Inconvenience or Opportunity?

Inconvenience or Opportunity?

On July 25, 2018 Citi Retail Services published the findings of their survey indicating that a parent’s bill for school supplies tends to be higher when their children help them shop.  The post did not provide any solutions, just merely suggests it is a dilemma for parents. I imagine most parents already knew this truth since we shop more than once a year.  When my children were little I would leave them home with my husband on Sundays so that I could go to the Supermarket without the inconvenience of time lost “discussing” with my children why we weren’t going …

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The Academic Distractor: Calling Out The Pink Elephant in the Room

The Academic Distractor: Calling Out The Pink Elephant in the Room

Tests, by design, are created to look at what you want them to look at.  If you want to look at temperature you create a thermometer.  If you want to look at bones inside the body you create the x-ray machine.  The flaw in this is the assumption that what you are looking at is in fact what you need to know.  When it comes to testing of children and young adults the focus of most functional tests is academic.  We think IQ is a marker of ability (despite the large body of research indicating that, at the very least, …

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Are You A Fly?

Are You A Fly?

While we are on the topic of listening, it is important to pay attention to what your self-talk sounds like. Have you ever noticed how a fly gravitates to rot?  It is for this reason that we don’t want flies around us or our food, we don’t want them spreading their unhealthy rot to us. You may not even realize you are your own worst fly buzzing around in your head.  It really is not your fault that garbage is there.  It was left there by others.  Perhaps they were even well intentioned and meant to help you improve.  Unfortunately, …

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What I Want The U.S. Secretary of Education To Know

What I Want The U.S. Secretary of Education To Know

If I had just one minute to speak with Betsy DeVos, the United States Secretary of Education, this what I would like to say:  Every class in America has children with a learning disability in it, whether because of the push to mainstream or because the child has not yet been identified.  Based on this fact EVERY class should be taught by a special education teacher.  Eliminate the General Education teaching degree.  Use the upcoming staff developments to bring the existing teachers up to speed.  Mandate that any teacher taking credits to complete requirements or change their pay level make those …

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Of Fidget Spinners and Fake Education

Of Fidget Spinners and Fake Education

“Fidget spinners are going to enable ADHD students to focus” “Fidget spinners are creating ADHD and must be banned from school” At the time of this writing the owning of a fidget spinner has gone viral, and with hundreds of schools banning fidget spinners, it looks like the spinner ban will go viral soon too.  I must be missing a key piece of information because I do not understand the ban.  What is notably absent is the scientific research demonstrating either claim. But even more importantly the educational opportunity is being missed. Is there a physical danger to fidget spinners? …

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