEET"

(Apologies for the delayed-ness of this entry. I'm still adjusting to life back in the real world after a girls weekend in Folly Beach, SC. It's not fun.)

The above title came from our last session of group. I will elaborate in due time. The purpose of the group was to continue to explore self-esteem, and for the boys to recognize the positive traits that exist in each other (see the "Same Letter, Different Name" activity). The boys were divided into two teams and wrote the names of those on the other team on a sheet of paper. Ms. B chose a letter of the alphabet and the boys had to come up with positive traits or adjectives starting with that letter that described the opposite team members. We set a time limit of 2-minutes for them to work before they read aloud the descriptors. We played for 6 letters--3 for each team.

The boys were surprisingly creative in coming up with their positive traits! Some had an easier time than others. V had lots of great ideas and needed very little coaching from Ms. B and I to come up with good words. W needed a lot more help, since he mostly just made up words that kind of resembled good adjectives. The boys really nailed each other in terms of appropriate descriptors for each kid: A was described as "artistic" and "sensitive," V was "hyper" and "adorable," B was "neighborly" and "smart," and W was "athletic" and "silly." One of my biggest happy moments was A actually participating with W, with support and coaching. Although his social skills are super delayed, he independently thanked B after he read one round of positive traits.

As we processed the group, we talked a lot about what it means to receive a compliment and how we feel both giving and receiving them. We discussed good manners and social skills, including saying "thank you" when someone does or says something nice. I could tell that the boys genuinely enjoyed hearing good things about themselves--and who doesn't? For all their emotional and behavioral deficits, these boys seriously can warm some hearts.

Self-Esteem: Spongebob, Cats, and Money, oh my!

Our third group session focused on self-esteem and pro-social behavior. We did an activity called Gifts from the Heart (scroll down to second heading). We asked each of the boys to think of an imaginary gift they would like to give each of the classmates and to draw a picture of it (each boy would be drawing five pictures). They had to think of their peers' interests, likes, hobbies, etc in order to pick the right gift to give. We wanted them to choose a gift that "fit" that person, so the boys had to put their thinking caps on! They also were encouraged to be imaginative--the gifts could be something as simple as a food they like, or as big as something like a sports team, an amusement park, courage, safety, etc.

A lot of them were concerned with their artistic ability, but we assured them that the gift they chose was more important than how they drew it. A few of the boys had trouble thinking up gifts to give, so we encouraged them to ask their peers what they might like by modelling how they could ask. This was especially difficult for A, the student who has signs of an autistic spectrum disorder. A. did not want to participate in the activity, did not attempt to ask his peers what they might like gifts of and was very put off at the idea of doing so, and instead drew unrelated pictures for myself, Ms. B, his teacher, and his parents (note the lack of age-mate interaction). We did lots of modelling and encouragement, but A wanted nothing to do with the task... can't win them all. (there will be a future blog post coming about A).

Once the boys had finished the Van Gogh action, they took turns presenting their gifts to their classmates and explaining why they were choosing to give that gift. As they gave their gifts, we practiced turn-taking, using good manners (saying  "thank you"), and patience. Some of the gifts were cats, Spongebob, Dragonball Z characters, money, Hot Cheetos (what is the obsession with these?), John Cena (a wrestler), hockey equipment, and art supplies. The boys were surprisingly thoughtful in their gifts, which was really exciting and refreshing, and were excited about the gifts that their classmates gave them. It was a great warm fuzzy activity, which was a much needed break after a relatively B-A-N-A-N-A-S week.

My Tummy Feels Funny (in a good way)

Yesterday I responded to a crisis with S, my very open feeling friend. In between bouts of crocodile tears and screaming, S looked at me and growled, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Is it wrong that my insides melted a little inside and I got the funny tummy feeling? I love that kid, even when he's hanging off the door handle trying to kick his feet through the glass alongside the classroom door.

ABCs

I've spent all day in mind-numbing CSE meetings, which have totally worn me out. Come Monday, there will still be a pile of paperwork to finish in order to set up all these students' Individualize Education Plans (IEPs). Note to self: never schedule a full day of CSE meetings for a Friday!

I plan on writing another blog post about one of today's cases later, since it was an interesting one, but I have to share this gem. Normally, I share cute/amusing things kids have said or done, but today, I come bearing a nugget of amusement from teachers.

One of the students we classified today is behind academically because she has never attended school before this year and has SEVERE speech difficulties (like, I could only understand 45% of what she said during the evaluation). The student is functioning at a kindergarten level (which makes sense, since she never attended kindergarten and is now muddling through 1st grade), cannot recite numbers to 100, and does not have the sound-symbol knowledge to make words. When my colleague was discussing her achievement testing and showing her teachers and speech therapist that the child wrote down random letters when attempting to make a sentence, there were gasps from the three educators. While I thought they were blown away by how poor her writing was, I was mistaken...

"Oh my goodness, look at that! Those are actual letters!"
"She wrote in a straight line! The spacing is so much better!"
"Her writing is so neat! Look at how small and well-formed her letters are!"

Sometimes, you have to take the small miracles, even when you're looking at something that makes no sense.

Moving Day - Update

Last month, I blogged about T, one of my buddies who was moving to 6:1+1 classroom from a general education room. At the time, T was very upset and distraught about not only leaving his friends and classroom, but going to "that class."

The first week was tough for T. He assumed that the new placement was only until he brought his grades up or turned his behavior around. No amount of explaining and rationalizing stopped him from setting arbitrary dates for his return to a general education classroom. T also dealt with a lot of teasing from the students in his old classroom. Not wanting to let go of his thought he was returning to his old class, he sat with his old classmates at breakfast and lunch, and would wander the halls to talk to them during their transitions. They bullied him for being "dumb" and all the rest.

After a little adjustment period, I'm happy to report that T is doing fantastically in his new placement! He has been coming down daily to show us good daily report cards. He has made good friends with another student in the class, is sitting with the group in breakfast and lunch, and is showing genuine interest and care for the rest of the boys in the class. T is also doing much better academically. T is completing class and homework, is complying with directives in the room, and has actually increased his reading fluency by 26 words per minute in the past two weeks. That's huge! The classroom won Homeroom of the Month for this March, and I have a feeling T might be getting the Student of the Month honor.

Gotta love it when an initially tough situation turns out great! I can't wait to see how the rest of the year goes for T and his classmates. I must say I'm biased, they're probably my favorite class in the building. Favoritism? Hush.

I Believe You Have My Stapler

J is a student who has had some behavioral difficulties this year. J's home life is pretty tough and a lot of those troubles come to school with him. He also, like many pre-teen boys, has some hygiene issues, which are exacerbated by problems at home. He isn't well-liked by his peers or teacher, sadly.

In J's case, an inch of attention and positive reinforcement goes a mile. J has been coming to visit my office for about a week now at the end of the day for good behavior. Normally, I'll play games with kids or let them color to reward a good day. But J isn't all that interested in games. Instead, he wants to run errands and help out around the office.

So far, he's stuffed envelopes, put folders together, organized contact logs and put telephone number cards in alphabetical order, stapled packets, and delivered papers to teachers. And J has done it with such excitement and happiness! Who knew that a child would find such enjoyment in doing tasks that waste so much of my day! (although I have to admit, I would've delighted in getting to help someone at school in their office as a kid. Still a nerd.)

But the real plus side is that J is getting the positive adult attention he needs. So many of the kids in my building need just a little TLC from someone to let them know that they matter. The fact that J will behave all day long just to come down and do 15 minutes of office work amazes and saddens me. I'll kill 80 trees and make purposeful messes if it means that J can have fun putting it all back together again.

Pride

The following quote from a local newspaper sums up my undergraduate experience perfectly:

"The... bond is arguably tighter than at most schools. There's no med school, no research facility, no nearby big city to escape to. The glue that binds students through frigid winters is equal parts academic, basketball and beer. That's why a horde of alumni stay in touch long after their paths diverge." - Donn Esmonde

This weekend is Alumni Weekend and Boyfriend (who is also an alum) and I will be going to visit, along with my dad, his girlfriend, and her son, who is going for a college visit. To kick off Alumni Weekend, alumni across the country were called to celebrate "Pride Day," and wear clothing with the school name and/or colors.

Being the proud alumna that I am, I chose a sweatshirt with the school name emblazened across my chest (this coincided nicely with "dress down Friday"). First thing this morning on the way to breakfast, a first grader asks me, "What's wrong with your uniform?" Guess my lack of "teacher clothes" threw him off.

Month in Review (aka "Wow, I'm Lazy")

Wow, I suck at blogging! In my defense, this has been a wacky month. Very much looking forward to winter break for a few days to recoup! Here's a recap of some of the great business going down lately:

• I was quickly called to action by my principal and made a mad dash to collect cards for the Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign. About 130 cards from my students were sent off to the American Red Cross to be distributed to soldiers. My favorite card (which I forgot to take a picture of, damn!) was made by a young lady in 8th grade who has notorious attitude problems. The letter she wrote in her card showed real thought, caring, and compassion for a soldier's work, and was beautifully decorated.   
• A church in a nearby suburb sponsored our school building and donated over 260 gifts--one to every student in Pre K to 3rd grade. Each child received a clothing item, toy, and book for Christmas from their generous parishioners. They also donated more than $700 to be put towards gift cards for our older students. Then, when a family in our school had a house fire last week, they quickly rallied their troops and gathered bags of gifts, handmade quilts, monetary donations, and household items to give to them. Talk about the Christmas spirit!
• Amazingly, I cranked out seven different kinds of Christmas cookies this year. Almost all of them are being given away as gifts (co-workers, principal, family and friends, I thank you and so do my thighs).
• My office is being merged with the office of another group of service providers in our building. My office houses myself, the social worker, and our Committee on Special Education (CSE) chairperson, and the other office contains a variety of community mental health and counseling providers. We're hoping that having all of us in the same office will facilitate communication regarding students and families, and generally get help out to those who need it faster. Plus, they're a fun bunch of folks!
• I tested a boy who is going to be declassified from special education next month. W, a student diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), was a major behavior problem when he was younger, but has since blossomed into an articulate and responsible young man. He has been receiving services to help assist him in focusing in the classroom but hasn't needed them, so at his reevaluation meeting next month, we're going to discuss exiting him from special education. My first declassification this year and a great success story!
• The holiday performances put on by our students were, in a word, precious. There is nothing like working in a school around the holidays.

Caring

I just stumbled upon something I'd like to share, and in the process, relate it back to something going on in my school building.

Each month, the students in my building practice a character trait as part of our character education and PBIS programs. This month, our character trait is caring. Every morning on the announcements, the school is reminded of small ways that they can be caring towards others.

I just found out about the American Red Cross' Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign, which sends American service men and women holiday cards. I forwarded the link to my staff (yep, spamming your inbox again!) because I thought it would be a great way for students (and everyone else) to demonstrate caring this December. If you choose to participate, cards must be postmarked by December 10th.

Streaking Towards the Future

This week, I had the fortunate pleasure of escorting eleven 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to a local college for a field trip. Undergraduate education majors from this college have been visiting every week to tutor our students in reading and math skills. As a thank you to the students, the college students invited their elementary buddies to their college for a visit. The college is close enough to school that we were able to walk, and when we arrived, the kids were given a royal welcome. The college students' professor was there, the Dean of the School of Education, and the college mascot! Each person personally welcomed and thanked the students for being there (minus the mascot, who just fist pumped), and their excitement of having our students there was so clear. After the welcoming, our students went on a tour of campus and had lunch at the college dining hall. Let me tell you, there's nothing more thrilling for an 11-year-old boy than unlimited all you can eat pizza and cookies. After lunch, the students were given drawstring backpacks with the college's name on them, and two reserved seat tickets to a basketball game on campus.

In a large urban city, particularly in a school building that is predominantly minority, low socioeconomic status, and in a bad part of town, you have to wonder how many of those kids actually have college in their future. Granted, not everyone needs to go to college to have a successful career, but we push students in our building hard to plan for higher education. By 8th grade, when they're picking out which high schools to apply to, it may be too late to start thinking about college, so we're starting to discuss college beginning in 4th grade. (Maybe it's for the best, since one of the students who went didn't know there were any colleges in our city. There are about 10.) Sure, to most of the kids who went on the field trip, the great lunch was the highlight. But maybe, for a select few, it was a first look into their futures.

As long as that future doesn't include this, I'm game.