Tag: education

Monthly Advice–May 1

I know it’s the first week of May, but I need everyone to start planning for summer now.

Write a list of things for families to do over the summer, local and easy recommendations, to inspire and ignite creativity and learning over the summer.

Recommend free options as much as possible so that all students can participate and see themselves as active participants in their own learning. Start now, ask around for more ideas, build a nice long list.

Need inspiration? Here are some ideas:

  • Go on a walk every day, talk the entire time (talking is learning, talk about anything your child desires)
  • Bake/cook with your child–conversations around food are filled with vocabulary, reasoning, and mathematical computation
  • Visit the zoo
  • Help around the house–sorting clothing, setting the table, sweeping, etc. help children learn responsibility, practice academic learning, and acquire life skills
  • Take kids to the grocery store–have your child find ingredients, discuss possible recipes, weigh food, etc.
  • Visit a museum, visit many museums
  • Sign-up for a summer reading challenge at the local library
  • Get some art & craft materials from the Dollar store and make something beautiful
  • Learn a new skill: embroidery, sewing, knitting, crocheting, etc. (find a YouTube video and go for it!)
  • Watch TedTalks, documentaries, and other programs that are age-appropriate and educational/spark discussion
  • Do something athletic: basketball, running, walking, skateboarding, baseball, etc.
    • Gross motor skills, fine motor skills, interpersonal & intrapersonal abilities are developed during these experiences
  • Join a summer program–swim class, recreation class, summer camp, etc.

This list is not complete. It includes items that span the K-12 spectrum. Some ideas require parental approval, supervision, and added effort. Some ideas are easily left to the child. This list is meant to be a springboard for a personalized list for your students as they embark on their summer journey–remember even though classroom learning has ended, their life is filled with learning opportunities and they should seize each moment to grow and learn.

Teacher Appreciation 2019

Teacher Appreciation Week is one week away!!

May 6-10, 2019

If you’re not a teacher, or if you’re the teacher involved in planning Teacher Appreciation Week, here are some celebration suggestions:

  • Thank you cards from your child/students
  • Thank you card from yourself–find that long lost teacher, and thank them
    • We all have one teacher we can recall with great love; find them and tell them
  • Encourage teachers to thank one another at their school–teachers teach and mentor each other constantly, that kindness and collaboration should be celebrated
  • Volunteer at your local school/get extra volunteers at your school
  • Go to a local coffee shop, restaurant, or any other business–ask them to donate a gift card, discount, or service to teachers; or, have them offer something special during Teacher Appreciation Week at your school
  • Bring coffee and bagels one morning to your local school

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This is just a small list, but it’s a start–if you have any ideas, or success stories, make sure to share them too!

Signing Day: How to Celebrate HS graduates

In Henrico, Virginia, USA, Henrico’s Career & Technical Education program, has a special, one-of-a-kind, celebration:

Letter of Intent Signing Day

On their website, and in the news, this school, and this program, believe that high school graduates who are going to college, or going to play at the collegiate level, are not the only students worth praise and recognition; upon graduation, “students entering the workforce with benefits that include, but not limited to, great pay, health benefits, retirement benefits, and even receiving continuing education benefits from their employer also deserve recognition.”

This year, on April 23, 2019, today, the event is scheduled to take place. It’s time to celebrate, and it’s time to consider replicating this ceremony at your nearest high school.

We have an urgent skills gap to fill in our country. We have great jobs, with great benefits and stability through all economies, going unfilled. Any person willing to learn a skill, and go to work, should be applauded. Much love to Henrico for recognizing a segment of students and graduates long underappreciated.

Special Education: Part 1

Special education has been in the news recently; so, I wanted to take this opportunity to push the conversation further . . .

Special education services are multi-faceted and multi-fold, they depend on the individual child and each individual child has individual needs. So, it doesn’t look the same for anyone in any given context.

When discussing special education, consider and remember the following:

Special education can begin in the very early ages and continue onto the university level, or it can be a portion of a person’s educational career.

Special education services can be:

  • pull-out; or,
  • push-in

Special education can require:

  • occupational therapy
  • physical therapy
  • speech therapy
  • educational therapy

Special education can take place in:

  • a traditional classroom
  • a special education classroom
  • a specialty school
  • a special program and classroom within a school

At the school level, special education is the responsibility of:

  • students
  • parents/families
  • educators
  • specialists
  • administrators

Often, in general discussions or in short segments on television, special education is not illustrated, defined, or understood to be a complex and elaborate system that benefits a wide-range of students.

When I listen, when I watch, when I converse with non-educators in particular, the vastness of special education is not comprehended, and if that is not understood then meaningful dialogue and solutions are not attainable.

Therefore, in our quest to see it funded, funded well, and funded in the future, we must augment the conversation to demonstrate that all students, even those not in special education, benefit and rise in a system that understands that all students deserve an education that offers them the chance to learn, and the opportunity to demonstrate that learning.

If you have questions, if you have concerns, I encourage you to ask and research. If you want to know more, I encourage you to take an in-depth look at your school, the schools in your neighborhood, and the schools in your district.

Special education is an important and integral component of our education system; it deserves more understanding, more research, and certainly more resources.

 

Monthly Advice–April

For the most part, this year, spring break is in April; therefore, I must advise you:

Enjoy your spring break.

Take more than a day, or a weekend, away from work. Enjoy more than a weekend’s worth of time off.

No lesson planning, no grading, no time in the classroom–absolutely nothing work related–for as much time as possible during this break. Take an actual break.

You have earned this time off, you have earned this break, so please, please make sure to enjoy spring break.