Subscribe below to receive a new post via email every Thursday.
When you begin with the belief that everyone wants to learn, it stimulates a lot of high quality problem-solving.
As a teacher, I can’t just write off a student as lazy, disobedient, unintelligent, or unmotivated. If something isn’t working, I see it as my responsibility to find something else that will.
What to do with a student who struggles to turn in work on time (or at all)? Who looks at an assignment and immediately gets overwhelmed?
Read MoreI was dutiful and conscientious in school, once I figured out how to be. Homework started in fourth grade, which resulted in a backpack full of crumpled, blank math worksheets by June. I don’t remember a lot of homework in fifth or sixth grade, but I hit my stride in seventh and did whatever was asked of me from there on out.
I’m not sure I could do that now. I still work hard, but my willingness to jump when someone says, “Jump!” has disappeared. Instead of asking, “How high?” I’d be like, “What for?” There better be a good reason.
Read MoreWhen you’re writing an essay, you have to organize your thoughts, create an outline, and incorporate your research, while crafting sentences and paragraphs — and these skills depend on solid handwriting or typing skills, confident spelling and punctuation, and strong mental stamina.
This is a lot to manage. So whenever possible, we want to isolate skills. To do this, we use Tiny Tasks. We want to tell the student exactly what’s expected, ask them to carry out the task, and praise them for a job well done. Then we do the next thing, and offer praise.
Read MoreIt is incredibly frustrating to be the parent of a child who would seemingly never turn in their work on time (and maybe never get it done in the first place) without intervention. Not only does it make many afternoons and evenings a joyless slog, it leads to worry that your child will still be lost and helpless as an adult. I am guessing that fighting over homework was not part of the live you envisioned as you beheld your newborn infant for the first time.
Below, five tips to help make things better. Ready?
Read MoreMany adolescents are like periwinkles. They get so overwhelmed by the demands of school that they shut themselves tightly into their shells.
Some kids deal with school overwhelm by focusing on their social life or a preferred hobby to the exclusion of all else. The lucky ones have a few trusted friends or a peaceful family life to come home to. Others can’t find a safe harbor in any aspect of their lives.
While this feels like an emergency situation — and it absolutely can be — intensifying the pressure will only make things worse.
Read More
