Student Guide Corner

Football coaches across the country work constantly on getting their players to play especially hard at the end of each game. Often, the difference between winning and losing is based on who can put on the strongest push in the final moments. One last valiant effort can lead to a victory that will be remembered with fondness for years to come. When my students return from Thanksgiving break, they will have one more week of classes and then final exams. In less than 2 weeks, it will be all over. They can be lethargic or they can be energized. I know what I want. I don�t want them to coast out. I want them to finish strong. Why do all this work throughout the semester only to fade out at the very end? If the material is worth learning, now is the time to put on that push to add even more knowledge and understanding. Here at the end of the semester, I like to challenge my students to keep pushing forward. I think it is human nature; people need motivation. For studen...

"He's lazy." "If only she tried harder." Have you ever entertained those thoughts about any of your students? Have you ever heard your colleagues use those statements to describe any of their students? Do you realize how difficult it can be for your struggling learners, ON A DAILY BASIS ? If you never struggled as a student, here is an opportunity to experience, even briefly, what school is like for too many of our students. It is vital we have empathy for what our struggling learners experience on a daily basis. PBS.org has created a set of interactive activities which offer the chance to simulate reading disabilities, writing disabilities or attentional issues. Try it out here .  Click on the challenge you would like to experience firsthand Now, click try it. How does it feel? Can you imagine what it is like to face this difficulty throughout the school day?  Next time, you are tempted to think your student on an IEP is lazy, rethink your reaction. Talk with ...

Interesting article in The Chronicle of Higher Education on what a professor can learn from student evaluations. The article is insightful as are a lot of the numerous comments that were left by readers. http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-Read-a-Student/129553/

Holding off installing the newest update to iOS5? Wait no longer; there are 200 new features to explore! Today, I want to spotlight just one, one that is pure gold. The " Speak/Define " feature is what many of us who work with struggling readers have been waiting for.This is an amazing feature but it defaults to Off so you need to toggle it to On. How do you find it? Settings > General > Scroll Down to Accessibility > Speak Selection > Toggle On. Whenever you highlight single words (unfortunately, except for PDFs or iBooks at this point), you can view a definition or listen to the word read to you. When you select more text, you can listen to the text-to-speech feature. A high quality male and female voice is available; it's also possible to select the read feedback speed. Show this to students as a way to empower them. They have control over what they listen to independently. No more dependence upon adults when they encounter challenging words or text. Awesom...

Parent: "How was your day?" Student: "Boring."  Parent: "What did you do?" Student: "Nothing."  In the spirit of rethinking a variety of school practices, it is time to revisit the traditional home-school communication method in special education - the home-school communication notebook (HSCN) . It is not uncommon for special educators to use a home/school communication notebook to provide information to parents about their child's day. Before we consider alternatives, let's first explore the importance and benefits of effective home-school communication from Home-School Communication: What's All the Commotion? ): Parents and teachers consider communication the number one factor to increase trust (Adams & Christenson, 2000). Strong communication can also encourage higher and realistic parental expectations. When teachers and parents are on the �same page� ...

IMPORTANT : First, read The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn.   If, after reading this book, homework is still considered necessary for learning, you will want to consider these alternatives. Many districts require assignment notebooks for scheduling homework and long-term assignments. For some students, a paper-based system works effectively. For other students, the assignment notebook provides unintended consequences as a method of frustration.  Not all students are able to independently record homework in an assignment notebook, for a variety of reasons (i.e. difficulty with pencil control, difficulty managing multiple paper materials, unable to use notebooks due to vision or physical disabilities) .   The paper IS the disability for these students. What are alternatives? Thinking creatively, and considering the ubiquitous technology available, here are a few options: 1.    Embed the assignments on the class webpage. Students (and parents) will know where i...

If you've ever heard me present, you've heard Twitter is the best professional development. Free, just-in-time, whenever, wherever and total access control. Well, Scott McLeod's blog post came across my reader tonight and it makes the case for Why Not Twitter better than I ever could. Here's an excerpt: Dear educator, if you were on Twitter yesterday, you might have found: this awesome reflection about working with a teacher on technology integration ; or these resources about �learning styles� and whether they�re a myth ; or this list of ideas about how to rethink awards ceremonies ; or this list of 100 free apps to check out for that new iPad you just bought ; or this update about the thousands of new online resources that PBS will provide you starting this fall ; or Read the rest of the post here to learn fifteen more things you missed and why you need to be part of the Twitter professional development experience.