The Homework Doc

Education

Can Words Really Hurt One’s Feelings?

“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

Read More

Boys Will Be Boys Who Need to Understand Their Unique Needs

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

Read More

Students Want Control

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

Read More

Engagement Begins With Questions

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

Read More

Surrendering Phones: Results Are Worth Our Attention

Del Oro softball Team Coach traded their player’s cell phones for flip phones that could be used to contact parents when they were not at home. It was a 30-day digital detox. The idea was simple: All girls in the Del Oro softball program will turned in their smartphones on Jan. 31 during the program’s

Read More

A 3rd Boy’s Eye View-The First Week of School

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.

Read More

A Simple Switch in Instruction Creates Engagement

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

Read More

Preparing Students for Grid Shut Downs

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

Read More

AI APPs: They’re gaining speed! Are We Prepared?

When I write my blogs, I often have the television playing sappy movies in the background. The devices are a new frontier we really know very little about and it is changing exponentially faster everyday, so it is tough to know what we need to look out for. As I was working, I looked up

Read More

About Victoria

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.

Scroll to Top