The school year is winding down and for most parents that means prom pictures, graduation parties, class trips, and lots of other fun and exciting activities.  Some of us have the additional pleasure of attending our child’s annual PPT (Planning and Placement Team) meeting each spring. Fun and exciting? Not so much, but extremely important because this meeting sets the groundwork for all the service your child will, and won’t, receive next year. For most, the annual PPT is a matter of “same conference table, different year.” We are told what services will be granted for the next school year …

When I was in high school, the only electives available for girls were sewing, typing, and cooking – all of which I still can’t do. I did successfully complete a gingham apron which I am wearing at this very moment, as I am whipping up a delicious dinner of chili con carne, which was my final project for cooking. Boys could take woodshop and … was there anything besides woodshop for boys? Now that I think about it, I did take a psychology class and there must have been a photography class because the photography teacher taught the psychology class. He pretty much told us to read the textbook …

I have always been put off by IQ tests. Not because of my sub-par score — actually I have no idea what my IQ is and don’t want to know because, judging by my lack of ability on those Mensa tests in the back of airline magazines, it will probably depress me.  I’m not a fan because IQ tests don’t look at the big picture.  IQ tests can be useful in assessing a person’s cognitive ability and identifying learning disabilities. However, a student’s success is often related to far more than purely an IQ score. The majority of successful students possess a high EQ as well. EQ, or Emotional …

“In 2006, one teen died in a traffic accident every hour,” according to Doreen Spadorcia, Executive VP & CEO, Travelers Claim and Personal Insurance.  This daunting statistic was a motivating factor for the Connecticut DMV and Travelers to team up in 2008, in an effort to create a statewide program designed to educate teen drivers about the importance of safe driving, following the state’s introduction of tougher teen driving laws. The result of this collaboration has been an annual Teen Safe Driving Video Contest, and the 2011-2012 Awards Celebration for the top ten finalists and their …

I’m a terrible speller and secretly jealous of people who can spell effortlessly. I harbor the same ill feelings toward people who are natural spellers as I do toward those who are naturally organized  – another area I am constantly waging an uphill battle against. I read constantly, obviously write a ton, so why have I not honed my spelling skills? In an effort to find out why spelling is so difficult for some people, namely me, I googled “bad spelling.” I found an assortment of reasons, ranging from a chromosomal deviation to learning disabilities, but most experts agree it has something to…

Judging by the content of the emails I received following last week’s article on “The Impact of Divorce on Academics,” after divorce it can be challenging for parents to find a balance when dealing with academics.  Actually, the word I most often saw was “guilt,” which was not at all what I was going for.    In the best of circumstances, it is difficult to find the time to check kids’ assignments, quiz them for spelling tests, help edit essays, and remember to sign the permission slip for the upcoming field trip. Throw in a divorce, two households with different rules, work, and multiple …

Often a parent will ask me if their divorce is affecting their child’s academics, and, most of the time the answer is yes, especially when there is shared custody.  I know, shared custody seems like the best thing for a child and, on an emotional level it may be, but that’s not my area. However, on an academic level, perhaps not so much. But, there are ways to avoid the pitfalls and make a difficult situation easier for everyone. I hear almost the identical story from a good number of my students with divorced parents. I ask why they didn’t do their homework. If they spent the previous night …

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me … that Aretha song has been stuck in my head for a week.  Last week I wrote about the lack of respect students have for their teachers and how teachers are not held in the same regard as they once were by parents. The comments that followed the article were fascinating. Some readers pointed out that people in general  have less respect  than they once did and others claimed that children are disrespectful because they are not disciplined severely enough at home. But, what got my attention was the argument over private/parochial schools vs. public …

In Fresno, CA, three 5th graders, two boys and one girl, admitted to trying to kill their teacher by lacing her coffee and cupcake with rat poison. The teacher was unharmed because, at the last minute, one of the boys knocked the coffee from the teacher’s hand. The plot was uncovered when “a parent was bragging that her son saved the teacher’s life by preventing her from drinking the poisoned coffee.” This was the same boy who came up with the master plan in the first place. The students were expelled and transferred to other schools. I know I should be shocked that 10-year-olds were trying …

It seems like we toss around the term “addiction” rather easily. Chocolate, shoes, yoga, puggles, Pinterest; we can’t just like something a lot, we have to be “addicted” to it. But, what actually constitutes a real addiction? Actually, there are two types of addictions: substance addictions and behavioral addictions. With a behavioral addiction, a person will obsessively think about, and compulsively engage in an activity, even though there are harmful consequences. If your son spends all his waking hours counting down the minutes until he can play Call of Duty, you may have a problem. If he …

“Text messaging outshines all other means of communication on teens’ cell phones, with one-third of them texting more than 100 times a day or 3,000 texts a month.”  This statistic was taken from a study released by Pew Internet and American Life Project (pewinternet.org/reports/2010/Teens-and-mobile-Phones/Summary-or-findings.aspx?r=1). The first thing I thought when I saw that statistic was, “Is that all?” Smartphones appear to be surgically attached to teens, even more so now that cell phone use is allowed in many high schools during the school day. Combine that with the incessant amount of…

How do you measure effective teaching? That is the question surrounding the MET (Measures of Effective Teaching) study done by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This study, the second in the series, was launched in 2009 in order to define and create a reliable way to measure teacher effectiveness.  Last month, the latest report from this study was released and, not surprisingly, it drew both praise and criticism, depending upon which blog you read. Data was collected from six major urban school districts. About 3,000 teachers volunteered for this study and, in return, received a $1,500 …

  Last week I wrote about high school start times, and suggested that a later start time would be beneficial to students who appear to be sleep-deprived zombies most of the day. Readers agreed, for the most part, that it does not make sense to have students start so early just when their sleep cycles prevent them from going to sleep before 11 p.m. However, some blamed students’ reliance on caffeinated beverages, over-scheduling, mobile media, medications, poor diets, the breakdown of the traditional family unit, and on and on. Luckily one reader, Dr. Terra Snider, is an expert on this subject…

I have teenagers, which means "morning" on non-school days usually happens at around 2 p.m. Although I have been known to kid them about wandering downstairs in their boxers looking for breakfast while I’m cooking dinner, I am actually okay with this.Through no fault of their own, teenagers are completely exhausted. High school begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends around 2:30 p.m., depending on the school district. After school are practices, rehearsals, club meetings, and part time jobs, followed by several hours of homework. Factor in eating, maintenance activities, and the hormonal changes that …

  Ah, midterms, guaranteed to make the lives of students, and parents, miserable. Last year at about this time I wrote an article about studying for midterms. After reviewing that article I decided it contained strategies that have proven to be successful, and we all know you don’t mess with success. So, in the name of not reinventing the wheel, the following includes many of the tips, with a few tweaks: Down to the Wire Exam Preparation for Students: Make a plan. I’ve been big on study plans this year because they eliminate procrastination and students find them motivating. Figure out how …

Twice this past week I was asked about the correlation between birth order and academic achievement. I find this fascinating, so I spent some time digging through studies on the subject. Just for some background, Alfred Adler, a psychologist who is comparable to Freud and Jung, was the first to classify first-born children as the most motivated, highest achievers, and most responsible. Middle children seem comfortable blending into the woodwork, being neither stars nor low achievers academically, but also the most competitive. Last-born children are seen as least motivated and lowest …

It’s prickly, tends to roll into a tight ball when agitated, sleeps all day, runs around all night, and is living in my house. Yes, my son is home from college.  It’s been a couple of weeks now and his schedule consists of rising somewhere between 1 and 3 p.m., working out, eating, going out with friends, and slinking back in sometime before sunrise. Every day at about 2:30 p.m. for the past week I have said, “Please put on pants, my first student will be here soon.” There are 19 days left until he goes back to school. Most college winter breaks last about five or six weeks, which is too long…

  I love the library. I know it’s not cool to love libraries – it’s cool to love Barnes & Noble and Kindles and Nooks. But really, you just can’t beat the library concept. You take out a book, read it, and return it. It’s free and you don’t have a book you’ve already read lying around collecting dust. Ben Franklin was a total genius.   There is one drawback though. More often than not, the book I want is already checked out. So, I peruse the shelves hunting for something that looks relatively interesting while I wait for the 87 people ahead of me to return whatever it is I want to read. As …

We all know bullying is a problem in schools, but coming from a teacher? It sounds crazy, but teacher-bullies have recently been in the news quite a bit. Bullying students is awful enough, but in two of these cases the harassment was directed toward high school special education students. A special education teacher bullying students. Wow. Just …wow. In New Jersey, a 15-year-old student used his cell phone to record the teacher when nobody, not even his parents, believed he was being bullied. The video shows the special education teacher threatening the student, using profanity, and speaking …

  I have known many fabulous, dedicated teachers who love teaching and adore their students, but Dahlia Cherny, a 4th grade teacher at Bugbee Elementary School in West Hartford, takes it to a whole new level. She lives in the same town as her students and former students, so she sees them all over the place. Going anywhere with her is like being in the posse of a rock star. She greets everyone with a spine crushing hug and a “Helllllooooo!” that can be heard three aisles over at the supermarket. These kids and their parents are so thrilled to see her, I would not be at all surprised if they …