“He hurt my feelings.” “She hurt my feelings.” “Those kids hurt my feelings.” Children who believe that other’s words hold power over their feelings will suffer more than is necessary. When I was 8 my older and younger sister told me I was adopted and ugly. I ran to my mom and told her what
The following article was published in the Register newspaper in 2002. As I reflect on it, the same issues still exist. Although there have been programs that schools have spent thousands of dollars to solve, none have delivered quite like the Homework Doc’s methods. The only challenge facing us today that did not exist is
I think eight-and nine-year-old boys get a bum rap for being eight- and nine-year-old boys. Having taught third grade for 27 wonderful years, I can safely say that most of the fears parents have about their uncontrollable boys will happen unless they change the way they see their boys. Eight-and nine-year-old boys are thrown into
Student’s innocence makes them targets of those who know parental protection is not guaranteed. Parents being offered parental control options are receiving a false sense of security. ChatGPT just announced a new feature. Some parents are cheering. I am cautioning parents to not feel their children are protected. The only way to truly protect users
Tell you little one, “Don’t touch the stove.” What do they do? They touch the stove. If told, “The stove is hot and burns,” most won’t touch it and the ones who do, will realize what hot means. Telling students not to use their devices creates a temptation to do just that. When students realize
No rabbit in a hat is necessary to create magic that stays with students for years. Just ask your students what they remember from last year. You’ll get a lot of deer in the headlights stares. Why? Because you asked a question that put them into a stress response. Under stress, we can’t remember our
I spoke with a third grade boy about his impression of the first weeks of school. The following are his observations: It was hard sitting in a chari all day. I like to stand, but she kept telling me to sit down and sit still. That made it hard for me to listen to her.
Traditional methods outlined in TM’s aren’t appealing to today’s students. If we start with “What do you know about our topic for today?” This direction is only interesting to the student who is sharing what they already know. Look around the room and kids are fidgeting, doodling, or even sending notes to classmates. Some may
Start the new year off with strategies that engage and eliminate the guesswork out of how to meet the needs of each student. Munn Publishing announced the release of my book Ask More Learn More-Creating a Culture of Curiosity.on Amazon today Have you ever wondered why some students excel while others struggle to stay engaged?
Ever since COVID, big venues have stopped taking cash and are only dealing with ATM and credit cards. I tried to pay for a drink the other day with quarters, and I was informed we don’t take change. So what will we do if the grid goes down and there is no way to take
Victoria is an educational consultant, nationally recognized speaker. Her over 50 years in education has been focused on developing resilient self-reliant self-advocates who know how to tap into their innate ability to independently solve challenges.