Day to day, we use methods that seem to meet our needs perfectly well. Then something upsets our routine and we have to find different ways of operating. And sometimes we realize the new ways are better than the old. Ever since I entered the teaching profession, I’ve been hearing how many elements of our
When I got back from running Thursday afternoon, I had a voice message from the high school. They needed a substitute teacher for special-needs classes. I’ve been so bored I was happy to take the job. The students I had today were functional special needs. They’re attending half-days, one group in the morning and one
I’m halfway through a long-term substitute teaching job with the special-needs kids, and it’s gotten me to thinking about communication. Specifically, how can you communicate with these students when half are confined to wheelchairs and most are non-verbal? I was discussing this recently with a friend, and she suggested pictures. That’s an obvious solution, but
It’s hard to get kids’ attention these days, especially with regard to creative writing. So what if you could use time travel? 826LA (http://826la.org/) is running with that idea. Its mission statement is “a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers
As a (substitute) school teacher, this topic is of special interest to me. What is intelligence? How is IQ calculated? The National Public Radio program Radiolab recently aired a series of six programs entitled “G” that addresses general intelligence. The first program, broadcast on June 7, 2019, is “G: The Miseducation of Larry P” and
One thing I quickly learned as a teacher is that it’s almost impossible to treat all your students objectively. It shouldn’t be any surprise that you feel more empathy toward some, while others are simply easier to remember. I once got a marriage proposal from a student (she was a high school freshman, I was
One of my favorite leisure activities is to watch TED talks. For the uninitiated, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The talks are posted online by a media organization, TED Conferences LLC under the slogan “ideas worth spreading.” Which ones are best is purely subjective, but Chris Anderson, the owner of TED Talks (through
A crisis like being in an auto accident or the victim of a crime can be traumatic enough, but what if you’re a child? The solution to calming a child under stress can be as simple as giving them a book. That is the idea behind a charity named Books to the Rescue. Based in
In another example of how the Internet is changing our lives, there are currently more than 10,000 college-level courses available online from over 800 universities that are partially or completely free. They are called MOOCs — Massive Open Online Courses, and the idea has exploded over the past six or so years. Subjects include Computer
It’s true. The academic staple of substitute teaching is showing a video. And after being a substitute for over thirteen years, I can’t tell you how many movies I’ve had to watch. The absent teacher can pick any type of movie, but some subjects are more predictable than others. For science classes, Bill Nye the
